St. John's Basketball: Marcus LoVett to return to Johnnies

St. John’s Basketball: Marcus LoVett to return to Johnnies

Mar 9, 2017; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Marcus LoVett (15) shoots over Villanova Wildcats forward Eric Paschall (4) and forward Dylan Painter (42) during second half of Big East Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. Villanova Wildcats defeated St. John's Red Storm 108-67.Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /

Marcus LoVett will combine with Shamorie Ponds and Justin Simon to form a dangerous St. John’s basketball backcourt trio.

After losing two scholarship players earlier in the week (Malik Ellison and Darien Williams), the biggest domino of the St. John’s offseason fell into place.

Rising sophomore guard Marcus LoVett is returning to Queens for at least one more season, putting talk of professional basketball on hold until next offseason.

I will continue to further my studies at St. John's university and continue to play in front of our amazing fans I'm I back? Oh yea!
— World Wide Butter19 (@Marcus_LoVett) April 1, 2017

LoVett originally sat out his true freshman season due to an academic issue but had an impressive redshirt freshman campaign in 2016-17. The six-foot point guard averaged 15.9 points, 3.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game while leading the Johnnies to a much improved 14-19 finish (7-11 in Big East).

While LoVett is quick, explosive, has terrific handles and is so efficient in the mid-range, there are some areas of his game that he can clean up next year. The Fort Wayne, IN native turned the ball over 2.6 times per game and tends to play a bit out of control at times (that may just be his inexperience). He also faded in-and-out of games too much, disappearing for long stretches at a time both offensively and defensively.

He clearly has the speed, change of direction and skill set to be a future pro, but he will benefit from another year in the Big East.

And so will St. John’s.

The Johnnies will have one of the most feared backcourts in the league in 2017-18 as they bring back LoVett, Shamorie Ponds (runner-up for Big East Freshman of the Year) and Federico Mussini. They are also adding Arizona transfer and former four-star guard Justin Simon into the picture.

The Johnnies are still searching for a true presence at the center position but they will have the versatility, quickness, and athleticism to run Chris Mullin’s run-and-gun style of play to more perfection.

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That wouldn’t be the case without an elite player like LoVett. His return could not only spark a better pro career but a chance to make a run at the top half of the Big East in 2017-18.