Rick Pitino’s first addition of the offseason is now official.
St. John’s on Monday announced the signing of guard Joson Sanon, who transferred from Arizona State after a promising freshman season.
“Joson is a young man with great potential,” Pitino said. “He was a five-star basketball player coming out of high school. Joson is a great shooter, really good athlete and has absolutely outstanding potential.”
Sanon, 19, averaged 11.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 36.9% on 3-point attempts with the Sun Devils last season.
The 6-5 guard started nine of his 27 appearances and averaged 28.3 minutes per game.
“Coach Pitino believes in me and my potential and what he can do for me,” Sanon told ESPN last week. “He preaches working hard, and I want to show him I’m the hardest working player that’s ever played for him. The way Coach P teaches defense is something I want to invest my time into.”
Sanon was a significant recruit coming out of the Vermont Academy in Fall River, Mass.
He finished his first collegiate season with at least 13 points in each of his final five games, including a career-best 28 points against Utah on March 1.
Sanon’s shooting should help fill a void on St. John’s team that made only 30.1% of its 3-pointers last season.
He joins a backcourt that is losing Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith and Aaron Scott, each of whom are out of NCAA eligibility. Meanwhile, RJ Luis Jr., the Red Storm’s leading scorer and the Big East Player of the Year, is declaring for the NBA Draft and entering the transfer portal.
In a post to the social-media website X, Pitino pointed to Sanon’s ability to play multiple positions.
Sanon has three years of NCAA eligibility remaining. He helps bolster a St. John’s roster headlined by power forward Zuby Ejiofor, who made the All-Big East first team after averaging 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game during a breakout junior season.
St. John’s is looking to build on a resurgent 2024-25 in which it went 31-5, won its first outright Big East regular-season championship since 1985 and its first Big East Tournament crown since 2000.
The season came to a sudden end, however, when the second-seeded Red Storm lost to 10th-seeded Arkansas, 75-66, in the NCAA Tournament’s second round.
“Johnnies fans, it was a magical year,” Pitino wrote Sunday on X. “We always want better. Hold on, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Thanks so much for helping to bring us back.”
DUNLAP ENTERS PORTAL
Brady Dunlap missed most of the Red Storm’s storybook season, appearing in only 10 games — and none after Dec. 17 — due to an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in his left hand and another tear in his abdomen.
He’s now set to explore his options elsewhere.
The 6-7 forward is entering the transfer portal ahead of his junior season, the recruiting outlet On3.com reported Monday.
Dunlap averaged 3.9 points per game over 35 appearances, including six starts, in two years at St. John’s. He averaged 5.7 points per game and shot 37.5% on 3-point attempts last season.
“Brady Dunlap is an awesome young man and all of us wish him nothing but success and happiness,” Pitino wrote on X. “Kick ass Brady!
