New Area Code For SJU Awaits

St. John's will open conference play at Providence New Year's Eve


by Zach Smart


The best start since the 1994-95 season, when St. John’s was still somewhat of a credible program (see Lopez, Felipe for more on that one) must have been too good to be true.

The Johnnies, despite losing go-to-guy Anthony Mason Jr. to season-ending injury, started off the season in a fashion that indicates credibility may be restored.

SJU stamped nine wins in their first 12 games, falling to Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami of the ACC.

The VT loss came during the championship of the second-tier Aeropostale Holiday Festival tournament, an event such an afterthought along the college basketball landscape that a meager 2,000 fans showed for the championship. That’s at the world’s most famous arena widely regarded as the Mecca of basketball (Madison Square Garden), I might add.

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So, while the fanfare may be lacking the young freshman and sophomore firepower is on a different boat.

V-Tech outclassed the Johnnies, 81-67, though sophomore Sean Evans showed fight in the second half. Evans finished with 13 points and eight boards, as the Johnnies’ sizzling seven-game win streak was snapped.

Of course, the wins that St. John’s scored over teams like Cornell, Long Island, Eastern Michigan, NJIT, and Bethune-Cookman were only a preamble to bigger, stiffer competition.

After all, we know that the puppies can’t dance with the pit bulls.

Harkening back on it now, the Johnnies have never really benefitted from a schedule that’s about as challenging as catching a date via Myspace.com

This Big East slate shall be a serious test of their manhood, now that the young guns have established chemistry and gotten the kinks out against lesser opponents.

The stakes are immediately raised.

The New York hoopheads want a raging Red Storm Resurgence and they want it now.

Whether or not they will get it may just put Norm Roberts’ job security in jeopardy.

Even the boo birds have flown north to St. John’s this winter, adamantly calling for Roberts to clean out his office immediately.

So, it appears SJU is the only place in Queens where you can get a Bronx cheer.

These jeers, that have been persistent since the first game of the season (remember were talking about New York fans here, sometimes the Knicks feel like they are in enemy territory during home games), are almost always directed at Roberts.

Roberts, who supplanted the God-awful Mike Jarvis (Google “Jarvis Doesn’t Jive” by littyhoops.com, for more on that one), is often targeted for the Johnnies’ recruiting shortcomings.

Never mind all of that right now. This is about winning and winning with what you have, even if it’s a nucleus of neophytes that Roberts is confident will come to fruition.

Paris Horne has quickly evolved, averaging 12.6 points to complement DJ Kennedy. Horne was named to the Big East’s weekly Honor Roll following a week in which he shouldered the burden of leader for the Johnnies.

The rapid ascension of Horne and the aforementioned Evans has helped cushion the loss of Mase, who fell out with a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot.

If anyone knows about rapid ascensions, it’s Providence College guard Marshon Brooks. PC is the first Big East matchup of the season for the Johnnies.

After a second-rate freshman campaign (3.3 points in under 10 minutes per game), Brooks has skyrocketed to school stardom. He now averages 13.5 points, four boards and helps facilitate the offensive attack as a guard/swingman. His coming out party came against Sacred Heart, when he hung 30 on the Northeast Conference foe.

The smooth, serene close of the out-of-conference slate gives way to the circus opening of the Big East schedule.

Will the young, sophomore-laden team be able to hold their own against the Big East sharks of the big NCAA ocean and buck the latest college basketball odds?

Game Notes:

--Not to add salt to the wound, but the Johnnie’s could definitely use the services of Mason Jr. and Malik Boothe for this game. Mason Jr is out for the season and a thumb injury will likely keep Boothe, their starting point guard, out of action a little longer.

-Justin Burrell (10.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 55 percent FG shooter) is a freakish and strong athlete (the broken backboard support he broke on a dunk against NJIT are indicative of this) who can counter the athleticism of Providence, who have the upper hand down low.

-St. John’s is severely undersized in this one. They don’t have the size that Providence does with 7-foot center Randall Hanke and the absence of Mason opens the seas for boardsmith Geoff McDermott.

-McDermott, a 6-foot-7 point forward, is averaging a team-high 8.2 boards and is extremely versatile. He is the senior playmaker for the Friars.

-Weyinmi Efejuku (Thank God I’m not announcing this game) is the leading scorer for Providence, averaging 13.8 points.

-Oceanic depth will play a major role in the outcome of this game. The Friars have some shooters in Marshon Brooks, Brian McKenzie, Jeff Xavier, and Sharaud Curry. They’ve also got guys that can pop off the pine and score buckets.

So, the Johnnies’ bench needs to step it up and supplement Kennedy. Dele Coker, Quincy Roberts, and Rob Thomas, I’m talking about you guys.