The Road to St. John’s Basketball: Malik Stith Before the Red Storm

Malik Stith has officially become the last man standing on this St. John’s roster.

Stith has weathered literally every storm that has shaken up the Red Storm program in the last few years. Following the 2009-2010 season, head coach Norm Roberts was fired and fellow Class of 2013 teammate Omari Lawrence left for Kansas State. Halfway through the 2010-2011 season, Quincy Roberts transferred to Grambling State. Just a week ago, nine seniors graduated. And, if that weren’t enough, rising sophomore Dwayne Polee II announced he was leaving the program after just one season.

This leaves the 5’11” Hempstead, NY native in a precarious situation. Will head coach Steve Lavin take into account the dedication Stith has shown to the program, or will playing time be based solely on the player who gives the most quality minutes? Will we even arrive at that point, or will Stith transfer as well, before the season begins?

Before coming to Queens to play for the Red Storm, Stith had his fair share of accolades at the high school and prep school levels.

As a senior at East Mecklenberg (NC) he averaged 17 points and 8 assists, leading his team to the city and state titles and being named the Charlotte Observer Boy’s Basketball Player of the Year.

He took a prep year at Bridgton Academy (ME), the same prep school that produced his former Red Storm teammates Paris Horne and Justin Burrell. In his one year at the school, Stith led the Wolverines to the Prep School Class A title, the fourth for Bridgton in their previous five seasons, and won MVP of the tournament.

The point guard chose St. John’s before attending Bridgton, decomitted, and then recommitted. He ultimately chose the Red Storm over Wichita State, Winthrop, and George Mason.

Stith came to St. John’s under head coach Norm Roberts, in the same class that brought the aforementioned Lawrence, Dwight Hardy, and Justin Brownlee. In his first season, he was the back-up to starter Malik Boothe, giving the Red Storm two distribution-oriented point guards in their lineup. He averaged 1.6 points and 1.2 assists per game.

When Steve Lavin took over in 2010, it seemed Stith had come out with new energy. In just 11 minutes in a season-opening loss to St. Mary’s, Stith had 13 points on 5/8 shooting. He followed that up with an 11 point performance against Columbia and 10 more points in the Great Alaska Shootout Championship Game win over Arizona State on November 28th.

But, a drought in mid-winter saw Stith score just 1 point in the next eight games, three of which he saw no playing time in. Speculation surfaced that he may transfer, but he stuck out the slump and finished the season in limited but quality minutes.

As he moves into the 2011-2012 season, Stith may have the best season of his career. Though he will have to compete with assumed starting point guard Nurideen Lindsey and incoming freshman Phil Greene, Stith will, for the first time in his career, be the only distribution-oriented point guard on the roster.

When Stith would substitute Boothe the past two years, defenses did not have to change their style of play. Now, with Lindsey and Greene seeing time, defenses will have to adjust and Stith could exploit that and succeed in a role that eats minutes, plays mistake-free basketball, and allows the other point guards to rest.

As is in the video above, Stith showed an ability to get to the basket in high school and had flashes of that at times last season, especially in Alaska. If he can continue to develop that part of his game, it will add another aspect to the floor that defenses have to worry about.