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Orlando Sanchez Cleared by NCAA; Redshirt God’sgift Gives St. John’s Scholarship Flexibility

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Junior college transfer Orlando Sanchez has received a waiver from the NCAA and will regain one year of playing eligibility, St. John’s announced Thursday via Twitter.

“It’s big news,” Sanchez said. “I can play next year. I’m so happy. I’m going to call my grandma right now and tell her the great news. I’m going to tell them ‘I’m free. I can play.’”

St. John’s sought out legal council of Robert Orr, who had previously represented highly touted UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad, to help Sanchez in the appeal process.

“I am delighted to receive this good news for Orlando and St. John’s,” Orr said in a statement. “It is the right decision and I’m appreciative of the NCAA staff working with us in order to reconsider the waiver request.”

As of now, Sanchez will be the 13th scholarship player on the roster for the Red Storm for the start of the 2013-14 season, the maximum allowed by the NCAA.

However, this won’t prevent Steve Lavin and staff to continue recruiting players for next season.

St. John’s elected to redshirt God’sgift Achiuwa at the beginning of the season. The young Red Storm team was expected to go through some growing pains this year and redshirting Achiuwa was seen as an insurance plan.

Achiuwa had another year to develop his basketball skills and when the Red Storm were more ready to compete he would be able to step in.

However, if Achiuwa chooses, he could become an immediately eligible transfer player after completing his undergraduate degree this school year.

In order to be immediately eligible, Achiuwa would have to enroll at another university and pursue a major not currently offered by St. John’s for his graduate degree.

This would free up a scholarship for St. John’s, while also allowing Achiuwa to play immediately, ultimately a win-win scenario for both parties.

In addition to the possibility of Achiuwa transferring, a source tells JohnnyJungle.com that transfer Max Hooper could decide to forfeit his scholarship and walk-on as a member of the team.

Red Storm Rises Past Charleston 64-53

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Joshua S. Kelly-US PRESSWIRE

St. John’s sprinted out of the gate to take an early lead and never looked back. The veteran laden Cougars fell victim to Lavin’s “Quick Sand” zone which was extended to 94 feet.

The Red Storm dominated all facets of the game from start to finish beating the Cougars (1-1, 0-0) 64-53. The 2-0 Red Storm were led by D’Angelo Harrison who scored a game high 21 points.

“We were much more calm out there,” said Harrison.

As they should be as the Red Storm led by as much as 20 points in the first half. The Red Storm will advance to the next round of the Charleston classic to face Murray State.

While Coach Steve Lavin is excited by the athleticism of his team, it’s the way the Johnnies are playing that may be shocking this early in the season.

“They not only showed athleticism and quickness but smart basketball, too,” Lavin emphasized.

For the second straight game both Phil Greene, newly dubbed PG-IV, and Amir Garrett scored in double figures along with Harrison. Garrett finished with 11 while Greene added 10.

Coach Lavin is happy to get his first road win of the season but knows the excitement is short lived.

“We will have to recalibrate and get ready for another tough opponent tomorrow night.”

Check back tomorrow for the preview on the Red Storm’s next game against Murray State.

St. John’s Draws Home Team in Charleston Classic

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Photo by: Jim O’Connor-US PRESSWIRE

The St. John’s Red Storm, fresh off their season-opening 77-74 victory over Detroit, will be traveling to Charleston, S.C., for the Charleston Classic. The young Red Storm team will face a veteran Charleston Cougar team at TD Bank Arena.

The Red Storm will once again be without newcomers Orlando Sanchez and Marc-Antoine Bourgault as they are still awaiting word from the NCAA regarding their eligibility.

St. John’s will be playing 3 games in the next four days. How will the Red Storm fair?

Game Information
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2012
Location: TD Bank Arena- Charleston, South Carolina
Time: 5:30 PM EST
TV: ESPN U (Rich Hollenberg and Tim Welsch)
Radio: WBBR 1130 AM (John Minko, Tim O’Toole)

Charleston Cougars (1-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Doug Wojcik

The College of Charleston has been one of the better kept secrets in NCAA basketball in the Southern Conference. The Cougars have won 64 games over the past three seasons under Bobby Cremins.

Cremins retired after last season and now the Cougars are coached by Dough Wojcik who was at Tulsa the past 7 years. The Cougars have a balanced scoring attack and will look to keep this a slow half court game.

Projected Starting Lineup
F Anthony Thomas
F Trent Wiederman
C Adjehi Baru
G Anthony Lawrence
G Anthony Stitt

St. John’s (1-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Steve Lavin

The potential was apparent in the first game but there was some cause for concern too. St. John’s will look to refine their defensive focus in this game after allowing Detroit a number of open looks from beyond the arc in the season opener.

