St. John’s has made a late-summer roster addition that could matter a lot in the Big East race, adding Reed Bailey just over two months before the start of the 2026-27 season.
The move gives Rick Pitino another piece as the Red Storm try to knock off UConn for the second straight year. St. John’s is the biggest conference rival for the Huskies, and it already proved last season it can get the better of them, winning both the Big East regular season title and the tournament title.
Bailey brings a lot of experience with him. He has already played four years of college basketball, and this addition comes in response to recent court injunctions that have granted Class of 2022 high school recruits a fifth year of eligibility.
The NCAA is fighting that and wants players like Bailey ruled ineligible, so it remains unclear whether he will actually suit up for St. John’s.
For now, though, the expectation is that he’ll be on the roster.
At 6-foot-11, the Massachusetts native spent the first three years of his career at Davidson, where he started all 97 games he played for the Wildcats. He averaged 12.4 points per game there and shot 46.2 percent from the floor. He was also an All-Atlantic 10 selection during his time with the program.
For St. John’s, the timing makes sense.
The Red Storm lost Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell to the NBA Draft, and Donnie Freeman, who was expected to be an impact transfer from Syracuse, is now injured and will miss the entire season. Bailey gives Pitino a player who can help fill those gaps and keep the Red Storm in the hunt.
The latest “way too early” ESPN bracketology, released Tuesday, had UConn as a No. 3 seed. It also projected the Big East to send seven teams to the NCAA Tournament, a number that could make the league tougher night to night while helping UConn on the larger tournament picture.
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