Tuesday St. John’s catchup: new assistants, new commits on campus, World Cup time

The summer is here for St. John’s teams... and so is new opportunity.

The Red Storm have signed the versatile wing/ guard Julian Champagnie, who is officially signed and on campus with JUCO forward Damien Sears and Johnathan McGriff.

The basketball players are arriving and practicing on campus, and with a full staff; St. John’s announced the addition of assistant coach Steve DeMeo, who comes from running JUCO Northwest Florida, along with many years at Providence and Hofstra. Yes, St. John’s has two coaches who were Hofstra assistants (Van Macon is the other).

With junior college ties and some hints of an ability to find diamonds in the rough (credited with recruiting Ryan Gomes before UConn knew how good he was), the local coach brings deep experience to the bench.

Also added to the St. John’s bench as a Special Assistant is former NBA player and coach Paul Pressey, whose sons Phil and Matt played for Mike Anderson (and called him “uncle”, because of their father’s longstanding friendship from college).

Those coaches — along with Director of Basketball Operations, Chris Huey (who was on Mullin’s staff), Director of Player Development Will Bartlett, and graduate assistants Jordan Sears and Evan Orzolek — join Van Macon and TJ Cleveland in a staff with a wealth of collegiate experience.

The current roster looks like this:

• G: Greg Williams Jr. Johnathan McGriff
• SG: Mustapha Heron, Eli Wright
• Wing: LJ Figueroa, David Caraher, Julian Champagnie
• F: Josh Roberts, Marcellus Earlington, Ian Steere, Damien Sears

With two unaccounted-for scholarships available. There is one freshman (McGriff), one senior (Heron), three juniors (Figueroa, Wright and Sears), and five sophomores (Williams, Steere, Earlington, Roberts, and Caraher).

Going pro

Meanwhile, Justin Simon will be working out for the Clippers today, while Shamorie Ponds has a workout with the Celtics.

Soccer SZN

An alum of the women’s soccer team, Rachel Daly, will be suiting up for England in the Women’s World Cup.

Her versatility helped her win a spot in the English team under their new coach, Phil Neville. Though she often plays forward with the Houston Dash, Daly has played some full back for her national team.

Summer ball

The baseball squad is awaiting the results of the Major League Baseball draft, while a number of players will spend the summer honing their craft in all-star leagues in the northeast.

So if you come across some very minor league baseball, take a few hours and check out the game. You might see a future star.

Did we miss anything?

Let us know what news tidbits you’ve seen about St. John’s.