Champagnie Tabbed to All-BIG EAST First Team, Alexander Unanimous All-Freshman Selection

Champagnie Tabbed to All-BIG EAST First Team, Alexander Unanimous All-Freshman Selection

3/7/2021 1:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Pair of Brooklyn natives helped St. John’s to highest BIG EAST finish since 2000

QUEENS, N.Y. – After leading the Red Storm to its best finish in the regular season conference standings in more than two decades, Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander have been recognized by the BIG EAST for their efforts. Champagnie, the top scorer in the conference, was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team while Alexander, the league leader in steals, was unanimously selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.

The remainder of the BIG EAST's major end-of-season awards, including Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year, will be announced on Wednesday prior to the start of the conference tournament's first round.

Anchored by the pair of Brooklyn natives, St. John's finished with a winning record in BIG EAST play for the first time since 2014-15 and will enter the conference tournament with the no. 4 seed.

Champagnie, who averaged 19.9 points per game overall this season and 19.5 points per game in league play, became the first underclassman in program history and just the fourth Johnnie overall to lead the BIG EAST in scoring over the course of a conference season. He joins Chris Mullin (1983-84), Walter Berry (1985-86) and Marcus Hatten (2001-02) as the only St. John's players to ever accomplish the feat.

After missing the first two games of the season with injury, Champagnie finished in double figures 24 times in 24 appearances. He scored 20 or more points 11 times, including a career-high 33 points at Creighton on Jan. 9, and recorded seven double-doubles, tied for the league lead in that category.

In addition to leading the league in scoring, Champagnie also topped the BIG EAST in free throw percentage (88.7%) while ranking sixth in 3-pointers made (2.4 per game) and 13^th in 3-point field goal percentage (38.7%). Far from just a scorer, the Bishop Loughlin product ended the regular season ranked seventh in the league in rebounds per game (7.3), fourth in steals per game (1.4) and ninth in blocked shots per game (1.0).

With his honor, Champagnie becomes the 17^th player in St. John's history and the first since Shamorie Ponds in 2018 and 2019 to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. He joins Ponds, Mullin, Ron Artest and Erick Barkley as the only St. John's players to find spots on the top all-league team as sophomores.

Alexander was unanimously selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after establishing himself as one of the most exciting young talents in the country. The 6-foot guard averaged 11.1 points per game, good enough for second the team, while leading the team in both assists (4.4 per game) and steals (2.6 per game). Alexander's 4.4 helpers were tops among league freshmen and sixth in the BIG EAST overall. His 2.6 thefts led the BIG EAST by nearly one full steal, as Shavar Reynolds of Seton Hall finished in second with 1.7 per contest. Through games played on Saturday, Alexander ranks eighth nationally overall, first among freshmen, in steals per outing. He is the only freshman to rank inside the top 25 in that category.

In addition to his talents as a defender and a distributor, Alexander has also shown that he can pour in buckets when needed. The Our Saviour Lutheran product finished in double figures 13 times with a pair of 20-point performances, including a season-high 21 points at Providence on Feb. 6. St. John's is 11-2 this season in games where Alexander goes for 10 or more.

On Feb. 16 against Xavier, Alexander nearly recorded the first St. John's triple-double since Artest in 1999, tallying 15 points to go along with season highs of nine assists and eight rebounds while surrendering no turnovers.

Champagnie, Alexander and the rest of the fourth-seeded Red Storm will begin BIG EAST Tournament play on Thursday at 3 p.m. when they take on fifth-seeded Seton Hall on FS1.