The 1982-83 team (Mullin's sophomore year) matched that 14-0 start.
Ironically, in game #9 that year, we defeated Princeton. Maybe that's an omen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982%E2%80%9383_St._John%27s_Redmen_basketball_team
Lets compare the two teams.
CENTER
1982 had the twin ivory towers platoon with a little Ron Stewart thrown in. Wennington / Allen combined to average 10ppg and 8 rebs. Both had good size and somehow Wennington went on to have a productive career in NBA for what seemed like 30 years.
2018 has Marvin Clark playing center. Clark is a good outside shooter and has been playing better all around lately.
EDGE-1982
POWER FORWARD- I really like LJ and in fact think he is clearly our 2nd best player.
Unfortunately for LJ matched up against 10 year old WASJU's favorite player. David Russell was one of the two best in game dunkers in ST John's history and a very good college player. Still devastated he did not make the pros.
EDGE-HUUGE for 1982
SMALL FORWARD-1982 had a weird thing where a 6-7 guy was listed as small forward but was really a two and a 6-5 guy was listed at the two but was really a three. Well we will put Mullin here.
Heron struggling now but will be fine. He is not Chris Mullin however.
EDGE-GINORMOUS for 1982
SHOOTING GUARD-
I really like Simon. Basically a way more athletic Reggie Jessie the year Jessie was good as a Junior.
1982 had one of the best "glue guys" in program history. Billy Goodwin was the toughest guard ever to play for ST John's and a very good player. He was responsible for two of my favorite early ST John's memories. Sitting on the basket after winning BET with WE ARE ST JOHNS poster and when he beat up David Wingate from Gtown. Had the pleasure of meeting him when I was the ball boy in the USBL after he graduated. Got assigned the visitor's bench and talked Goodwin's ear off whole game. Player's had to get their own water. Real good dude!
EDGE-Big for 1982
POINT GUARD- Bobby Kelly was my 2nd least favorite ST John's point guard ever trailing only Geno. If there was a message board back in 1982 WASJU would have gotten banned complaining about Kelly.
Shamorie Ponds though with some flaws is nonetheless the most fun guard to watch play since Marcus Hatten. More complete player than Hatten but still has to get us into tourney to move past him in my eyes.
EDGE-Literally could not be a bigger edge for 2018.
BENCH-Kevin Williams played about 5 or 6 years in the NBA and despite not being a real point guard, 10 year old WASJU used to beg his TV pretty regularly for Louie to put him in for Kelly. Weirdly Williams only played about 20 mins a game for us yet played in the pros and in USBL Williams was the best player in that league and Goodwin barely played. I think Kelly became a dentist or something. 82 also had Ron Stewart and one of the wonder twin centers on the bench.
2018 basically has a skinny guard who is pretty one dimensional and that dimension does not include defense and a guy who plays hard on D but otherwise only shoots threes and not very well. Team also has Earlington who has the best exit velocity I have ever seen on his shots and who I only include to make some guy who posts on the other board happy as he is Earlington's mailman or something. This will hopefully improve when Keita returns and I would like to see Williams get more time.
EDGE-Just based on Kevin Williams alone would be HUUUGE edge 1982
COACH-The fact that is in our 'GLORY YEARS" we always seemed to underachieve and despite some really good players our style was often kind of boring. Also Lou always played weak early season schedule did his best to not play freshman unless they were great and really only ever played 8 guys leads me to believe that if you went back in time in Doc Brown's Delorean and brought Louie back to coach the team the "fans" on these boards would be questioning him by year two and posting he should be fired by year 4.
EDGE-1982