Baylor wing Tounde Yessoufou has withdrawn his name from the NBA draft and committed to play for Rick Pitino at St. John's, his agent told ESPN's Shams Charania.
Yessoufou was viewed as a potential first-round pick following a standout freshman campaign at Baylor where he averaged 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 46.5% shooting.
The Benin-born former McDonald's All-American joins a Red Storm program that includes returnees Ian Jackson and Ruben Prey in addition to prized Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman.
St. John's is coming off a 30–7 campaign that included a 18-2 record in conference play and both Big East regular season and tournament championship honors. Pitino and Co. earned a No. 5 seed for the the NCAA tournament before losing to No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16.
Yessoufou's exit marks a second massive departure for Baylor after star guard Cameron Carr declared for the NBA draft. Yessoufou and Carr were the Bears' top two scorers and accounted for 44.4% of the team's 82.9 points per game.
