10. St. John’s Red Storm
Even though St. John’s reached the NCAA Tournament during this past season, they were a bit of a disappointment. The Red Storm were seemingly unable to perform consistently over the course of the campaign and that led to yet another below-.500 record in Big East play. Of course, they were able to achieve their major goal of receiving a Big Dance bid but that was the preseason expectation. There were higher hopes for the roster.
Looking ahead to this season, Mike Anderson is the new head coach of the squad and he will be working with a depleted roster. While LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron are returning as potential stars in the league, every other member of the main rotation (>10 mpg) departed. There are some potentially impactful young players on the roster but there is way too much uncertainty to trust. SJU’s stars are definitely elite players but there just isn’t enough help.
The key for St. John’s over the next couple of months is determining whether or not Ian Steere and/or Rasheem Dunn will be eligible to play this season. The two transfers would likely fill major roles in the rotation if they are deemed able to see the court by the NCAA. Steere, most notably, would greatly impact the team’s frontcourt. Additionally, incoming freshman point guard Jonathan McGriff might be just 5-foot-9 but he could be competing with Greg Williams for a starting guard spot.
Considering just about every team in the Big East is expected to improve this season and St. John’s is likely to take a step back, the program lands the cellar spot in these preseason projections. Their star power and new coach could make them exceed this prediction but I would be surprised if the Red Storm compete for an NCAA Tournament bid.