St. John’s Signs Joel Soriano

QUEENS, N.Y. – St. John's Men's Basketball Head Coach Mike Anderson has announced the addition of Joel Soriano to the Red Storm's roster for the 2021-22 campaign.

Soriano, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound Yonkers product, comes to the Red Storm after spending two seasons at Fordham, where he established a reputation as one the most promising front-court talents in the region.

Soriano has three years of NCAA eligibility remaining.

"Joel is a local talent that we are thrilled to keep home and welcome into our St. John's family," said Anderson. "He's a tremendous young man who will be a great addition to our roster because of his size, skill set and experience at the collegiate level. Joel gives our team a new dimension on the interior with his scoring, rebounding and defensive abilities. Our staff really looks forward to working with him."

This past year for the Rams, Soriano started all 14 of the team's games, averaging a near double-double with 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. The Archbishop Stepinac graduate tallied a double-double in more than half of his appearances, doing so eight times in 14 opportunities, including three straight from Jan. 27-Feb. 6.

At season's end, Soriano ranked third in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding and fourth in field goal percentage (54.5%). His 3.5 offensive caroms per game were far and away the most in the league, nearly a full board clear of Duquesne's Marcus Weathers in second (2.67).

As a freshman, Soriano played in 30 games and made 12 starts, averaging 4.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest, the latter of which ranked second on the squad. Soriano finished the season with double-doubles in five of his last six outings, averaging 12.2 points and 13.0 rebounds over that stretch.

As a senior at Stepinac, Soriano helped lead the Crusaders to their first CHSAA 'AA' City Championship since 1960 and the school's first ever New York State Federation Tournament title.

After graduating from Stepinac, Soriano completed a postgraduate year at St. Thomas More under the direction of head coach Jere Quinn.

Soriano also has experience on the international stage. He played for the Dominican Republic during the 2018 FIBA U18 Americas Championship, averaging 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Against the USA team featuring the likes of Cole Anthony, Ayo Dosunmu, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tyrese Maxey, Soriano tallied nine points, nine boards and two blocks.

St. John's University Athletics

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