St. John's point guard Quinn Ellis was ruled eligible Tuesday, one day before the Johnnies lace up against Drexel in the season's first exhibition. Ellis, 23, was one of the top targets in free agency after shining in the EuroLeague last season for Olimpia Milano. The 6-foot-4 guard profiles as a high-feel, steadying hand for a St. John's club that had to replace all five starters, including the irreplaceable Zuby Ejiofor.
Ellis averaged 8.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists with just 1.7 turnovers in 36 games competing in the second-best basketball league in the world. Rick Pitino has lofty expectations for Ellis, lumping him right next to Daniss Jenkins and Kadary Richmond — both All-Big East talents — as one of the most talented point guards he's coached at St. John's. With Ellis in the fold, St. John's is prepared to shift its offensive identity to a perimeter-focused attack. Instead of relying on Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell to smash opponents into submission with physical drives and a boatload of offensive rebounds, Ellis gives St. John's a chance to be one of the better pick-and-roll offenses in the Big East, especially since he's paired with a knockdown shooter like Ian Jackson and an elite slasher like top-rated Baylor transfer Tounde Yessoufou.
Ellis will be one of the highest-paid point guards in all of college basketball next season, but his eligibility had come into scrutiny after the NCAA introduced stricter eligibility guidelines for international prospects in late May … a month after St. John's had landed Ellis' commitment over a horde of other high-major schools.
Make no mistake, Ellis was a full-blown professional basketball player. He signed a multi-year deal with Milano in July of 2025, but he was able to get cleared because he was still within his five-year window of graduating high school and had his transcripts in order. Since he is already 23 years old, Ellis will only have one more year of eligibility. Utah's Noam Yaacov (academics) and LSU's Yam Madar (not within the five-year eligibility clock window) are two high-profile examples of the NCAA axing potential international professionals from playing college basketball this season.
While they play different positions, Ellis is in a similar boat as 23-year-old Virginia forward Thijs De Ridder, who played professionally in Belgium but was cleared by the NCAA this time last year because he was still within that five-year eligibility clock window. De Ridder went on to lead Virginia in scoring at 15.6 points per game and help flip UVa into a 30-win club. The bruising 4-man is a popular preseason ACC Player of the Year in 2026-27.
St. John's is hoping for a similar cannonball into college hoops for Ellis, who should team up with Yessoufou and Jackson to give St. John's one of the Big East's most dynamic backcourts. That trio can go toe-to-toe with UConn's electric duo of Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins. If Pitino's Hall of Fame coaching can vault this new-look St. John's frontcourt into one of the better rebounding clubs in the Big East, the Johnnies could certainly be in the mix to make the Final Four with this high-ceiling backcourt at center stage of the pitch.
I have newly-cleared St. John’s point guard Quinn Ellis as a top-20 player in college basketball. Does a good job of taking the singles in pick-and-rolls. High-feel, 6-4 guard won’t lead St. John’s in scoring, but I think he’ll be Rick Pitino’s MVP.
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) October 13, 2026
Sneaky-good athlete, too. pic.twitter.com/7TFPUs7RiF
An eligible Ellis is a big deal, but Pitino's outfit is not quite out of the woods yet on the eligibility front. Auburn transfer Keyshawn Hall is still fighting for a fifth year of eligibility in the ongoing 5-for-5 case. He is currently eligible to suit up for the Johnnies thanks to a temporary restraining order, but that legal process is still ongoing. Forward Babacar Sane was ruled ineligible by the NCAA because he signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Utah Jazz in June of 2024, but he never played in a game. Sane is appealing that ruling and has another court hearing scheduled for Nov. 9.
St. John's will play Monmouth in the season-opener on Nov. 2.
St. John's projected starting lineup
- G Quinn Ellis
- G Ian Jackson
- G Tounde Yessoufou
- F Babacar Sane (if eligible) or F Keyshawn Hall (if eligible)
- F Rubén Prey
Top reserves: F Reed Bailey (if eligible), G Lefteris Liotopoulos, C Theo Edema, F Zsombor Maronka, F Lazar Stojkovic, G Avery Brown, G Kyle Cuffe Jr., F Donnie Freeman (out for the year, Achilles injury)
