Big East Basketball: 2019-20 offseason questions facing each team

St. John’s: How quickly can Mike Anderson right the ship?

St. John’s reached the NCAA Tournament during this past season for just the fourth time in the 21st century but still underachieved compared to preseason expectations. Even with Shamorie Ponds leading an extremely talented roster, the Red Storm finished under .500 in conference play and just barely squeaked into the field. As a result, the program fired Chris Mullin as the head coach, replacing him with Mike Anderson. And while this certainly seems like an upgrade at the top of the program, the talent level took a serious dip this offseason.

Only 36.2% of their total minutes ae returning for this coming season and they are missing several key pieces from this past year. Most notably, Ponds, Marvin Clark, Justin Simon, and Bryan Trimble Jr. are all no longer with the program. Because of this, Coach Anderson will have his hands full in his first year with the program. There are some solid pieces still on the roster with LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron, but there is an uphill battle facing the program.

Having lost so much talent, many are expecting that the Johnnies will fall back to the bottom of the conference during this coming campaign. In fact, there are many experts who have contemplated the thought of placing the team in last place in preseason projections. In order to prove those people wrong, Coach Anderson will need to quickly implement a system that plays to his roster’s strengths. Figueroa and Heron are a dangerous duo at the top with a few pieces that could make major leaps also on the roster.