NEW YORK – The latest preseason all-conference selection for Bryce Hopkins comes in a different men’s basketball uniform.
The standout forward has traded Providence for St. John’s entering this 2025-26 season, and Big East coaches expect a return to top form.
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Left knee troubles have sidelined Hopkins for the majority of the last two years, but he was still one of six players named to the first team at Tuesday morning’s media day. Red Storm teammate Zuby Ejiofor was a unanimous preseason Player of the Year selection and St. John’s collected seven first-place votes to edge Connecticut in the team poll at Madison Square Garden.
Bryce Hopkins, shown warming up for Providence in January, will suit up for Big East foe St. John’s this season.
“Bryce has been great the last week,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “He played terrific in the opening exhibition game. He’ll start out against Michigan.
“His body looks great. He’s lost a lot of weight. He’s toned it down. He’s shooting the ball well. He’s playing good basketball.”
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Hopkins totaled 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while playing 26 minutes in an exhibition home win over Towson. It was just his fourth game with fans in the seats since suffering a torn ACL in a Friars home loss to Seton Hall at Amica Mutual Pavilion in January 2024. Hopkins missed the remainder of the season and all but three games of 2024-25 after suffering a setback in the same knee.
Hopkins returned exactly 11 months after that first injury against the Pirates and starred in a home blowout win over BYU. He played heavy minutes in a road loss to the University of Rhode Island and in an overtime road win at DePaul. Hopkins was a late scratch in a Mohegan Sun defeat against St. Bonaventure with what was initially diagnosed as left knee irritation – that was later revised to a bone bruise, and Hopkins was declared out for the year midway through the conference schedule.
Friars coach Kim English said it was a priority for his team to retain Hopkins, who starred during the program’s last trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2023. Hopkins ultimately entered the transfer portal and was contacted by conference rivals St. John’s and Georgetown. Ed Cooley, who initially recruited Hopkins to Providence as a transfer from Kentucky, missed out on a reunion when Hopkins ultimately selected the Red Storm.
“Players in college basketball have the right to transfer,” English said. “He transferred and he chose a school.”
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Playing in just three games allowed Hopkins to extend his college career by pursuing a medical redshirt. His availability on the open market was expected to command potential seven-figure bids from interested suitors. Pitino, English and other coaches involved in his recruitment have not said publicly how much Hopkins was seeking for this upcoming season.
Hopkins, Marquette guard Chase Ross, Creighton forward Owen Freeman and the Connecticut trio of Solo Ball, Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. rounded out the preseason first-team selections.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins ‘looks great’ so far for St. John’s
