Johnny Jungle

The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

For the die hard St. John's fan.
The unofficial 6th man. est. '07
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The entire St. John’s team is now on campus

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Whether you want to call it rebuilding or retooling, the St. John’s coaching staff has been hard at work to get this roster filled back up after 5 seniors graduated and another 5 transferred. Below Coach Matt Abdelmassih tweets the first look at the new additions of the squad.

Is there a nickname for a 9 man recruiting class? Share your thoughts.

Marcus LoVett aiming to prove doubters wrong

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No one has ever questioned Marcus LoVett’s potential on the court but there has been some concern about the possibility of him not qualifying through the NCAA clearinghouse. LoVett arrived on campus this weekend and let the world know he’s excited to be a part of the St. John’s Red Storm Men’s Basketball team.

Apparently LoVett has good reason to be excited to because there has been positive news regarding his status. It is strongly believed that there is no doubt LoVett will be cleared by NCAA.

Shamorie Ponds is on SJU campus this weekend for official visit

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Shamorie Ponds will be taking his official visit to St. John’s this weekend. Ponds, a Brooklyn native, is considered to be a strong lean for SJU. Will he pop after this weekend? Discuss with St. John’s fans on in the Johnny Jungle forum.

St. John’s releases 2015 non-conference schedule

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QUEENS, N.Y. (August 24, 2015) – The St. John’s men’s basketball program has finalized its non-conference schedule for the 2015-16 campaign. The Red Storm will play eight of its 13 out-of-conference games on its home hardwood at Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden, including a date with Syracuse at “The World’s Most Famous Arena”. Chris Mullin’ssquad will also participate in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, Gavitt Tipoff Games and Mohegan Sun Hall of Fame Shootout, events that feature opponents from the ACC, Big Ten and SEC.

“We are going to be tested early and often, but overall this schedule will allow our team to build chemistry leading up to BIG EAST play,” said Mullin. “Our guys are going to be challenged going up against a variety of programs that play different styles of basketball. Regardless of the opponent, we will be consistent with our work ethic and preparation for each game.”

Season tickets start at $340 for a full season package. For more information visit RedStormTix.com. Season ticket packages include a pair of exhibitions against St. Thomas Aquinas (Nov. 4) and Sonoma State (Nov. 7) for the first glimpse of the 2015-16 Red Storm.

The first regular-season contest of the Mullin Era is set for Nov. 13 versus Wagner at Carnesecca Arena. It kicks off a three-game home stretch in Queens before the Red Storm departs for the beautiful island of Maui. St. John’s will take on UMBC for its mainland game of the 32nd annual Maui Invitational on Nov. 16. The Red Storm then meets Rutgers on Nov. 19 as part of the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games, renewing a series between two local programs that dates back to 1974.

St. John’s first-ever appearance in the Maui Invitational begins with an opening round contest against Vanderbilt on Nov. 23. The Commodores finished 21-14 last season as Kevin Stallings’ group advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) quarterfinals. It will be the seventh meeting all-time between the programs, but the first since 1977. St. John’s holds a 5-1 record in the series with the Commodores.

The Red Storm’s second opponent in Maui will be either Indiana, a potential preseason Top-10 squad, or Wake Forest, which is heading into its second year under head coach Danny Manning. The opposite side of the Maui Invitational bracket features Kansas, UCLA, UNLV and tournament host Chaminade. St. John’s, the eighth winningest program in NCAA Division I history with 1,795 victories, is one of four teams participating in the Maui Invitational Championship Round that ranks in the top-10 on the all-time wins list (Kansas, UCLA, Indiana).

“The field is incredible,” Mullin said about the 2015 Maui Invitational. “Being a really young team is going to make this a huge challenge, but I always felt, even as a kid, that the better competition makes you raise your level. So we’re going to focus and prepare each and every day, not only to get better, but we’re going to prepare to win.”

St. John’s will play its first true road game of the year on Dec. 2 against Fordham at Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx. Mullin then makes his coaching debut at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 6 with St. John’s 50th appearance in the Holiday Festival. The Red Storm will take on St. Francis (N.Y.) as part of the annual doubleheader at “The World’s Most Famous Arena”. Three days later the Red Storm returns to action in Queens for the 100th all-time meeting with Niagara (Dec. 9), a series with its fellow Catholic, Vincentian University that dates back to 1909. It is part of a doubleheader with the St. John’s women’s basketball team taking on Yale.

