St. John’s Season to Tip on Tuesday vs Loyola Maryland
QUEENS, N.Y. (Nov. 5, 2018) – One of the most highly anticipated St. John’s men’s basketball campaigns in recent memory will tip off on Tuesday evening at Carnesecca Arena when the Red Storm welcomes Loyola Maryland for its season opener at 6:30 p.m.
Junior guard Shamorie Ponds leads the way for St. John’s heading into the 2018-19 campaign, the program’s fourth under the direction of Head Coach Chris Mullin. The 6-foot-1 southpaw from Brooklyn recently became the first St. John’s student-athlete since Malik Sealy in 1991 to be named the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, an accolade he received after leading the league in scoring last season at 21.6 points per game. A First Team All-BIG EAST selection in 2017-18, Ponds ranked 18th nationally in scoring average and set the school’s sophomore scoring record with 647 points, good enough for the eighth highest single-season total in program history. A two-time national player of the week after leading the Red Storm past No.4 Duke and No. 1 Villanova in consecutive outings, Ponds received votes for the Associated Press Preseason All-America Team and earned a spot on the preseason watch lists for the Naismith Trophy and the Bob Cousy Award.
Ponds is one of three starters returning from last year’s squad alongside Justin Simon and Marvin Clark II. Simon, a Preseason Second Team All-BIG EAST selection, was the only player in the BIG EAST to rank in the top five of the conference’s statistical standings in steals (1st- 2.48), assists (2nd- 5.1) and rebounds (5th- 7.1) last season. As a testament to his unmatched versatility, the 6-foot-5 guard also finished eighth in the league in blocks with 0.8 per game while averaging 12.2 points per game. Clark, a redshirt senior from Kansas City, finished second on the team last year in scoring average at 12.5 points per game. One of the Red Storm’s most reliable scoring threats, Clark finished 10th in the BIG EAST in three-point shooting percentage while also converting on 85.1 percent of his free throws.
The Red Storm will also look for contributions from a talented slew of newcomers led by four transfers. The most highly touted of the crew, Mustapha Heron will don red and white for the first time following two standout seasons at Auburn. During his sophomore year, Heron earned AP Second Team All-SEC honors and led the Tigers in scoring at 16.4 points per game, a total that ranked sixth in the conference. With Heron pacing the squad, Auburn won 26 games, clinched a share of the SEC Regular Season Championship and made an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Coming off a strong performance in the Red Storm’s exhibition win over Maryville, LJ Figueroa will look to provide instant offense for St. John’s. A former top 100 recruit in the high school class of 2017, Figueroa averaged 21.4 points per game last season at Odessa College in Texas, leading the Wranglers to 28 wins and a spot in the NJCAA Division I Championship. The Lawrence, Mass., native shot 55.5 percent from the floor, including a blistering 48.2 percent from beyond the arc.
After sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, Sedee Keita and Mikey Dixon will make their regular season Red Storm debuts on Tuesday night. Keita, then a freshman, played a role in South Carolina’s run to the Final Four in 2017. Also a freshman at the time, Dixon earned MAAC Rookie of the Year honors at Quinnipiac in 2017 after scoring more than 500 points.
Loyola Maryland will open its 2018-19 campaign after finishing last year with an overall record of 9-22, including a 6-12 mark in the Patriot League. Under the direction of first-year head coach Tavaras Hardy, Loyola returns three starters from last year that averaged double figures. Junior Chuck Champion leads that cohort at 11.5 points per game.
Tuesday’s game, which will serve as a campus-site game for the GotPrint.com Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper, will be the 11th meeting all-time between the Red Storm and the Greyhounds. St. John’s own a 10-0 advantage all-time in the series, which began in 1920 and was last contested in 1934 at DeGray Gym, St. John’s on-campus gym when the University still called Brooklyn home.
