St. John’s is making a real push to get back in the high school recruiting game, and one of the biggest names on its board is now down to three schools.
Malachi Jordan, a four-star forward from Prolific Prep, will visit St. John’s this weekend, and the Red Storm have moved into the final three along with Kansas and Vanderbilt, according to Dushawn London of 247Sports. Jordan is one of the top players still available in the Class of 2027, and the latest cut narrows the race to a short list of heavy hitters.
Jordan has already taken visits to schools such as Kansas and Tennessee, and the interest in him has been building quickly. He is currently ranked No. 16 in the SCNEXT100 for 2027, while another report listed him as the No. 24 overall prospect in the class.
For St. John’s, this is a notable step in a recruiting lane that has not been its main source of roster building under Rick Pitino.
Since taking over, Pitino has leaned heavily on the transfer portal and has been open about his belief that teams depending too much on freshmen are not built to win a national title. That approach has shaped the roster, with the staff targeting experienced college players and, more recently, international talent with added seasoning.
But Pitino has also acknowledged that high school recruiting could become a bigger part of the plan again, and St. John’s appears ready to act on that shift. The Red Storm are trying to get in early on elite talent in the Class of 2027, and Jordan is exactly the kind of prospect that signals a change in direction.
There is also a clear financial angle here. St.
John’s and most of its Big East peers have a built-in advantage because men’s basketball is the No. 1 NIL revenue sport at the school.
In other Power Conferences, football usually absorbs much of that money. That gives the Red Storm more room to compete for top prospects who are weighing both development and opportunity.
Pitino has already used that edge to great effect in the portal. Quinn Ellis reportedly landed an NIL deal worth at least $4 million, while Tounde Yessoufou’s package reportedly approached $6 million.
That kind of backing makes St. John’s an appealing destination for a high school star, especially when paired with the chance to play for Pitino. And after seeing UConn land two five-star prospects in the Class of 2027, the Red Storm are clearly trying to sharpen their own high school recruiting effort rather than leaning only on one-year roster fixes every offseason.
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