St. John’s hosts Syracuse at The Garden on Dec. 13 for the 90th meeting between the longtime rivals which renews a home-and-home series. The Red Storm will visit the Carrier Dome next season on a date to be determined. St. John’s topped the Orange, 69-57, in their last contest on Dec. 6, 2014 before 24,884 fans at the Carrier Dome, snapping Syracuse’s 55-game non-conference home win streak.

“St. John’s and Syracuse is one of the great rivalries in all of college basketball,” said Mullin. “I am excited to see this series continue. This game carries a storied history and tradition, and it is important to our fans. I have tremendous respect for Coach Boeheim and his accomplishments throughout a Hall of Fame career. It will be a true honor to coach on the opposite sideline.”

The Red Storm plays its next two games at Carnesecca Arena against Incarnate Word (Dec. 18) and NJIT (Dec. 20). St. John’s wraps up a stretch of three games in six days on Dec. 22 against South Carolina at Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the Hall of Fame Shootout. The Red Storm has won all four of its prior contests with the Gamecocks. The programs last met on Nov. 29, 2012 at Carnesecca Arena as part of the SEC/BIG EAST Challenge.

To purchase season tickets for the 2015-16 campaign visit RedStormTix.com. St. John’s season ticket members can reserve the best seats available at both home venues and enjoy significant savings on a per game basis. Season ticket benefits also include priority for purchasing additional tickets to premium and postseason games before the general public, an exclusive season ticket member gift and guaranteed access to tickets for the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

DAY    DATE      OPPONENT                    LOCATION (VENUE)                                 TIME               TV

Wed.    Nov. 4       ST. THOMAS AQUINAS [Exh.]      Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD
Sat.      Nov. 7       SONOMA STATE [Exh.]         Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD
Fri.       Nov. 13     WAGNER                              Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD

Maui Invitational (Campus Site)
Mon.    Nov. 16     UMBC                                  Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD

Gavitt Tipoff Games
Thurs.   Nov. 19     RUTGERS                              Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD

Maui Invitational
Mon.    Nov. 23     vs. Vanderbilt                      Maui, Hawaii (Lahaina Civic Center)              2:30 p.m.               ESPN2
Tues.    Nov. 24     vs. Indiana/Wake Forest       Maui, Hawaii (Lahaina Civic Center)    2 p.m./7:30 p.m.      ESPN/ESPN2
Wed.    Nov. 25     TBD                                     Maui, Hawaii (Lahaina Civic Center)                       TBD                  TBD
Wed.    Dec. 2        at Fordham                          Bronx, N.Y. (Rose Hill Gymnasium)                        TBD                  TBD

Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival
Sun.     Dec. 6        ST. FRANCIS (N.Y.)               New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)              TBD                  TBD
Wed.    Dec. 9        NIAGARA                             Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD
Sun.     Dec. 13      SYRACUSE                           New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)              TBD                  TBD
Fri.       Dec. 18      INCARNATE WORD               Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD
Sun.     Dec. 20      NJIT                                     Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)                           TBD                  TBD

Mohegan Sun Hall of Fame Shootout
Tues.    Dec. 22      vs. South Carolina                Uncasville, Conn. (Mohegan Sun Arena)                 TBD                  TBD

Kassoum Yakwe commits to St. John’s for 2015

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Kassoum Yakwe committed to St. John’s today. Yakwe recently took official visits to St. John’s (Aug 13-15) and Oregon.

Yakwe broke the news to 247sports reporter Andrew Slater saying,

“Coach (Steve) Lav(in) did a great job of recruiting me for three years. He deserves credit for helping me to learn about the school. My friend and teammate Felix Balamou has been great about helping me know what it’s like at St. John’s. I built a really good relationship with the coaching staff since April. Matt (Abdelmissah) has been the lead recruiter and he’s been recruiting me since Iowa State. Now, when he came back to New York, Matt’s been recruiting me to St. John’s. He’s one of the main reasons why I chose St. John’s, but I also liked the facilities and I wanted to stay local. Those are the main reasons.”

Yakwe will round off the 2015 class and an overhauled St. John’s squad. Mullin and staff will now turn their attention to class of 2016 with priority #1 being Shamorie Ponds.