By Stephen Zitolo
It has been four long years of ups and downs for this St. John’s senior class and head coach Steve Lavin. No one on the roster has experienced the madness of the NCAA Tournament, but Sunday the seniors of St. John’s got the validation they have worked for. The Red Storm are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011.
“We started here together and we are going to finish together,” senior forward Sir’Dominic Pointer said of the senior class. “Over the last four years we have been together. We’ve had our ups and downs, but now it is finally coming together.”
The selection to the NCAA Tournament doesn’t come without its share of adversity for St. John’s. Hours before the selection show junior forward Chris Obekpa was suspended by Lavin for violating team rules. Obekpa failed a drug test for marijuana, according to a New York Post report. The loss of Obekpa hurts the Red Storm tremendously as Obekpa is the only legitimate big man on the Johnnies roster.
“It definitely hurts,” senior guard D’Angelo Harrison, said. “But we have to go forward with the team we have and that’s all that matters at this point.”
Lavin knows his players are too focused and try too hard to make up for Obekpa’s absence.
“To offset the loss of Chris we don’t need any one player to be a superhero but instead collectively as a group find a way to step and move our way through the bracket.”
St. John’s is the ninth seed in the South region and will get its first taste of March Madness against No. 8 San Diego State 9:40 p.m. Friday night in Charlotte, N.C.
“There will be a lot of film study and preparation and we will utilize scouting reports on each player for San Diego State,” senior guard Phil Greene IV said. ”When it comes to practice, our coaches will get us prepared and they will help us get accustomed to what San Diego State does.”
San Diego State has one thing that St. John’s doesn’t have and that’s NCAA Tournament experience. The Aztecs are a veteran tournament team in their sixth straight NCAA tournament. All five starters for the Aztecs were part of their run to the Sweet 16 last season. That includes senior forward Dwayne Polee, who played his freshman year at St. John’s and started 27 games on the last St. John’s team to make the NCAA Tournament in 2011. The Red Storm could face second-seeded Duke in the second round.
St. John’s was pleased with finally punching its ticket to the big dance, but isn’t happy with just doing that alone.
“Getting in was big for me,” Harrison said. “I know it was for everyone else. Winning games and having all of these accolades does not mean anything because we haven’t done anything in the NCAA Tournament.”
