Tounde Yessoufou joins the St. John’s basketball program with massive expectations on his shoulders. The former Baylor guard withdrew from the NBA Draft, despite having some first-round grades, minutes before the deadline to be eligible to return to college basketball and committed to the Red Storm in the process.
He’ll be one of the favorites entering the season to be the Big East Player of the Year and his style of play makes him a natural fit with Rick Pitino and the system he has run with the Johnnies in each of the last three seasons.
Yessoufou’s teammate at Baylor, Cameron Carr, sees him thriving at his new destination.
“He’s a defensive guy. Super, super versatile,” Carr said the day prior to the NBA Draft. “He can guard one through four. Physical and he just plays with passion. He’s passionate.”
The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 17.8 points per game in his freshman season at Baylor while also registering 5.9 rebounds. 1.6 assists, and 2.0 steals per contest. His lone struggle was shooting from the perimeter, making just 29.3-percent of his 3-point attempts.
“I feel like Coach Pitino is going to be a good person for him,” Carr, who was the No. 24 pick in the draft continued. “I feel like he’s going to thrive.”
St. John’s has seen two of its stars, RJ Luis and Zuby Ejiofor, win the Big East Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons and the Red Storm will hope Tounde Yessoufou can keep the award in Queens.
The same school has not won three straight Big East Player of the Year awards since St. John’s won four in a row from 1983-1986 when Chris Mullin earned the award three straight years which was followed by Walter Berry.
With a strong season at St. John’s and projected weaker 2027 draft class, Tounde Yessoufou has the chance to be a lottery selection next summer and continue the Red Storm’s resurgence.
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