St. John's Tounde Yessoufou is 'defense, defense, defense,' former Baylor teammate Cameron Carr says
New St. John's swingman Tounde Yessoufou, playing at Baylor. Credit: Getty Images/Ian Maule
Cameron Carr spent last season playing at Baylor alongside St. John’s new addition Tounde Yessoufou and he describes the 6-5 swingman as the sort of player Red Storm fans are going to love.
“[He’s] defense, defense, defense,” Carr said Monday in midtown Manhattan, where many of the top players who will attend the NBA Draft on Tuesday did interviews. “I feel like Coach [Rick] Pitino is going to be a good person for him . . . I feel like it's he's going to thrive.”
Yessoufou, like Carr, projected to be a first-round pick this week, but he pulled his name from the draft at the 11th hour and committed to St. John’s.
“We liked him from the beginning — liked what we envision he can be for us,” Pitino said in a phone interview Sunday. “We needed another wing and he really fits athletically with what we do.”
Yessoufou averaged 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals as a freshman for the Bears in 2025-26. While his reputation is as a great transition player and finisher, Carr said his skills as a defender — something Pitino prioritizes — might be the thing that sets him apart.
“He's a defensive guy [and] super, super versatile,” Carr said. “He can guard one-through-four and he’s physical. He just plays [defense] with passion.”
Carr also sees Yessoufou as a great teammate whose humor and commitment made him an asset in the locker room.
“I’d probably say he's more funny . . . than what you’d think,” Carr said of the Benin import. “He’s kind of gullible and you can joke with him a lot. He's a really funny guy.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
