Offseason Overview and Mississippi Valley State Preview

The St. John’s Red Storm Men’s basketball team starts its 2021-22 campaign after a disappointing end to last season. The Johnnies missed the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row after last making it in 2019. Coach Mike Anderson, going into his third season, is coming off Big East coach of the year honors and is looking to bring the Red Storm back to the tournament as that has come as a rarity in the 21st century thus far.

With the transfer portal becoming a key component in college basketball, Mike Anderson and his staff had a busy offseason and have people in Queens excited about the Johnnies. Although they lost some key contributors in graduating guard Rasheem Dunn, and junior guard Greg Williams Jr. to Louisiana University in the transfer portal. St John’s has added some key players through the transfer portal who will make a significant impact:

Tareq Coburn

The Queen’s native is a 6’5 guard going into his senior year as he is transferring from Hofstra University after averaging 11 points per game (PPG) over his three-year career. Coming off a career best 15.1 PPG and shooting nearly 40% from beyond the arc as he finished his Hofstra tenure with 170 3-pointers, which is good for 10th in Hofstra’s history. Not only can Coburn fill up the stat sheet on the offensive side of the ball, but he also finished second on the team with 1.2 steals per game. Tareq is the typical “3 and D” player and will be a vital part to any success that Mike Anderson’s squad will have this season.

Aaron Wheeler

Aaron Wheeler is a 6’9 Forward transferring from Purdue as a redshirt Junior and will have two years of eligibility with St. John’s. Wheeler started over 30 games for the Boilermakers last season as he averaged 3.9 PPG as well as tacking on 4.4 Rebounds per game. Wheeler is a big who can stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting ability but can also crash the boards. He is a great versatile big and will be able to fit into any spot coach Anderson puts him in.

Montez Mathis

Montez Mathis is transferring into St. John’s as a Senior with two years of eligibility after the 6’4 guard spent his first three seasons with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The scrappy guard played a key role on a Rutgers team who made the NCAA tournament last season as he averaged 8.3 PPG. Mathis is a great glue guy for any team, he can come in and give a boost on the offensive end and play superb defense at the guard position. He should be able to give a big boost coming in off the bench this season as he can give the team a boost at any time on both ends of the floor.

Joel Soriano

The 6’11, 250-pound Center is a Yonkers native and is arguably the most important piece added to this veteran team during the offseason. Joel is coming off a big year with Fordham as he nearly averaged a double-double averaging 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per outing. He is a huge defensive presence in the paint and is a force to be reckoned with on the glass. His offensive skills are a little raw, but with his size and rebounding abilities the points will come. Soriano will be a big part of what should be a stout Red Storm defense while being able to help on offense as well.

Although St. John’s were big players in the transfer portal during the offseason, a lot of their production will be coming from returning players. The two main players who are returning are Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander, both coming off big seasons for the Red Storm. Let’s take a look at these familiar faces:

Julian Champagnie

Champagnie had a breakout season last year with St. John’s as he averaged nearly 20 points per game as well as filling up the stat sheet in many areas including averaged 7.4 rebounds per game. He is going into his Junior season standing at 6’8 and is a wing who can do it all on both sides of the court. Julian tested the NBA waters and went to the NBA draft combine, but in the end decided to come back to Queens for at least one more year. He is a serious Big East and National player of the year candidate and is the leader of this St. John’s team.

Posh Alexander

The 6’0 guard is going into his sophomore year with St. John’s after an extremely impressive freshman campaign. Posh won Big East Freshman of the Year and was also the Big East co-defensive player of the year. He finished the season averaging 10.9 points, 4.3 assists, and an astounding 2.6 assists per game. Alexander is as fast as lightning on both ends as he can blow by you and attack the rim and will swipe the ball away in the blink of an eye. He is great on both sides of the ball and will be a big part of St. John’s backcourt.

With the addition of many transfers and retaining there two main players, expectations are high and rightfully so. This team will be a real player in the Big East and should have a good shot at making a run at the NCAA tournament in coach Mike Anderson’s 3rd season at the helm. The combo of Posh Alexander and Julian Champagnie can rival any other duo in the nation along with the big anchor in the middle of the paint in Joel Soriano.

Looking forward to St. John’s first game, they will take on the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils on Tuesday, November 9th at 7:45 P.M. at Carnesecca Arena and airing on the FOX Sports app. MS Valley State is coming off a miserable season as they ended it with a record of 2-22 and were not competitive in most of those games. Although St. John’s should win this game, they cannot afford to take any game for granted if they want to have a successful season. While not the steepest of competition, MS Valley state does have a group of guards who can score including their lead scorer from last season Caleb Hunter. If Posh Alexander can lock down their guards, which he did all last season, then the Red Storm should be able to easily roll to a win and start their season off on the right foot. This is the beginning of a highly anticipated season and should be an exciting one to follow. Enjoy the game and go Johnnies!