St. John’s handed Tounde Yessoufou $6 million to spurn NBA Draft

St. John’s basketball secured a blockbuster late College Basketball Transfer Portal move in landing Tounde Yessoufou. Turns out the Red Storm secured a massive bag to pluck the Baylor talent from the NBA Draft. One with a $6 million tag.

College basketball insider for nj.com Adam Zagoria revealed that St. John’s handed Yessoufou a $6 million NIL deal. Yessoufou opted to take the money and join one of the nation’s most loaded portal classes.

Yet he turns down millions in the NBA by dipping out of the draft waters. The Baylor star garnered late first round/early second round projections ahead of the June 23-24. The 6-foot-5 Yessoufou delivered 17.8 points per game including 5.9 rebounds for the Bears. And he put up that production in the same conference that featured three projected top 10 picks: AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Darryn Peterson of Kansas, plus Kingston Flemings of Houston.

But now Yessoufou earns the chance to boost his own high draft pick chances ahead of the 2027 NBA Draft. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints calls him a top-20 talent for the next class.

Red Storm fans will expect step back jumpers plus a guard who throws his body inside to get two points. Plus can ignite crowd energy with highlight reel dunks.

Tounde Yessoufou, who averaged 17.8 PPG and 5.9 RPG in his freshman year, was a potential first rounder. However, he comes back to college to play for St. John’s. Pitino gets the job done. #SJUBB pic.twitter.com/g5OPJej6fw

— Maxwell Cohen (@MCohenSports07) May 28, 2026

The incoming sophomore rises as the next potential leading scorer for head coach Rick Pitino. St. John’s already lost top scorer Zuby Ejiofor to graduation and now has the NBA Draft on deck.

But Yessoufou joins an aspiring Final Four team fresh off delivering a Sweet 16 run. St. John’s reloaded by adding Syracuse star Donnie Freeman, who’ll compete with Yessoufou for the lead scorer title. Legacy transfer Kyle Cuffe Jr. also joins the Big East champs.

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