By Troy Mauriello
Although the weather in the New York City area doesn’t seem to reflect it, fall is upon us. And as the leaves turn, the wind picks up and students finally get back into the swing of their classes, the college basketball season is now right around the corner.
There’s certainly reason for optimism in Queens, as the St. John’s men’s basketball team is expected to employ a combination of emerging, young talent and new veteran faces to continue improving in Year Three of the Chris Mullin era.
On the women’s side, head coach Joe Tartamella will look to lead the Red Storm to yet another postseason appearance, and build off a trip to the WNIT Round of 16 in March.
Men’s squad loaded with depth
While there will be a number of new names for fans to learn on the men’s side, the team will bring back most of its top talents from the 2016-17 squad. In fact, the Red Storm are bringing back all three of its top leading scorers in guards Shamorie Ponds, Marcus LoVett and forward Bashir Ahmed.
Ponds, who was narrowly beaten out by top NBA Draft pick Justin Patton of Creighton for 2017 Big East Rookie of the Year, led St. John’s in scoring with just over 17 points per game. The versatile Ponds also led the team in three-pointers and free throws, ranked second in rebounds and third in assists.
Now in his sophomore season, Ponds will be expected to be the face of the St. John’s program, leading the Red Storm through the twists and turns of Big East play. Mullin was incredibly high on Ponds’ performance as a freshman throughout last season, even forgetting at times that his sensational freshman was still in his first season at the collegiate level.
“He’s been pretty amazing all year long. [He’s been] so good that if you watch him you’d probably forget that he is a freshman,” Mullin said of Ponds after a February win. “We have total confidence in him. He’s got confidence in himself and more importantly, his teammates have confidence in him.”
But it would be unfair to discuss Ponds without also bringing up his backcourt battery mate LoVett, who led the Johnnies in assists last season as a redshirt freshman and joined Ponds on the Big East All-Freshman Team.
Ponds and LoVett, coupled with returning impact players Ahmed, Kassoum Yakwe and Tariq Owens, give the Red Storm a solid core of veterans heading into 2017-18. But there will be plenty of newcomers as well, some of whom St. John’s fans may already recognize.
Transfers Justin Simon and Marvin Clark will be able to see their first action on the court after sitting out the 2016-17 season, and both figure to have a prominent role in Mullin’s rotation. Other new faces include freshmen Bryan Trimble and Boubacar Diakite.
There are a number of intriguing non-conference opponents on the St. John’s schedule to kick off the season. The Johnnies will take on Nebraska, Oregon State, Missouri and Arizona State all within the first month of the action.
Missing from the St. John’s non-conference schedule is in-state rival Syracuse, but another familiar foe will return to Madison Square Garden once again in 2018. The Duke Blue Devils will make their way into the Garden for the first time since 2015 in February.
Women’s squad looking for new leaders
On the women’s side, the Red Storm will be led by a somewhat new cast of characters after the graduations of seniors Jade Walker and Aaliyah Lewis after last season. Walker led the Johnnies in scoring last season, while Lewis had more assists (210) than the rest of her teammates combined (191).
Heading the replacement effort will be junior Akina Wellere, who finished second on the team in scoring in 2016-17 with 11.3 points per game. She’ll have help from seniors Maya Singleton and Imani Littleton and sophomore Alisha Kebbe, who ranked second on the team in three-point shooting and is the Red Storm’s second-leading returning scorer.
In Singleton and Littleton, St. John’s gets its top two rebounders from last season back in their frontcourt. The duo combined to average 11.5 rebounds per game, just over one-third of the Red Storm’s total output per game.
Making their way Carnesecca Arena for the first time this season will be a duo of local freshmen: forward Kayla Charles and guard Qadashah Hoppie. Charles averaged a double-double in her senior season at William Cullen Bryant High School in Far Rockaway, while Hoppie hails from Staten Island.
The Red Storm also get standout redshirt freshman guard Tiana England back for her first season on the court, after she missed all of the 2016-17 season due to injury.
The St. John’s women kick off their season Nov. 10 against St. Francis. But it’s hard not to look ahead at some of their other non-conference contests. The Red Storm will travel to Coral Gables, Fla., to face Miami in early December, and will host Kansas at home later that month.
