St. John's University Athletics
Kassoum Yakwe Named To BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's freshman Kassoum Yakwe (Bamako, Mali) was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 13.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in two games last week. The 6-foot-7 forward recorded double-doubles in both contests, including a career-best 16-point, 15-rebound performance against Seton Hall on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Yakwe is the third St. John's freshman to collect a BIG EAST weekly award this season, joining Federico Mussini (Reggio Emilia, Italy) and Yankuba Sima (Girona, Spain).
Yakwe shot a team-high 60.0 percent from the field, converting 12-of-20 field goal attempts in the two contests. Also with eight blocks last week, Yakwe increased his BIG EAST leading swats total to 64 which is the eighth-most for a single season in program history. He currently ranks eighth in Division I and leads all freshmen in the country averaging 2.91 blocks per game.
In St. John's first game of the week, Yakwe helped lead the Red Storm to an 80-65 victory over DePaul Wednesday at Carnesecca Arena by recording his first career double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) to go with four blocks. Then on Sunday, he delivered another impressive effort in a narrow setback to Seton Hall at MSG. Yakwe shot 7-for-9 from the field, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the second half as St. John's battled all the way back from a 19-point deficit. He also collected nine of his 15 rebounds on the offensive glass and blocked four shots.
Yakwe has quickly emerged as one of the top newcomers in the BIG EAST. Since entering the starting lineup on Jan. 9, he has averaged 8.8 points, a team-high 7.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in the last 12 games. Yakwe has also scored double-figures in five of the last six contests.
St. John's begins a two-game road trip Thursday visiting DePaul at 9 p.m. on FS1 and 570 AM WMCA.
