Red Storm to Welcome Baruch in Wednesday Exhibition

Red Storm to Welcome Baruch in Wednesday Exhibition

10/27/2021 10:50:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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St. John’s men’s basketball team to host the Bearcats at 7 p.m. on ESPN3

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team will host its lone public exhibition of the 2021-22 preseason on Wednesday night, welcoming the Baruch Bearcats to Carnesecca Arena for a 7 p.m. tip live on ESPN3.

General admission tickets to the contest are available for $10 through the St. John's Ticket Office.

All individuals ages 12 and older must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to attend St. John's home games this basketball season. Attendees must present proof of vaccination through either a CDC Vaccination Card (a digital photo of the card will be accepted) or through an accredited mobile app (NYS Excelsior Pass, NYC COVID Safe, etc.). Individuals will also be expected to present identification to confirm the person information listed on the vaccination record. Children under 12 are not required to provide a negative COVID test when attending the game with a fully vaccinated adult.

St. John's was picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll after completing the 2020-21 season with a record of 16-11, including a 10-9 mark in conference play. That winning record against league foes was the first for the Red Storm since the 2014-15 campaign.

Three members of the program were presented with major end-of-season awards from the BIG EAST. Mike Anderson was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, the first St. John's head man to receive the honor since Brian Mahoney in 1993. Julian Champagnie, the league's leading scorer at 19.8 points per game, found a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team and shared the conference Most Improved Player award. Fellow Brooklyn native Posh Alexander garnered BIG EAST Freshman of the Year accolades and shared BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year plaudits. He became just the third player in league history to win both awards simultaneously, joining an exclusive fraternity that includes just Patrick Ewing (1982) and Allen Iverson (1995), both of whom are now Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers.

The Red Storm also welcomes back sophomore and New York City native Dylan Addae-Wusu, who played in all 27 games a season ago and contributed 6.5 points per outing.

In addition to those scholarship returners, the Johnnies also welcome six transfers with established reputations. Aaron Wheeler and Montez Mathis will take the court in Queens and playing three years apiece in the Big Ten at Purdue and Rutgers, respectively. Stef Smith and Tareq Coburn join the team as graduate students following highly successful undergraduate tenures at Vermont and Hofstra, respectively, that featured multiple conference championships for each. Joel Soriano and Esahia Nyiwe will look to bolster the front court. Soriano was a double-double machine at Fordham, averaging 10.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season, the latter of which ranked third in the Atlantic 10. Nyiwe spent time at Texas Tech after a standout junior college career that saw him average a near double-double at Clarendon College.

Four freshmen are also set to make their Carnesecca Arena debuts, as Rafael Pinzón, O'Mar Stanley, Drissa Traore and Jason Simpson.

Long Island natives Artemios Gavalas and Jalen Rosemond are also back in red for their sophomore and senior seasons, respectively.

The Red Storm will officially open the 2021-22 season on Tuesday, Nov. 9, against Mississippi Valley State at 7:45 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena.