Big East Preview: #9 St. John's Red Storm

Previewing all 15 teams in the Big East from #15 to #1

By:  Shane McCarthy

Last year the Red Storm were extremely young, had a very short rotation and were without their fearless leader.  This year the Johnnies are still young, albeit with a year of experience, have a deeper bench and most importantly, have Coach Lavin back.

Who’s Back:

D’Angelo Harrison –G– Soph – 35.4 Min, 16.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.0 apg

Phil Greene –G– Soph – 31.3 Min, 7.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.9 apg

God’sgift Achiuwa –F– Senior – 29.9 Min, 9.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.3 apg

Sir’Dominic Pointer –G/F– Soph – 29.8 Min, 6.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.5 apg

Amir Garrett –F– Soph  - 26.9 Min, 7.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.3 apg

Incoming Recruits:

Chris Obekpa - [Center] – 6 foot 8, 225

ESPN’s 78^th ranked player and 16^th ranked Center

Rivals.com’s 58^th ranked player and 15^th ranked Center

JaKarr Sampson – [Forward] – 6 foot 8, 209

Felix Balamou – [Shooting Guard] – 6 foot 4, 185

Christian Jones – [Forward] – 6 foot 7, 228

Incoming Transfers:

Jamal Branch – [Point Guard] – 6 foot 3, 172

In the class of 2011 Jamal was ESPN’s 51^st ranked player and Rivals.com’s 65^th ranked player.  He was one of the top point guards in his class and a very good defender.  Jamal is transferring from Texas A&M and will not be eligible to play this season until the second semester. 

Orlando Sanchez – [Power Forward] – 6 foot 9, 205

Transferring from Monroe College, Orlando provides the Johnnies with an interior presence who will contribute on both ends of the floor. 

Marco Bourgault – [Guard/Forward] – 6 foot 6, 210

Marco, a transfer from Monroe College, averaged 10.8 PPG last season and is eligible immediately.

Who’s Out:  Moe Harkless

Outlook:

It goes without saying that last season was a difficult year for St. John’s.  Undoubtedly, a lot had to do with the absence of Steve Lavin.  These teams spend countless hours every day together and become family-like.  Whenever a member has to go through something as serious as cancer, it is going to have an effect on the whole.

Fortunately, Coach Lavin has been declared cancer free and he is in the process of regaining his strength and stamina.  The game of basketball has to be put into perspective, but having Lavin back on the bench makes St. John’s a better team.

Last year’s normal rotation was primarily five freshmen and a junior.  A six or seven man rotation that heavily involves that many freshmen is a difficult recipe for success.  St. John’s had a good recruiting class, but it wasn’t Kentucky good. And even without their coach, they still remained competitive in the conference by winning six games.

Although the Storm will be missing the Big East Rookie of the Year, Moe Harkless, they should be improved.  This team is still very young, but the four sophomores returning were all given a large serving of playing time and valuable experience last year.  That should help; as should the new comers.

Guard play was solid last year, and should remain that way with the return of Harrison (St. John’s leading scorer last year and 7^th in the conference) and Green, to go along with the arrival of Balamou, Bourgault and Branch.  Branch is a true point guard, a role the Red Storm lack, but he will not be eligible until the second semester.

Conversely, it was the front court where St. John’s struggled.  However, the influx of Obekpa, Sampson, Jones and Sanchez should help mightily. Obekpa was a great land, and he could develop into one of the best defensive big men in the Big East.

This is another highly touted recruiting class for Coach Lavin, but as already stated, this team remains young - probably one of the youngest in the nation.  However, the difference this year is that there are formidable options to come off the bench and provide quality play, a serious detriment to last year’s squad.  But the most important difference from last year: Coach Lavin is back. 

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac