It’s almost September, and the St. John’s men’s basketball roster continues to be a work in progress. One day after welcoming its newest addition in Indiana transfer Reed Bailey, the Red Storm are already saying goodbye to a player who hasn’t even stepped on campus yet.
Montenegrin forward Djordije Jovanovic will reportedly not join the St. John’s men’s basketball team due to visa issues and will return to his previous professional club KK Buducnost for the upcoming season. BPG Info, an independent
news account covering the Hungarian basketball club on Instagram (@bpg_info), first reported the news, which was later confirmed by Dave Berov and Adam Zagoria.
“Djordije Jovanovic had an agreement with St. John’s University, a move that would have benefited both the player and Buducnost,” the Buducnost news account wrote via translation. “However, because of visa issues, Jovanovic was unable to travel to the United States, so he remained in Podgorica and will spend next season with the club he is under contract with.”
Jovanovic becomes the Red Storm’s second international addition to exit the team before the new season even begins. Spanish wing Gildas Gimenez was ruled academically ineligible earlier this month.
The 6-foot-8 forward committed to the Red Storm back in April and was supposed to factor as a knockdown shooter and defensive difference-maker in the frontcourt. He averaged 5.1 points and 1.8 rebounds on 41.9% shooting across all competitions for KK Buducnost in the 2025-26 campaign.
Losing Jovanovic opens one more roster spot for St. John’s, and the program is likely to fill that vacancy with one of the newly eligible fifth-year transfers. The Red Storm are still in the running for All-SEC honoree Keyshawn Hall, who would conveniently plug in as the injured Donnie Freeman’s replacement.
If they do not target Hall, then St. John’s could reunite with one of its former centers, Georgetown transfer Vince Iwuchukwu.
The big man recently won a temporary restraining order in a New York state court, which interestingly, specifically stated that St. John’s University (as well as other NCAA member institutions) cannot be restricted by the NCAA from permitting Iwuchukwu to practice, condition, train, and compete as a member of its men’s basketball team in the 2026-27 academic year.
Iwuchukwu was one of several former Red Storm players to participate in a few scrimmages with the current roster in July. The 7-foot-1 center averaged 2.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in his only season with St. John’s in 2024-25, but saw those averages climb to 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game with Georgetown last season.
