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Following the end of the 2013-14 season, the St. John's Red Storm lost four players to graduation, sophomore Max Hooper to transfer, and sophomore JaKarr Sampson declared for the NBA Draft. While it's normal for a program to have players move on to other things, there is a still a roster that is well intact for the Red Storm to be a competitive and potentially successful team this upcoming season in the Big East Conference.
Although we are still a few months or so from the start of the college basketball season, now is the perfect time to look what could be the projected starting lineup for St. John's or hypothesize what Steve Lavin will be putting down come time for the first tip off of the season.
For one thing, the biggest draw that Lavin will have for this team will be the veteran play and leadership of his three main players, all of whom are seniors this season. In particular, the play of D`Angelo Harrison who is and has been one of the essential cogs for the Red Storm since his arrival in 2011 as a freshman. But he is not the only cog either, as he is rounded out by Phil Greene IV and Sir`Dominic Pointer.
The most likely projection for Lavin and St. John's, will be Harrison at the shooting guard, Greene at point guard, and Pointer at small forward. Rounding out the most likely projected positions is Chris Obekpa at center. There is some intrigue as who be at the power forward for Lavin this season, as the loss of JaKarr Sampson and God`sgift Achiuwa has left a hole in the depth at that position. It could be a position that will be rotated between recent signings Adonis Delarosa and Keith Thomas, both of who look to be poised to lay claim to position. The other area of intrigue for St. John's is where does Rysheed Jordan fit into the lineup? While he is coming off a solid freshman season, he'll probably start the season off as a rotational player, before his true role in the roster.
While this is a projection, St. John's roster on paper does look to be one that will be in the mix for the Big East and definitely put up a fight. It is just a matter of games to be played to see how Lavin will use the roster that he has.