Like father, like son.
It took more than a few years, but after venturing between three different teams, Kyle Cuffe, Jr. is coming back home to play for his father’s alma mater.
Cuffe committed to St. John’s for his final season of college basketball, following stints at Kansas, Syracuse, and Mercer. The news was first reported by CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz. The Cuffes will become the third father-son duo to play for the Red Storm, and the first this century, joining Gerry and Tom Calabrese and Neil
and “Fuzzy” Levane.
St. John’s pursued Cuffe when he was a four-star high school recruit in the class of 2021, but the 6-foot-2 guard from Harlem opted to play for Kansas. Cuffe redshirted as a freshman during Kansas’ national championship season in 2021-22, then was teammates with Zuby Ejiofor in the 2022-23 season, before he suffered a right knee injury that ended his year after two games.
He transferred to Syracuse for the 2024-25 campaign and averaged 5.1 points in a bench role before moving to Mercer last season, where he posted 7.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.8 steals per contest for the Bears on 39% shooting and 33.6% from three while starting in 14 of 31 games.
The elder Cuffe made 59 starts in 116 career games for the Red Storm from 2000 to 2004, averaging 8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He made an appearance on the Johnnies’ 2002 NCAA Tournament squad and was a member of the program’s last NIT championship squad in 2003.
Cuffe becomes the 13th player on St. John’s’ 2026-27 roster, and their third acquisition from the transfer portal in this cycle. Last month, the Red Storm added former Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman and former Columbia guard Avery Brown.
