Shortly after the commitment of European combo guard Quinn Ellis, the Red Storm lost one of their most popular players in return.
Redshirt junior guard Darling has entered the transfer portal and will have one more season of eligibility. The news was first reported by Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
Darling becomes the fourth Red Storm player to enter the transfer portal this offseason, joining Sadiku Ibine Ayo, Lefteris Liotopoulos, and Imran Suljanovic. So far, Suljanovic has committed to New
Mexico, and Ayo returned to Iona, where he spent the first season of his collegiate career.
Making 15 starts in 35 games last season, Darling averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 steals on 39.8% shooting, 27.7% from three, and 71.8% from the free throw line.
After starting his career at Washington State and Idaho State, the 6-foot-2 point guard signed with St. John’s as one of the top mid-major guards in the transfer portal last season, having won the 2024-25 Big Sky Player of the Year award after leading his team with 19.8 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.
The transition back to high-major basketball was bumpy for Darling. He started in six of the Red Storm’s first seven contests of the season, then was demoted to the bench after shooting 33% from the field and 1-of-15 from three to begin his season.
Darling produced some memorable late-game moments in two months as a member of the second unit. On January 24 versus Xavier, Darling scored 11 points and buried a game-winning step-back three to cement a double-digit comeback and clinch Rick Pitino’s 900th career win. The Hall of Fame head coach said after the game that Darling had “balls as big as church bells” for taking that shot.
Bells rang again on February 6 against UConn, when Darling swished another step-back trey in the clutch that helped the Johnnies secure a massive 81-72 win over the then-third-ranked Huskies.
Darling re-joined the starting lineup for St. John’s for the remainder of the season as Rick Pitino sought to shake up the rotation following the Red Storm’s ugly 32-point loss to UConn on February 25, and he played a part in the Johnnies winning both Big East regular season and tournament titles for a second consecutive year.
During the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Darling forever etched his name into St. John’s basketball lore when he made a buzzer-beating layup — his first and only bucket of the game — to knock off Kansas and send the Red Storm to their first Sweet Sixteen since 1999.
The Red Storm are back to seven scholarship players after Darling’s departure. The St. John’s are hosting multiple transfer targets on campus visits this week, including Darling’s potential replacement Leroy Blyden from Toledo. The 6-foot-1 freshman guard from Detroit, Michigan was named this season’s MAC Rookie of the Year after averaging 16.4 points and 4.5 assists per game while shooting a team-best 40.7% from deep.
