One of the top players in the NCAA transfer portal is headed to St. John’s.
The Red Storm are adding Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, head coach Rick Pitino announced Monday, in a major coup for the reigning Big East champions.
“We are so excited to have Bryce Hopkins [as] part of our family,” Pitino wrote on social media. “He epitomizes everything I love in a basketball player: Passionate, Hungry, and Driven. Can’t wait to work with him! Will become a great one for St John’s.”
Hopkins, who is set to be a fifth-year senior, has averaged at least 15.5 points per game in each of the last three seasons at Providence, though injuries have largely derailed the past two.
The 6-7 scorer suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in January of 2024 and did not return until December.
He appeared in only three games during the 2024-25 campaign before he sustained a bone bruise in that same knee, and he was later ruled out for the season.
When healthy, Hopkins is a difference-maker. After spending his freshman season at Kentucky, Hopkins broke out as a sophomore at Providence en route to a spot on the 2022-23 All-Big East first team.
He averaged at least 7.7 rebounds in each of the past three seasons.
Hopkins becomes the second significant transfer added by Pitino this offseason. On Monday, St. John’s announced the signing of Joson Sanon, a 6-5 guard who averaged 11.9 points per game and shot 36.9% on 3-point attempts as a freshman at Arizona State last season.
Those two join a roster already headlined by power forward Zuby Ejiofor, who was an All-Big East first-team selection and the conference’s Most Improved Player after averaging 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game during a breakout junior season.
Hopkins and Sanon help bolster a team that is losing senior guards Kadary Richmond, Aaron Scott and Deivon Smith, and whose leading scorer, guard RJ Luis Jr., is declaring for the NBA Draft and entering the transfer portal.
On Monday, sharp-shooting forward Brady Dunlap entered the transfer portal as well.
The addition of Hopkins marks the second year in a row that Pitino snagged a star player from a conference rival. Last offseason, Richmond transferred to St. John’s from Seton Hall.
Richmond helped lead St. John’s to a 31-5 record, its first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985; its first Big East Tournament title since 2000; and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
With Hopkins in the mix, the expectations going into 2025-26 will be similarly lofty.
