Rick Pitino quickly became one pf the stories of this college basketball season for the job that he did with St. John's basketball. In just year two at the helm, Pitino and the Johnnies swept the Big East regular season and tournament titles and were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Everything came crashing down for the Red Storm in the second round of the Big Dance, when foul trouble and a poor game and eventual benching of RJ Luis Jr. led to St. John's falling to 10th-seeded Arkansas in a massive upset. Now, Pitino and his staff are already retooling for next season in the transfer portal.

On Monday, St. John's got a commitment from one of the best players available. Former North Carolina guard Ian Jackson has committed to St. John's, according to Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.

“Coveted North Carolina guard transfer Ian Jackson has signed with St. John’s, @chris_hummer and I have learned for @cbssports/@247sports,” Zenith reported on X, formerly Twitter. “The Class of 2024 top-10 overall recruit averaged 11.9 points per game at UNC this season.”

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Jackson was highly sought-after in the transfer portal after a very strong freshman season at North Carolina where he found ways to be productive despite playing in a very crowded backcourt. The former five-star recruit scored 11.9 points per game in less than 23 minutes of action per game.

Jackson could have left school for the NBA Draft after his freshman year and likely would have been a first-round pick, but he is instead looking to raise his stock with a potential bigger role as a sophomore at St. John's.

Jackson is the latest addition in a deep crop of transfers for Pitino and company. Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins is coming off of injury, but he was one of the best players in the Big East before he went down. St. John's basketball has also added both Stanford transfer Oziyah Sellers and Arizona State's Joson Sanon, both of whom were double digit scorers.

All of these additions, plus the return of star big man Zuby Ejiofor, should make St. John's one of the top teams in the nation one again heading into the 2025-26 season.