There is a new era for the St. John’s basketball program as legendary player Chris Mullin returns home to try and add a spark to a program that struggled to return to prominence under Steve Lavin. Mullin has his work cut out for him though as the team experiences a major facelift since they lose their top seven scorers from a year ago.
ST. JOHN’S RED STORM
Last Season: 5th, 10-8 in Big East, 21-12 overall
Predicted Big East Finish: 10th
Projected Depth Chart
C: Yankuba Sima (Fr)
F: Darien Williams (Jr)/Kassoum Yakwe (Fr)/Amar Alibegovic (So)
SF: Durand Johnson (Sr)/Christian Jones (Jr)
SG: Ron Mvouika (Sr)/Malik Ellison (Fr)/Felix Balamou (Sr)
PG: Marcus LoVett (Fr)/Federico Mussini (Fr)
Gone: SG-D’Angelo Harrison, G-Phil Greene, F-Sir’Dominic Pointer, PG-Jamal Branch, PG-Rysheed Jordan, C-Joey De La Rosa, C-Chris Obekpa (transfer-UNLV), C-Adonis Delarosa (transfer-Williston State), SG-Myles Stewart (transfer)
Strengths:
Ummm… Rim protecting? Yankuba Sima and Kassoum Yakwe are long, active, athletic big men who should provide the Red Storm with a defensive presence in the middle. SIma is 6-11 while Yakwe is 6-9. Their offensive production is likely to be limited as they continue to develop on that end of the floor, so Mullin needs that duo to anchor the defense inside.
Question Marks:
Everything. With eight new players on the roster and 97% of their scoring gone from last season, this is the definition of a rebuilding season. Mullin did a tremendous job of scrambling late in recruiting to land some potentially solid building blocks for the future but the biggest question though is who will get buckets for St. John’s this season?
LoVett is a talented, scoring point guard and should have the keys to the offense from day one. A pair of graduate transfers, Durand Johnson from Pitt and Ron Mvouika from Missouri State add sorely needed experience on the wing but Johnson hasn’t played in a college game in about a year and a half while Mvouika was the fourth leading scorer on a pretty terrible Missouri Valley team. JUCO transfer Darien Williams is going to see significant minutes and is a versatile scorer but he missed all of last season with a shoulder injury. Expect freshman Malik Ellison to see quality playing time while Italian newcomer Federico Mussini is a poised floor leader who could allow LoVett to play off the ball some.
Player to Watch:
LoVett is the most highly touted of the Red Storm’s five freshmen and the most capable of making an immediate impact. The lefty knows how to score and should have a steady green light to make things happen on the offensive end.
X-Factor:
With all the roster turnover and new faces, there will be plenty of growing pains for the Red Storm. If the newcomers are able to quickly jell together, they could surprise some in the Big East. Still, the NCAA Tournament is a major longshot and not finishing in the cellar would be considered a moral victory.
Looking Ahead to 2016-17:
St. John’s basketball is all about the future. Mullin added Tennessee transfer Tariq Owens who must sit out this year but is another lengthy, athletic frontcourt player to add to the mix down the road. The challenge for Mullin and his staff is to hit the recruiting trail even harder in hopes of luring some high level talent to NYC to add to their already young roster that has a great deal of potential.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/19 vs. Rutgers
11/23 vs. Vanderbilt (Maui Invitational)
11/24 vs. Indiana/Wake Forest (Maui Invitational)
11/25 vs. (Maui Invitational)
12/2 at Fordham
12/13 vs. Syracuse
12/22 vs. South Carolina (Hall of Fame Shootout)
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.