St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds – Image: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St. John’s tips off their 2018-19 season with a deep and talented roster. It’s that combination which has raised expectations for the team’s performance.
The depth of St. John’s is what’s opened eyes around the Big East conference this season. When head coach Chris Mullin turns to his bench, he’ll have options which were not there a year ago.
Lack of depth has been a problem for the Johnnies since Mullin took over as head coach three years ago. The fact they had to lean so heavily on their starters was a major reason why they struggled in the conference. There just wasn’t anyone for Mullin to turn to when it came time to get meaningful minutes off the bench.
But limited options won’t be the case this season, because the roster is loaded.
Perspective on St. John’s
The additions of talents Mustapha Heron, L.J. Figueroa, Sedee Keita, and Mikey Dixon will help lighten the load for Mullin’s returning core players.
The Johnnies will have Shamorie Ponds, Marvin Clark, and Justin Simon back this season. Ponds was the Big East leading scorer last season, his playmaking skills paired with the blue-chip talent of Heron created a major buzz on social media from fans and media.
Mullin now has the injection of talent he’s been looking for to get St. John’s back into the top half of the conference. This is a roster that can potentially go as deep as nine players in the rotation. That’s a major difference from the six to seven-man rotation they found themselves having to use last season.
This season could be the time to shine for Mullin and St. John’s. The Big East projects to be weaker this season with a handful of players leaving their respective programs. Defending national champion Villanova will have something to say about that, but the injection of depth could help St. John’s take the long-awaited step forward under Mullin’s watch.
