Amar Alibegovic returns to St. John's

Amar Alibegovic, the 6'9", 235 stretch-four who had received his release to transfer from St. John's, will return to school after exploring his transfer options, which included a visit to Iona and some interest from the University of San Francisco.

“St. John’s is a special place and I want to continue my career here,” said Alibegovic. “After considering transfer opportunities it became clear to me that St. John’s is home, our team is a family and this is where I want to chase my dreams. I appreciate the support of Coach Mullin and the staff throughout this process and am thankful they welcomed me back.”

“We are glad Amar chose to remain part of our basketball program,” said St. John’s Head Coach Chris Mullin. “He’s a good teammate with a tireless work ethic who wants to contribute to our team’s success.”

Much like Chris Obekpa two years ago, the player looked around at the opportunities available and chose to stay with the Johnnies.

Welcome back to the Italian/ Bosnian, who had a career game against Syracuse last season, but had up and down production overall. Alibegovic will be a junior next season.

Ramifications:

• Alibegovic's return gives the Red Storm the full 13 scholarship players (with two - Justin Simon and Marvin Clark sitting out by NCAA transfer rules).
• Anthony Livingston, the grad transfer from Arkansas State, looks to be out of the picture after interest on a match had cooled between him and the school.
• St. John's now has not anticipated open scholarship for 2017 - which may mean that they are turning their efforts to 2018's class.

Alibegovic will need to improve his rebounding and post defense to find a regular role with the Red Storm; with centers Yankuba Sima and Tariq Owens and forwards Kassoum Yakwe and Darien Williams, plus German shooter Richard Freudenberg, Alibegovic will have to work and continue to improve to find a rotation slot.

But the staff has improved his game already, and New York is a fine place to enjoy time even if Alibegovic doesn't get a starting role and 20 minutes per game.

Your thoughts on this surprising reversal?