Updated St. John's scholarship chart, May 2015

In the heady days of spring and summer, it's easy to look at a full roster (after the commitments from Malik Ellison and Marcus LoVett) and imagine that all the players are incredible talents who mesh with each other and the coaching staff, leaving that staff with difficult decisions on who to play, leaving players sulking on the bench...

But despite a roster that looks almost crowded for next year's St. John's team, that's rarely how a college basketball season plays out (unless the team is Kentucky).

To a man, each of the players is a question mark - as is Chris Mullin's on-court scheme and off-court ability to mold the team into a competitive unit.

We can assume that he will be good at it, but the only true evidence will happen once the referee tosses the ball in the air for tip-off, no matter how much faith and anticipation St. John's fans have.

But the offseason is all about speculation. With that in mind, see this possible projected depth chart for the internationally-flavored, tall-at-the-wings and enough-depth-at-the-forward spots version of the St. John's Red Storm:

And St. John's has one more spot left, which they can bank for next season's recruiting class or use on Italian guard Federico Mussini, a talented (though skinny) ball handler and shooter who is deciding between pro ball in Italy or US college basketball - and is said to have St. John's as his favorite.

Who starts for St. John's?

On this roster, blessed with height at the wing positions, there are only two sure things fans can expect at the beginning of games next season - Obekpa and Rysheed Jordan should be starting.

We believe Darien Williams, who was ranked #9 on 247 Sports' ranking of JUCO players, will start. He displayed an inside-outside game and an ability to rebound, and seems to bring needed skills (height, shooting, rebounding) to Chris Mullin's first St. John's team.

After that?

Former Pitt wing Durand Johnson should have the right combination of three-point shooting, skill and experience to warrant starting consideration at the shooting guard or small forward spot.

But Johnson was at times unspectacular/ inconsistent at Pitt. Perhaps another player will step up to provide defense and deep shooting or some other skill to complement the starters, someone like Ron Mvouika or Felix Balamou (who has some experience and athleticism) or Malik Ellison, said to be a heady player who brings a range of skills to the floor.

Amar Alibegovic showed enough to get on the floor for St. John's last year, so perhaps he makes the sophomore leap and returns with a more effective outside shot, an ability to foul a little less, and better rebounding skill - which will be needed by the Red Storm, given Chris Obekpa's tendency to shot block rather than rebound.

What on-court questions can we project for St. John's?

Interior scoring?

Scoring inside the arc is still a question mark. Both Obekpa and Jordan shot under 50% inside the arc for the season, though Obekpa hit 50% in conference play.

Obekpa isn't a scorer, but he could be more effective on a roster that looks to find him spots where he can score - on the offensive glass, in transition if he runs to the rim energetically. Other than that, St. John's will need some players like Alibegovic and Williams to score enough inside if the three-point shooting is effective.

Defense?

With a new team, defense is always a question mark. But the team has a lot of height to work with, and height tends to make it harder for opponents to score/ get clean shots, and tends to also be reflected in better rebounding than the very small St. John's team of last year. And defensive rebounding is one of the ways to keep opponents off the scoreboard.

Team play/ team IQ?

And with a new team, cohesion is a question mark. Will some of the players feel the need to play hero ball? Will they be able to pass the ball and think about what play is for the good of the team?

And again, only five of the twelve players played competitive college basketball for all of last year, and two of those (Jones and Balamou) only saw spot minutes. Experience is still low, even if the hopes are high.

It's hard to project a team with this much change - and the players who return will all be cast into higher-profile roles.

A speculative depth chart

Just for argument/ discussion's sake - tell us what you think the depth chart will look like in the comments below. Where does the team seem strongest? Weakest?