**BREAKING: St. John’s Lands UNC One-and-Done Wing Ian Jackson in Seismic Transfer Portal Coup – Red Storm Instantly Transform into Big East Title Contenders**
*By Zach Braziller, New York Post*
*November 26, 2025 – QUEENS, N.Y.*
Rick Pitino woke up Wednesday morning and reminded the college basketball world that when he says he’s “all-in,” he actually means it.
At 11:07 a.m. ET, five-star wing Ian Jackson, the former North Carolina freshman and projected 2026 lottery pick, announced on Instagram Live that he is transferring to St. John’s University, effective immediately. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Bronx native who grew up idolizing Carmelo Anthony in the same Garden corridors he will now call home, chose the Red Storm over reported finalists Duke, Kentucky, Arkansas, and a return to Chapel Hill.
The move is being called the biggest transfer-portal splash in Big East history and arguably the most impactful single addition of the 2025 cycle.
“I’m coming home,” Jackson said, gold St. John’s chain already around his neck in the video. “New York raised me. Coach Pitino is the greatest winner in the sport. Madison Square Garden is the mecca. It’s only right.”
Sources tell the New York Post that Jackson’s decision crystallized Tuesday night after a four-hour dinner with Pitino, assistant Steve Masiello, and St. John’s legend Felipe López at Carmine’s in Times Square. Pitino laid out a simple vision: 30+ minutes, total green light, and a starring role on a team built to cut down nets in the World’s Most Famous Arena next March.
Jackson, who turns 20 in February, leaves North Carolina after just 11 games. In Chapel Hill he averaged 14.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals but grew frustrated playing off-ball in Hubert Davis’ motion offense behind veterans Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis. Multiple sources confirmed Jackson informed the Tar Heels staff Monday night that he was entering the portal with the intent to transfer immediately, taking advantage of the NCAA’s new mid-season transfer window for basketball that begins December 1.
North Carolina released a statement Wednesday afternoon: “We thank Ian for his contributions and wish him nothing but success moving forward.”
For St. John’s (currently 6-1 and receiving votes in the AP poll), the addition is nothing short of transformational.
Jackson instantly becomes the most talented player on a roster that already returned Deivon Smith (the nation’s leader in assists at 9.8 per game), added Kansas transfer Rylan Griffen, and signed top-20 recruit Darius Acuff Jr. With Jackson now sliding into the starting two-guard spot, Pitino suddenly has the most explosive perimeter in the Big East: Smith-to-Jackson lobs, Acuff-to-Jackson backdoor cuts, and Griffen spacing the floor at 41% from three.
Early projections from ESPN and The Athletic immediately vaulted St. John’s into the top 15 nationally and installed the Red Storm as co-favorites with UConn for the 2026 Big East regular-season title.
“This kid is a walking 25-and-8,” Pitino said at a hastily called noon press conference inside Carnesecca Arena. “He’s New York tough, he’s New York skilled, and he’s New York hungry. We just became the hardest team in America to guard.”
The numbers from Jackson’s brief UNC stint were already eye-popping: 14.8 points on 58.4% from two, 37.8% from three, and an absurd 68.2% true shooting percentage. At 6-5 with a 6-9 wingspan and a 44-inch vertical, he posted four 20-point games in November alone, including a 27-point eruption against Kansas in the Maui Invitational semifinals that had NBA scouts openly comparing him to a richer man’s Devin Vassell.
But the fit at North Carolina was never perfect. Jackson, ranked as the No. 5 overall recruit in the 2025 class out of Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx, wanted the ball in his hands more than UNC’s system allowed. At St. John’s, Pitino has promised exactly that.
“Coach told me straight up: ‘You’re my Kobe. Run whatever you want. Iso, pick-and-roll, transition, post-ups, whatever you see,’” Jackson recounted on the live stream. “I smiled so hard my face hurt.”
The homecoming angle cannot be overstated. Jackson grew up in the Soundview section of the Bronx, 20 minutes from campus. His AAU coach, Manny Suarez of the New York Rens, was in tears on the phone Wednesday: “This is bigger than basketball. That kid is coming back to the city that made him. The Garden is going to explode every night.”
St. John’s season ticket sales, already up 38% after last year’s NIT championship, reportedly crashed the university ticketing site within 20 minutes of Jackson’s announcement. The program has scheduled a midnight madness-style celebration for Friday night at Carnesecca, with Jackson expected to be officially introduced to a sold-out crowd.
Big East coaches are already grumbling privately. One assistant texted the Post: “Good luck guarding that lineup. It’s unfair.”
Jackson is immediately eligible and will make his Red Storm debut December 6 against Baylor in the final non-conference game at Madison Square Garden before Big East play opens against Villanova on December 10. He will wear No. 0, his high school number.
As confetti fell inside a jubilant St. John’s locker room Wednesday afternoon, Pitino, now 73, allowed himself a rare smile.
“People said I couldn’t recruit New York kids anymore,” he told the team. “Tell them to turn on the Garden lights. We’re just getting started.”
For the first time since the Chris Mullin era, St. John’s isn’t just relevant, they’re feared.
Ian Jackson is home. And the Big East better brace itself.
*(Word count: 1,017)*
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