After flirting with an NCAA Tournament bid but just missing out last season, St. John’s Basketball will look to cross into March Madness for the first time during Mike Anderson’s tenure – with a tandem that led the Red Storm to a resurgence last year, and a new supporting crew.
Few teams with as rich of a history as the Johnnies have struggled to assert themselves nationally this century, but St. John’s – with just five NCAA Tournament appearances since the turn of the millennium – has made gradual strides to return to the forefront of college basketball.
Despite receiving just one bid to the NCAA Tournament in the past six seasons – the last being Chris Mullin’s final campaign in 2018-19 – the Johnnies are coming off, arguably, their most successful year in that stretch, having amassed a 16-11 overall record and a 10-9 mark in Big East play. That tally gave St. John’s it’s highest standing in the conference since 2013-14, and its first 10-win season in the Big East since Steve Lavin’s final year in 2014-15.
For a while, it did not appear as if the Red Storm had the means to be successful – early struggles against St. Peter’s, Boston College, and Rider, in addition to a 2-6 start to the Big East schedule, left St. John’s with a dead-even 7-7 record halfway through January.
A quick turnaround after a disappointing loss to Marquette saw the Johnnies topple a ranked UConn team on the road, which kickstarted a crucial six-game winning streak that included an 11-point domination over Villanova – as well as putting St. John’s inside the NCAA Tournament bubble picture.
Johnnies upset Villanova!
— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) February 4, 2021
St John’s wins their 5th in a row by shocking the 3rd ranked Wildcats, 70-59.
Johnnies 1st win over AP Top 3 team since February 2018 (No. 1 ‘Nova) pic.twitter.com/OKYOC5QzMD
The rest of the Red Storm’s February stretch was not pleasant, with Anderson‘s team losing three of their subsequent four games – and, despite a regular season-closing win over Seton Hall in March, the Johnnies would have their 2020-21 campaign halted by the Pirates just five days later in the Big East Tournament. Despite the missteps, however, St. John’s had much to be optimistic about.
Among those were the postseason honors handed out to a few Johnnies, including star Julian Champagnie, who earned All-Big East First Team distinctions after averaging stellar marks of 19.8 points and 7.4 caroms. Champagnie was undeniably the key to the Red Storm’s success, ranking in the top 500 nationally in percentage of minutes, offensive rating, percentage of possessions, and percentage of shots, per KenPom.
Joining Champagnie was Posh Alexander, a defensive stalwart who was unanimously named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team – all the while earning Big East Freshman of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year accolades. The latter award made Alexander just the fourth freshman in conference history to receive such an award, joining a trio of Hall of Famers in Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, and Patrick Ewing. Alexander finished his season with clips of 10.9 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.6 steals.
Despite falling off the college basketball landscape towards the end of last season, St. John’s enters 2021-22 with hopeful aspirations and expectations, including having been slotted in third in our preseason power rankings for the Big East. But the Red Storm will feature a nearly new identity compared to last year’s squad, returning just five players from a team that finished fourth in the conference – and could wind up even higher this time.