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St. John’s Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Red Storm

By Brad Cavallaro

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John's Red Storm dribbles the ball against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John's Red Storm dribbles the ball against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – JANUARY 17: Bryan Trimble Jr. #12 of the St. John’s Red Storm reaches for a loose ball against the Xavier Musketeers during the game at Cintas Center on January 17, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – JANUARY 17: Bryan Trimble Jr. #12 of the St. John’s Red Storm reaches for a loose ball against the Xavier Musketeers during the game at Cintas Center on January 17, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Reserves

LJ Figueroa, Wing, Sophomore

Figueroa is one of the best sixth men in the conference and the JUCO transfer should make an immediate impact. He is multi-positional as he will see playing time at the three and the four (in smaller lineups). Figueroa is a good athlete who can space the floor with his perimeter jumper. Expect 6-7 ppg in his first season with St. John’s.

Mikey Dixon, Guard, Sophomore

Dixon is an explosive scoring guard who thrived during his one year at Quinnipiac. He will double as the back-up PG and the offensive spark off the bench. Playing a Ponds-Dixon backcourt would be undersized, but extremely potent offensively and it will be interesting to see how often they go to that look. He averaged 16.5 ppg and shot 37% from three as a freshman.

Josh Roberts, PF/C, Freshman 

Roberts is an athletic shot-blocking big man with great potential, but he is being thrust into the fire awfully early. The 6’9” freshman looks like the backup center to Keita which means he could be playing 15 mpg immediately. Since he is not even a top 250 recruit, there is certainly reason for concern.

Greg Williams, Guard, Freshman

Williams was the top-rated recruit in St. John’s 2018 class and he could carve out a reserve role. The 6’3” guard is known for his defensive abilities which could get him on the court, but he is not a reliable outside shooter. 8-10 mpg seems like a safe estimate.

Bryan Trimble, Wing, Sophomore

Trimble was forced into big minutes when Marcus Lovett was out and he was mostly unproductive during his freshman season (17.3 mpg, 3.1 ppg). This is not surprising as he was not a top 150 recruit. The 6’3” shooting guard is known as a shooter and could provide a spark off the bench as a sophomore, but the backcourt is significantly more crowded than it was last year. It looks like Trimble could be on the outside looking in for this season.

Marcellus Earlington, PF, Freshman

Earlington is an undersized (6’5”) PF who chose to play basketball over football in college. The dual-sport star was a late stock riser in basketball and ultimately signed with the Red Storm. If he plays well, he could see rotation minutes behind Marvin Clark, but it is more likely that he is a long-term piece.