With just under three weeks before the season begins, St. John’s has much more clarity on what their roster will look like, and Tuesday provided two significant wins.
Six-foot-five European guard Quinn Ellis has been ruled eligible for this season, and Auburn University transfer Keyshawn Hall’s temporary restraining order against the NCAA was upheld. The only remaining eligibility questions for the Red Storm revolve around the availability of former NBA G-Leaguer Babacar Sane, who spent last season playing in Germany.
Earlier this month at Big East media day, Rick Pitino was confident that all four players would be eligible to begin the season. “We feel everybody is going to be fine,” Pitino said. “Everybody’s going to be playing. These guys are working their tails off right now, and we let the courts handle it.”
Hall plays forward and stands at 6-foot-7; he lit the SEC on fire last season with Auburn, averaging 19.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, good for fifth and eighth in the conference respectively. He is one of the nation’s premiere free throw shooters, making 85.7% of his foul shots and making 228 last season, second in the country only to AJ Dybantsa.
Hall was a massive part of the Tigers’ run to the N.I.T. title, scoring 24 points in their semifinal win over Illinois State and earning himself a spot on the all-tournament team to go with his spot on the All-SEC third team.
St. John’s is Hall’s fifth school in five seasons; he’s made prior stops at UNLV, George Mason, UCF and Auburn. He was an all Atlantic 10-second team honoree with George Mason and All Big-12 second team with the Knights.
As for Ellis, he’s spent the last four years playing professionally in Italy. He was a member of Aquila Basket Trento of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) from 2022-2025, and took his talents to Olimpia Milano, who play both in the LBA and Euroleague. In 2025, Ellis led Trento to the Italian Basketball Cup and was honored as tournament MVP.
With Milano, Ellis added more hardware to his trophy case, winning both the Italian SuperCup and Italian League championships, winning MVP of the SuperCup. Ellis averaged 8.4 points per game in his overseas career, dishing out 4.1 assists per night and adding 3.2 rebounds. The U.K. native is expected to immediately become one of the Big East’s top-tier floor generals, which could also allow Ian Jackson to play off the ball more than last year.
With their first scrimmage of the season taking place tomorrow night against Drexel University, St John’s has their roster mostly set in stone. Hall and Ellis are predicted to make serious runs at starting roles, and now will be able to work towards that without the dark cloud of an eligibility battle hanging over their heads.
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