St. John's missed out on Cheick Diallo on Tuesday, when the big man committed to Kansas, but Wednesday was a different story as Chris Mullin was able to land a critical transfer to help a thin roster.

The Johnnies have added former Big East player and Pittsburgh Panther, Durand Johnson and the small forward will be eligible immediately.

Johnson was projected to make a big jump this past year for the Panthers but was suspended for the entire season for reasons that were not announced. He also missed the second half of the 2013-14 season (20 games) because of a torn ACL so the wing player hasn't been active in an actual game situation in a while (he was able to practice the entire season though).

When he was on the court during his sophomore season, Johnson averaged 8.8 points per game, 3 rebounds and shot 40 percent from the field. The Baltimore, MD native averaged only 4.3 points per game during his freshman season but he also only played 11.9 minutes.

As a four-star recruit out of Brewster Academy, Johnson had interest from St. John's, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Marquette and Louisville.

The 6'6" talent was deciding between St. John's and West Virginia but told CBS Sports that "everything felt right" in Queens and Mullin told him he was going to play multiple positions.

The 6'6" small forward has a strong relationship with St. John's associate head coach Barry Rohrssen, who was an assistant coach at Pittsburgh when Johnson was in his sophomore year (2013).

Even though Johnson has not played competitive basketball lately, he provides experience, talent and toughness at a position of need. The Johnnies have a strong set of big men with a lot of upside but they are thin in the backcourt and didn't have a true small forward before this move.

Mullin is doing a terrific job of putting together a roster with strong depth so that he can play his style of basketball. The Johnnies aren't going to have the most talented team this season but their energy and work ethic is going to be one of the strongest in the Big East.