St. John’s Hopes to Storm to a 12-0 Start

In sports it can be dangerous to look ahead, but the St John’s Red Storm basketball team is undefeated (9-0) and is heading into a very friendly three game stretch on their schedule.  The Johnnies have tee’d up three smaller programs in preparation of the start of what should be a grueling month of January.

St John’s prepares for a trifecta of home games to end the early non-conference schedule, starting with a tip-off at 4:30pm on Saturday, Dec. 16 against Wagner.  The next two Red Storm opponents, St Francis Brooklyn on Dec. 19 and Sacred Heart on Dec. 22 hopefully provide the footprint to a 12-0 start.

The 2018 season has started off with promise for the Chris Mullin-led Red Storm.  One of the most electric players in the Big East, Shamorie Ponds, picked up right where he left off in 2017; scoring 21.6 per game, good for third in the Big East.  Ponds leads the league in assists (4.9) and steals (2.8). On Dec. 10, Ponds was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll.

St. John’s fans are starting to see the rewards of sticking with Mullin, whose three-year career at St John’s started with 8, 14, and 16 wins respectively.

The Johnnies Big East schedule kicks off on Saturday night, Dec. 29 with a match-up against neighboring Seton Hall.  Tip-off is 8:30pm at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The game against the Pirates launches the Red Storm into January which features eight conference battles.

It might be early, but Mullin is already thinking about taking this year’s St. John’s team to a tournament.  The last NCAA tourney visit for St John’s was in 2014, when former coach Steve Lavin’s 21-12 team fell in the second round of the tournament.