Phil Greene, Rysheed Jordan and Felix Balamou to sit out of Europe games

St. John's will have its deepest backcourt of recent memory in 2013-14, but will have to wait a little longer to flaunt it.

Guards Phil Greene IV, Rysheed Jordan and Felix Balamou are not expected to play in the Red Storm's five exhibition games during its upcoming two-week tour of Europe as the two continue to recover from injuries, according to Kieran Lynch of The Torch.

Greene, a rising junior who averaged 10.1 points per game as a sophomore a year ago, underwent successful hip surgery this offseason and has opted to rest it through the Europe trip. Greene played the majority of last season with the nagging injury, that at times clearly affected his play.

The St. John's medical staff has also elected to keep highly-anticipated freshman point guard Rysheed Jordan out of the five games in France, Italy and Spain due to back spasms that the guard has endured in early season practices and workouts.

Felix Balamou will also sit out of the exhibitions as he continues to recover from an ankle injury he incurred in last year's Big East Tournament.

The Johnnies have high expectations for their backcourt this year, which will also include returning scoring threat D`Angelo Harrison along with Jamal Branch, who head coach Steve Lavin mentioned Thursday has been the most improved player since the end of last season.