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Good morning!
The big news this morning is that St. John’s will have an enormous list of prospects scheduled to come for tomorrow’s Red Storm Tip-Off. There will be St. John’s 2018 commit Boubacar Diakite, targets Luther Muhammad and Mamadou Doucoure; Precious Achiuwa, Cole Anthony, Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis in the class of 2019; and 2020 prospects like the Maryland pair of Justin Lewis and Che Evans. (Maybe they can come early and get a couple of pick-up games in.)
Look at the NY Post for the full list of prospects.
It’s a year where expectations (and possibly impatience) will start to build, where there will be more urgency than last season, Mullin hopes. From Roger Rubin for Newsday:
“Our returning players know what they went through. They don’t need motivation or goals,” Mullin said Tuesday at the conference media day at Madison Square Garden. “The guys coming in watched a lot of our games and the reason they came was to make a difference.
For more on the other Big East teams on Media Day, check out Big East Coast Bias’ compilation of notes and interviews from the sessions.
Meanwhile, the St. John’s women are predicted to finish sixth in the conference under coach Joe Tartamella, after losing two players who scored 35 points per game - 52% of the team’s 67 points per game average. Creighton and DePaul were picked as the favorites to win the conference on the women’s side.
Joe Tartamella responded to St. John’s position, after winning the league tournament last season: “when you lose two iconic players and add six new faces, it’s somewhat expected. We look at each preseason poll and know that it certainly matters more where you finish at the end of the season. I’m excited to watch this team grow throughout the year.”
In the pro ranks, 2000-2001 player Omar Cook, who has had a very successful career in Europe, has moved from Estudiantes in Madrid, Spain, to Euroleague power Panathinaikos in Greece. He’ll play there for two months, replacing the injured Mike James.