Champagnie Makes It Official
With his NBA draft stock soaring mid-way through the 2021-2022 campaign at St. John's and having authored a stellar season as St. John's go-to option, Brooklyn native Julian Champagnie made it official this weekend.
Champagnie, who was First Team All-Big East as a sophomore and garnered national acclaim for his scoring pace as a junior this season, will leave school early and head to the NBA draft.
Champagnie is headed to Miami to train for the 2022 NBA Draft. He's hired an agent and will fully weigh his pro stock, one year after testing the waters and opting to return to St. John's.
Champagnie averaged 19.2 points and 6.6 rebounds this past season. A unique mismatch threat with his inside/outside game and ability to spread the floor out with his deft 3-point touch, Champagnie culminates his career as a Top-20 all-time scorer (1,408 points in three years) and fourth all time in 3-pointers with 149.
While St. John's regressed after lofty expectations and wound-up finishing eighth in the Big East, Champagnie was the prolific scorer on whom they leaned.
A 32-point performance against Indiana, 24-point game against Kansas, and 34-point and 16-rebound eruption during a regular season conference win over DePaul is emblematic of Champagnie's ability to commandeer the offensive flow and take game-altering matters into his own hands.
Beyond his on-court presence, Champagnie left a lasting impact on the program with his personality and ability to lead in the locker room.
The 34-point outburst against DePaul was after an 18-day Covid layoff, a sterling performance which gave SJU a psychological lift. With his unique blend of imposing size and skill set, Champagnie had the chance to add versatility, scoring and rebounding to an NBA roster.
He's also got the chance to join his brother, Raptors forward Justin Champagnie, in the big leagues.
The twins played together for Ed Gonzalez at Bishop Loughlin HS and New Heights on the AAU circuit. They were recruited together. And, until later in the recruitment process, it seemed both brothers would wind up at the same school together (Justin Champagnie wound up at Pittsburgh).
Now, they could again be reunited on the biggest stage the game has to offer.
Julian Champagnie arrived at St. John's as an under recruited 17-year-old. He leaves as the most impactful player of the Mike Anderson era and an all-time program great.
The scoring void Champagnie's departure leaves will have to be filled by committee.
St. John's returns foundational piece and fellow NYC guard Posh Alexander as the longest tenured player and a leader on both sides of the floor. St. John's also recently bid adieu to forward Aaron Wheeler, who will be pursuing professional opportunities and has ruled out a return to the program.