The night Tounde Yessoufou withdrew from the NBA Draft and committed to the St. John’s basketball program was such a monumental moment in the Red Storm’s offseason.
It assured the Johnnies would have an alpha – an athletic specimen – on its team needing to replace players like Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell. In the first two exhibition games of the preseason, Yessoufou was good but not the difference maker that many expected.
Against No. 7 Texas in the preseason finale on Sunday, he looked like a potential All-American and future first round draft pick.
The former Baylor standout finished with 23 points, four rebounds, five assists, and five steals on 8-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. In the first half, he was nearly perfect with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
“He played 30 really good minutes,” Rick Pitino said after the 87-74 victory. “Then, he played about three of four minutes where he should’ve passed the ball. He could have had eight or nine assists in the game just by passing and not dribbling into traffic, but he’ll learn from that.”
He had just 24 points combined in the previous two games against Drexel and Rutgers, which went into quadruple overtime.
Yessoufou explained that he didn’t hear Pitino’s desire for him to be more aggressive publicly, but the Hall of Famer was on him a lot during practice last week to take that next step.
“He always emphasizes it in practice, all the coaches, that’s the main thing. Being aggressive. Whether it’s offensive or defensive but most likely to get the offensive rebounds. I know [Pitino] is not going to be happy about me not having enough,” Yessoufou explained.
“But that’s the main key, most likely, if you want to win is to hit people and that’s what he emphasizes to all of us.”
Texas, a veteran team which is comprised of highly compensated transfers, had no match for him physically or athletically. When Yessoufou wanted to get to the basket, he did it rather easily.
The performance provided a glimpse as to why Tounde Yessoufou was named to the Preseason All-Big East First Tem and is a leading contender to be the Big East Player of the Year, winning a St. John’s player its third straight award.
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