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Josh Roberts, the 6’9” forward from Alabama who submitted his National Letter of Intent to sign with St. John’s last week - came up to New England for a pair of showcase games against high level competition.
In one game, Roberts played limited minutes and did not score. In the other, he was nearly perfect in the box score, scoring 14 points while shooting 6/6 from the field, 2/2 from the line, with four total rebounds (one offensive) and and a block in 27 minutes.
Roberts took a few minutes to chat with Julius Kim for the Rumble about what he is looking forward to when he comes up from Montverde Academy in Florida - where he is currently in school, competing against some of the best high school/ postgrad programs in the nation - to New York City.
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Q: What are you looking forward to in the St. John’s program when you go there?
“I’m looking forward to playing a lot. Coming in as a freshman, you know, they got great guard play so I’m looking forward to playing with Shamorie (Ponds) and Marcus (LoVett) and the other guards. I feel like I fit in right and I feel like I can do a lot of positive things.”
Q: What do you feel like you can bring to the team?
“Rebounding, blocking shots, running the floor, using my athleticism, put backs and shooting mid-range.”
Q: Before you head to campus, what are some of the things you are working on right now to expand your game?
“Working on ball-handling everyday and I’m trying to improve my three point shooting to become more of a perimeter player.”
Q: How is your relationship like with Chris Mullin and Matt [Abdelmassih]?
“It’s good… it’s great. We talk a lot on the phone and stuff and we’re building our relationship for next year.”
Q: When they were recruiting you, what was their message to you?
“It was a lot. They came in and they made me feel like family… [that] told me a lot [about the program].”
Q: Are you looking forward to the New York atmosphere?
“Oh, yeah… cause I’m from the country. So being around buildings and stuff… New York City is the best city ever, so it’ll be good.”