While his teammates reconvened in Queens for “summer school,” Amir Garrett was training with another team. Luckily, he didn’t have to change the colors on his uniform.
Garrett, a 22nd round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2011, spent the summer training with the baseball team as part of an agreement that lets him play basketball at St. John’s. Garrett averaged about eight points a game in basketball last year, but can also throw a fastball in the 90s as a pitcher.
After joining the Johnnies halfway through last season because of ineligibility, Garrett adjusted within a month and found his groove in the game. This time around, he said, the process of switching from hurling the small ball to shooting the big ball was rusty, but quicker.
“It’s just something I have,” he said. “When I leave and go play one sport, I pick up on it right away.”
Garrett said he learned a lot from joining the team last year as one of five starting freshmen and getting a full year this year will tighten his skills.
“But after the first week-and-a-half [to] two weeks … it was a pretty tough transition but I made the best of it,” he said. “I picked up from where I left off because you know I came in so late in the season, I was kind of nervous. I think it carried over to this year because I get to play at the start of the season.”
And while Garrett’s wearing red and white for St. John’s he won’t discuss baseball.
“When I’m in baseball, no basketball; when I’m in basketball, no baseball.”
That didn’t stop Garrett, however, from sighing and shaking his head when asked about his reaction from the Reds’ elimination from this year’s postseason.
