St. John’s to Play Arizona in 2K Sports Classic, Duke in January

The 2011-12 schedule will not become official for another month, but, indications are, Steve Lavin is continuing to challenge his St. John’s squad.

After leading a group of ten seniors to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002, Lavin will carry the youngest team in the school’s 104-year history onto the court this season, and the ledger that the Red Storm will play is anything but a cupcake.

After taking the bold step to face Kentucky on the road at Rupp Arena on December 1st and taking on the University of Detroit in a game sure to remind fans of last year’s season opener against St. Mary’s, the Johnnies will face Arizona in their Madison Square Garden opener.

The Wildcats, under head coach Sean Miller, return three starters and reserve guard Kevin Parrom from last year’s team that came within a basket of the Final Four.

“Our matchup with defending Pac-12 champion University of Arizona will provide our young squad with a valuable test.” said Lavin in a press release. “The youngest team in St Johns history will benefit from being tested with one of the toughest schedules in the country.”

Despite losing guard Lamont (Momo) Jones to Iona and No. 2 overall NBA draft pick Derrick Williams to the Minnesota Timberwolves, they have added a strong recruiting class that includes some players with connections to this young St. John’s team.

Findlay Prep guard Nick Johnson, a former teammate of Red Storm freshman Amir Garrett, is an incredibly athletic guard who could make an immediate impact.

And the headliner of the class, Josiah Turner, is a former teammate of Sir’Dominic Pointer at Quality Education. At 6’3″, he has good size for a point guard and his tight handle will prove to be a better fit than Lamont Jones.

Texas A&M squares off against Mississippi State in the opener at the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” with the winners to face off for the tournament championship at 7pm the following night. The Red Storm finished this past season with an 8-2 record at the Garden that included resounding upset wins against then-No. 3 Duke, former No. 4-ranked Pittsburgh, and eventual national champion Connecticut.

St. John’s will also travel to Cameron Indoor on January 28, 2012 to face four-time national champion Duke for the first time since their shocking 93-78 victory over the Blue Devils seven months ago.,Jeff Goodman announced the date in his ACC off-season report.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will no doubt be the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach by the time he welcomes St. John’s to Durham, as he is only three wins away from surpassing Bobby Knight for the most all-time victories at the Division I level. It’s worth noting that St. John’s remains the most recent non-ACC team to defeat Duke in front of the “Cameron Crazies,” getting the better of the Blue Devils back in 2000.