Joel Soriano Selected to All-BIG EAST Second Team; AJ Storr Named to BIG EAST All-Freshmen Team

All BIG EAST Honors AJ Storr Joel Soriano

Joel Soriano Selected to All-BIG EAST Second Team; AJ Storr Named to BIG EAST All-Freshmen Team

3/5/2023 1:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

St. John’s duo recognized by the league’s coaches for standout 2022-23 campaigns

BIG EAST Release

QUEENS, N.Y. – St. John's senior center Joel Soriano has been named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team while Red Storm freshman wing AJ Storr was selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team, it was announced Sunday afternoon by the league office.

Soriano, a 6-foot-11 native of Yonkers, N.Y., averaged career-highs with 15.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest, starting all 31 games for the Red Storm. A double-double machine, Soriano finished the regular season with 23 double-doubles, tying Purdue's Zach Edey for the most in Division I this season. Soriano's 23 double-doubles are also the most by a Johnnie since Walter Berry tallied 28 during the 1985-86 campaign.

Soriano was the team's leading rebounder in all but three games this season while leading the Johnnies in scoring 13 times.

The St. John's big man was a dominant force in conference play as well, becoming the first Johnnie to lead the BIG EAST in rebounding by posting 11.5 boards per game, nearly three rebounds more than Providence's Bryce Hopkins who finished second with 8.6 per contest. Soriano averaged a team-best 15.3 points per game, shooting 55.5 percent from the field in 20 starts against league opponents, both of which ranked eighth in the BIG EAST.

Offensively, Soriano scored double figures in 27 of 31 games, 18 of which came against BIG EAST foes. The Johnnies' leading scorer added six efforts of 20 or more points, including a career-high 23 against both Florida State and Seton Hall.

Soriano also ranked among the nation's best in rebounding with his 366 total boards (11.8 rpg) during the regular season, good for third in Division I. He also pulled down 4.2 offensive boards (4^th) and 7.6 defensive rebounds (10^th) per contest, ranking top-10 in Division I for both categories.

During his two seasons in Queens, Soriano managed to pull down 531 rebounds, becoming the ninth player in St. John's history to tally 500 or more in their first two seasons with the program. The Johnnies' big man also ranks ninth on the program's single season chart with 366 boards, just three shy of tying St. John's great Sonny Dove (369, 1965-66) for eighth.
Earlier this season, Soriano was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List, given to the nation's top center, and the Oscar Robertson Award Watch List, presented to the top player in the nation voted on by United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

A four-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection and the conference's Player of the Week on Nov. 28, Soriano also earned national recognition earning the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week award following wins over Butler (Jan. 10) and No. 6/7 UConn (Jan. 15). Over the two-game stretch, Soriano averaged 19.5 points, shooting 17-for-23 from the field (73.9 pct) to go with 11.5 rebounds per game. Soriano also collected a pair of Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Player of the Week awards on Dec. 20 and Jan. 17.

Storr, a three-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week selection, is the third Red Storm rookie to be selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team in the last four seasons. He joins former standout Julian Champagnie (2020) and teammate Posh Alexander (2021) who received the honor in back-to-back years.

The Rockford, Ill., native was a key contributor for St. John's during his first season in Queens, averaging 8.7 points per game, shooting 44.7 percent from the field and appearing in all 31 regular season contests. Storr also buried 36 3-pointers, which were the third-most on the team.

Storr elevated his play in BIG EAST action by averaging 10.5 points in 20 league contests. He scored double figures 11 times, including a pair of 20-point performances with a career-high 23 points at Creighton (Jan. 25) followed by a 20 point performance versus No. 18/23 UConn (Feb. 25). Storr's 40.9 shooting percentage from distance led all BIG EAST freshmen and ranked sixth overall.

After coming off the bench through the first five league games, Storr averaged 12.0 points per outing in his 15 BIG EAST starts. One of his biggest buckets of the season came on Jan. 29 at Madison Square Garden when he buried the game-winning 3-pointer with just seconds remaining to edge Georgetown, 75-73.

Eighth-seeded St. John's (17-14) will open the 2023 BIG EAST Tournament on Wednesday at 3 p.m. when they take on ninth-seeded Butler (14-17) inside Madison Square Garden on FS1.