Big East Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

2020-2021 Record: 16-11 (10-9)

Probable Starters: Posh Alexander, Montez Mathis, Julian Champagnie, Aaron Wheeler, Joel Soriano

Bench: Dylan Addae-Wusu, Stef Smith, Tareq Coburn, O’mar Stanley, Esahia Nyiwe, Rafael Pinzon, Drissa Traore, Jalen Rosemond, Artemios Gavalas

St. John’s finished fourth in the Big East last season and may have squeaked into the NCAA tournament if it weren’t for a couple late season losses to Butler and DePaul. It sounds like there was some locker room issues that may not have helped their cause, but the team seems focused and ready this year.

I’m higher than most on St. John’s and I admit they have a lot of question marks going into the season. I get it, after an offseason in which St. John’s lose what seemed like it’s entire roster, it’s hard to believe that they might be dramatically improved.

The Red Storm only return 39.4% of their minutes. But — the lone holdovers from last season are Posh Alexander (Big East Co-Defensive POY, Big East Freshman of the Year), Julian Champagnie (First Team All-Big East, Co-Most Improved POY, Big East leader in scoring and FT%), and Dylan Addae-Wusu – not too shabby. The rest of the roster is new, but Mike Anderson (Big East Coach of the Year) has reloaded. People are sleeping on St. John’s, but they are an NCAA tournament team at a minimum this season.

I mentioned that Gillespie and Samuels will be one of the best 1-2 punches in the conference for Nova. Well, Alexander and Champagnie will have a lot to say about that. I am expecting big jumps from both of them, in part because I think the roster around them is better. St. John’s will need to find some alternative options on offense outside of these two, but experienced transfers will help here. Montez Mathis (Rutgers), Stef Smith (Vermont), and Tareq Coburn (Hofstra) will all need to contribute if St. John’s is to reach their potential.

I’m also expecting Addae-Wusu to take a big jump. He showed growth throughout the year, plays well alongside Alexander, and seemed to hit big shots down the stretch when St. John’s was struggling to score. He will need to pick his spots better and improve his shot selection, but he can be an asset to this St. John’s offense.

The biggest question this team faces is how quickly can they become a team, especially on the defensive end? Mike Anderson’s defensive intensity requires chemistry, and this roster is basically brand new. The addition of Aaron Wheeler (Purdue) and Joel Soriano (Fordham) will help shore up the interior defense that was lacking for St. John’s last year and Alexander very well could be in line for his second Big East Defensive Player of the Year award.