Rick Pitino and the St. John's Red Storm ended the 2025-26 college basketball regular season with a 28-6 overall record and 18-2 in Big East play, securing the No. 5 seed in the East region of the NCAA Tournament. But after taking down the No. 12 seed Northern Iowa Panthers in the first round and the No. 4 seed Kansas Jayhawks in the Round of 32, St. John's saw its March Madness run come to an end in the Sweet 16, falling to the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils.
During the season, the Red Storm were led by Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor. The senior forward averaged team highs of 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Ejiofor has now played his final game with St. John's, hoping to see his name called during the 2026 NBA Draft. But he isn't the only player Pitino will be without for the 2026-27 season.
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Sadiku Ibine Ayo, a 6-foot-6 forward out of Our Saviour Lutheran School (Bronx, New York), was a 3-star prospect in the class of 2022 (247Sports). The Ghanaian ranked as the No. 73 best small forward in his class, along with the No. 6 prospect from the state of New York. Ayo initially committed to the Iona Gaels, where he spent just one season before transferring to St. John's ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Ayo didn't see much action in his first year with the Red Storm, but saw his role increase over the last two seasons, playing in 61 total games with three starts. And in 2025-26, the forward provided some depth for St. John's, averaging 1.8 points on 43.4% shooting, 1.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.
But following the Red Storm's NCAA Tournament exit, Ayo decided it was time for a change, entering the college basketball transfer portal and leaving Pitino and St. John's looking for some depth at the position for next season.
"St. Johns SF Sadiku Ayo has officially entered the NCAA transfer portal, @PeteNakos reports," On3's Transfer Portal wrote on X.
Pitino and St. John's will now look to build their roster for next season, with the transfer portal officially opening on April 7.