Expect St. John’s to come out and dictate the tempo of this game not allowing Charleston to feel comfortable in their own arena. The Red Storm will play a larger rotation insure that everyone keeps fresh legs throughout the tournament.

Projected Starting Lineup
Projected Starting Lineup:
F Amir Garrett
F JaKarr Sampson
C Christian Jones
G D’Angelo Harrison
G Phil Greene

Keys to the Game

  • Force Pressure Early- St. John’s came out timid in its first game. St. John’s only shot four free throws and forced four turnovers in the first half against Detroit. Expect this to be a point of emphasis for Coach Lavin to stress to his team. The Red Storm need will need to force pressure on both ends of the floor early. Getting to the free throw line and forcing turnovers will deflate the home court advantage for Charleston.
  • Feed Off the Ego- Say what you will about D’Angelo Harrison, but his passion is contagious with teammates. Getting him involved early in this game will trickle down to each and every one of his teammates. Run some sets and let Harrison find his.
  • Settle Down Sampson, Rise Up Pointer- St. John’s needs guys to understand what is expected of them in order for this team to be successful. Two guys that struggled the most in the first game were JaKarr Sampson and Sir’Dominic Pointer. Sampson committed a number of “silent turnovers” which means taking bad shots. Sampson needs to pick his spots better and there will be a patient learning curve with this. Pointer on the other hand needs to be more aggressive offensively. It doesn’t necessarily mean taking more shots but he needs to be more of a threat with the basketball instead of looking like he’s playing hot potato when he gets the ball.
  • Rebound to Run- When you rebound the ball defensively, it allows you to run an up-tempo offense. While St. John’s may lack a prototypical front line they have capable rebounders who can lead the fast break at every position. If there is a team effort rebounding the basketball, it will allow St. John’s to utilize their athleticism over an inferior Cougar team.

Final Prediction: St. John’s wins, 72-59

Harrison’s 2nd Half Redemption Propels St. John’s Past Detroit in Season Opener

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NCAA Basketball: Detroit at St. John's

Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

The buzz around St. John’s season opener wasn’t about the team’s first game or the return of Steve Lavin to the sidelines. Everything was centered around D’Angelo Harrison’s dismissal from the starting lineup due to disciplinary reasons.

It was evident from the start D’Angelo Harrison was missed with St. John’s failing to get a shot off in 35 seconds in their first offensive possession. Harrison picked up two quick fouls and sat for long stretches in the first half.

Dealing with offensive woes, St. John’s also had their hands full in defending Detroit’s Ray McCallum. In the first half, four different St. John’s players guarded McCallum. Sir’Dominic Pointer was designated the assignment first, followed by Amir Garrett, Phil Greene, and Christian Jones. The Red Storm centered their defensive game plan around the Titan’s leading scorer.

“We wanted to have a collective awareness at all times of where he was on the court. I thought while he had some stretches of impressive play, we made him work, and hence the 8 for 23,” said Lavin about defending McCallum.

McCallum had 17 points midway through the 2nd half and St. John’s was struggling to find an answer defensively when Steve Lavin went to a zone he used to run at UCLA.

St. John’s Red Storm center Chris Obekpa (12) attempts to block the shot of Detroit Titans guard Ray McCallum (3) during the first half at Carnesecca Arena. Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIRE

St. John’s played a matchup zone that Lavin calls “quicksand,” one which utilizes the team’s length and prevents dribble penetration is something that he liked to run a majority of his career at UCLA. At the 9:19 mark in the 2nd half “quicksand” made its debut in Carnesecca Arena.

“There was a 7+ minute stretch where they only scored 4 points.” Lavin said, crediting the change in defense as the turning point in the game. “It was just enough to unnerve them.”

While the defense was fueled by Chris Obekpa breaking the school’s single game record, blocking eight shots, it was Harrison sparking the offense creating off the dribble. Harrison scored 13 of his game high 22 points in the final 8 minutes of the game.

Lavin admitted he is learning new things about his players and team with each and every day of practice but he knows his team is prepared to play all 40 minutes. While Lavin’s calls from the sideline may have guided the Red Storm to victory, it was really the preparation instilled into the players all off season. As Lavin said of his team,

“That’s a sign of our style of play. As well conditioned our kids are we can wear teams out and throw that haymaker late.”

What’s Trending? St. John’s vs Detroit Tweets

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Before the game tips off lets take a look at who’s tweeting about the game. Remember if you’re tweeting about St. John’s use the hashtag #stjbb.

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*Will update as more tweets appear