Daniss Jenkins and Joel Soriano Named to All-Met First Team

QUEENS, N.Y. – St. John's graduate students Daniss Jenkins and Joel Soriano earned All-Met First Team honors as announced by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) on Wednesday. The awards will be presented at the 91^st annual Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Jenkins and Soriano became the first St. John's teammates to each collect All-Met First Team honors since Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander earned the accolades in 2021.

A 2023-24 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, Jenkins averaged team-highs with 14.9 points, 5.4 assists (3rd in BIG EAST) and 1.6 steals (7th in BIG EAST) in 33 starts for the Red Storm last season. The 6-foot-4 guard scored double figures on 28 occasions, including six 20-point showings.

In conference play, Jenkins elevated his game with 16.1 points per contest, shooting 47.1 percent from the field. He also ranked fourth in the BIG EAST averaging 5.1 assists and hit 2.0 3-pointers per game in conference action.

The Dallas, Texas, native shined in St. John's 80-66 victory over No. 15/15 Creighton on Feb. 25 at Madison Square Garden. Jenkins unloaded a season-best 27 points to go with six assists in 31 minutes of action.

Jenkins finished ninth on the program's single-season assist list with 179. Over the course of the season, he had eight or more assists in eight games, including a season-high nine assists in a win at Butler on Feb. 28.

This past season, Soriano paced the Red Storm with 9.5 rebounds per contest to go with 13.8 points per game. The Yonkers, N.Y., native recorded 3.7 offensive rebounds per game, which ranked 11th in Division I. He also set career-highs shooting 57.7 percent from the field and registering 57 blocks. Soriano's 14 double-doubles were the second-highest total in the BIG EAST last season while his 1.7 blocks per game ranked third in the league.

The 6-foot-11 center was instrumental in the Red Storm's first regular season sweep of Villanova since the 1992-93 season. Soriano led the team with 20 points and eight rebounds en route to the Red Storm's 81-71 triumph over the Wildcats on Jan. 6 at Finneran Pavilion. The Johnnies' big man followed the effort with a 21-point, nine-rebound performance nearly three weeks later, helping St. John's to a 70-50 victory over Villanova inside "The World's Most Famous Arena" on Jan. 24.

Soriano finished his career as one of only six St. John's players to record 1,100 points and 800 rebounds in just three seasons with the program. The 2022-23 BIG EAST Most Improved Player and All-BIG EAST Second Team selection registered 40 double-doubles with the Red Storm. Soriano also completed his St. John's career ranked seventh all-time in rebounding with 870 boards and 40th on the program's scoring chart with 1,150 points. He also sits third in program history shooting 57.0 percent from the field over his career, trailing only Walter Berry (1984-86, 58.1 pct) and Bill Wennington (1981-85, 57.9 pct).

Jenkins and Soriano helped lead St. John's to 20 wins this past season with 11 coming in league play, marking the program's most conference wins since 2010-11. St. John's won six of its final seven games, including its first BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal victory since 2000. The Johnnies cruised to a 91-72 victory over eventual NIT champion Seton Hall in the quarterfinals before falling to reigning National Champion Connecticut, 95-90, in the semifinals.

St. John's University Athletics

Daniss Jenkins and Joel Soriano Named to All-Met First Team

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Posh Alexander

Daniss Jenkins

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