Another major St. John’s men’s basketball newcomer looking to secure eligibility received positive news in court on Friday.
Red Storm forward Keyshawn Hall was granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) by the Queens Supreme Court, making him eligible until a scheduled court hearing on Tuesday morning, October 6 will decide whether he can suit up for the Johnnies this season. This injunction comes days after the Auburn transfer filed a new lawsuit against the NCAA in New York state.
Hall’s decision
to open a separate case and obtain a temporary restraining order comes at a great time. The Cleveland native was one of the plaintiffs in the Ohio five-for-five case, in which the state’s Court of Appeals reversed a preliminary injunction just hours before Hall was granted a TRO, meaning he would have been deemed ineligible without it.
The star forward is one of two Red Storm players who will learn their eligibility fates next week. Babacar Sane is scheduled for a hearing Monday afternoon. Quinn Ellis and Reed Bailey have yet to gain clearance to play next season, but are not yet set to appear in court.
Amid all this uncertainty, Rick Pitino expressed confidence that all four players will be ruled eligible at Thursday’s Big East Media Day.
“We feel everybody is going to be fine,” Pitino told the media on Thursday. “Everybody’s going to be playing. These guys are working their tails off right now, and we let the courts handle it.”
Hall is one of the most highly-regarded transfers in this year’s class. The 6-foot-7 forward was the fifth-ranked transfer of the 2026 offseason according to 247Sports, one spot below his fellow teammate and Baylor transfer Tounde Yessoufou. While earning All-SEC honors last season at Auburn, Hall led the Tigers to an NIT title, averaging a team-high 19.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest.
