Prized transfer Bryce Hopkins came to St. John's to learn from Rick Pitino

While there’s been plenty of anticipation about St. John’s and several of the new players who made up coach Rick Pitino’s transfer class — rated No. 1 in the nation by 247sports.com — perhaps no one has been more intriguing than Bryce Hopkins .

Hopkins was an all-Big East first-teamer for Providence in 2023 and played only 17 games for the Friars in the two seasons after that because of knee injuries.

It was a battle in the transfer portal, mostly between St. John’s and Georgetown — now coached by Ed Cooley, Hopkins’ former coach with Providence — in which the Red Storm prevailed. He was the first of the transfers in the door, making St. John’s even more attractive to those who followed.

That scrutiny of his play grew when Pitino announced that he would not start in the fi