Schedule update: Red Storm announce 2012-13 nonconference opponents and dates

As expected, St. John's announced its full nonconference schedule on Wednesday afternoon. In all, the Red Storm will play 19 games at home and 19 games against opponents that participated in some form of postseason play in 2011-12.

Steve Lavin will once again lead one of the youngest squads in the nation, which will only have one senior on its roster. After collecting its second consecutive solid recruiting class, the St. John's roster will consist of almost entirely freshmen and sophomores.

For the first time since the 1997-98 season, Duke is not on St. John's nonconference schedule. With the ACC going from 16 to 18 conference games this year, Duke requested a hiatus on the series - but all signs point to the Duke/ Red Storm tilt returning.

Also, the Red Storm will not play UCLA after the two programs met in a home-and-home series in Lavin's first two years at St. John's.

Details on the rest of the schedule, below the fold.

The Johnnies, as they did last year, will host two exhibition matchups at Carnesecca Arena in November. St. John's will attempt to become more comfortable with one another against Division II's Sonoma State on Thursday, November 1st and Division III's Concordia (Chicago) on Tuesday, November 6th.

Per ESPN's Kieran Darcy, Sonoma State is coached by a former coach of Lavin's, and Concordia is coached by a man who credits Lavin's public battle with prostate cancer with his own diagnosis.

The season will begin on November 13th, when St. John's welcomes Detroit to Carnesecca Arena for a weekday afternoon slate as part of ESPN's 24-Hour Tip-Off Marathon. The Johnnies lost to the Titans in Detroit last year when the school dedicated its home court to Dick Vitale.

The Red Storm will quickly travel down to Charleston, SC to participate in the Charleston Classic from November 15-18th. St. John's will be part of a strong field that consists Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, Charleston, Colorado, Dayton, and Murray State.

"Three games in four days at the Charleston Classic in November will allow us to learn more about the makeup of our team," mentioned Lavin. "The field looks to be strong as any 2012 early-season tournament and will prove to be a valuable experience for our young squad."

St. John's will then return to the Queens campus for a three-game for a four-game homestand at Carnesecca Arena. The Johnnies will host the Patriot League's Holy Cross on November 21st, the Atlantic Sun's Florida Gulf Coast on the 24th, South Carolina in the Big East/SEC Challenge on the 29th, and NJIT on December 1st.

"Frank Martin will have his South Carolina team ready to compete when they come to Queens," said Lavin. "With national television and the fired-up Gamecocks coming to town, the Johnnies will get a good early test to see where we are as a team."

St. John's will travel to California for a clash with the San Francisco Dons at small War Memorial Gymnasium on December 4th. Lavin's father, Cap, played there during the 1950's. The trip will be the Red Storm's only visit to the west coast during the regular season.

The young Johnnies will make their 2013 Madison Square Garden debut on Saturday, December 8th against Fordham in the Holiday Festival. The two programs have split their two meetings over the past two seasons. St. John's most recently defeated the Rams, 56-50, last December.

One of the more exciting games of the season will take place on December 15th when St. John's plays its first game at Brooklyn's brand new Barclays Center against St. Francis (NY). The Red Storm handled the Terriers when Glenn Braica brought his team to Queens last year.

St. John's will have one final nonconference tune-up on December 21st before the Big East season begins when they will host UNC-Asheville at Carnesecca Arena. As we saw with Amir Garrett last season against Texas Pan-American, it is likely that point guard Jamal Branch will make his Red Storm debut on this night against UNC-Asheville.

What is your reaction to this year's nonconference schedule? Now that Duke and UCLA are not on the calendar, do you feel that the Red Storm's schedule is strong enough?

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