D’Angelo Harrison understands the numbers are back in St. John’s’ favor.
The Red Storm sophomore guard and his fellow starters played nearly every minute last season with a roster that had just six scholarship players. Any break they could get was important.
“Last year I really liked the TV time-outs,” Harrison joked.
That shouldn’t be the case this year.
A strong group of returnees and another stellar recruiting class has the Johnnies ready to improve off a 13-19 season. St. John’s is expected to be deeper and more talented, despite its top player Maurice Harkless now with the Orlando Magic in the NBA.
The explosive Harrison, who averaged 17 pointers per game last year, is expected to be the catalyst. Harrison will have the ball in his hands more and the run team. The athletic Amir Garrett, Phil Greene, Sir’Domic Pointer and bruising forward God’sgift Achiuwa, all of whom saw major minutes last year, will join him.
“[Harrison’s] play-making ability is underrated because people tend to focus on the natural gift he has to make shots from long distances,” St. John’s head Coach Steve Lavin said.
One of the biggest reasons for the excitement around St. John’s, picked to finish 10th in the Big East, is the recruiting class brought in by Lavin, who is back on the bench after missing most of last year battling prostate cancer. Top assistant Coach Steve Dunlap moved on to be the head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
The group of six players, considered one of the nation’s best, is headlined by the 6-foot-8 JaKarr Sampson and defensive specialist Chris Obekpa. Forward Christian Jones is the biggest surprise so far.
“You can go full speed, know there is someone just as good as you or better than you coming off the bench,” Harrison said.
Sampson was supposed to be in Queens last season, but was ruled academically ineligible. Some experts believe he can fill right in for Harkless. Sampson believes he can take some of the burden off Harrison.
“We just play off each other and play-make each other,” Sampson said. “We make it easier on each other.”
St. John’s’ lack is experience. Lavin has tried to make up for that by playing multiple inter-squad scrimmages with real referees to get 15 to 18 “games ” in before they open the regular season at Carnesecca Arena against Detroit Nov. 11.
“We are trying to give them a crash course at an accelerated pace of College Basketball 101,” Lavin said.
He called it hard to speculate how good this team will be at season’s end. Harrison said they have players who can win Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. He knows they still have to earn it.
“Everyone is just worried about the first game,” Harrison said. “Hopefully, we pull out a win and get it started from there.”
