Shamorie Ponds will return to St. John’s for the 2018-19 season

The St. John’s Red Storm received a batch of great news on Tuesday evening.

St. John’s and the rest of the Big East basketball world learned that Shamorie Ponds will indeed be back for the 2018-19 college hoops season. Ponds had previously entered the 2018 NBA Draft pool. However, after waiting until the day before the deadline, and after weighing his options, the New York native is balking on the chance to go pro and instead will play for the Johnnies in his junior year.

The news of Ponds’ return to St. John’s was first reported by Jon Rothstein.

Ponds has been sensational in his first two years with the Johnnies. Although he suffered dips in field goal percentage last year as a sophomore, Ponds’ point production went up from 17.4 his freshman year to 21.6 his sophomore year. He was the star for the Red Storm and figures to be a preseason favorite for Big East Player of the Year as we embark towards the 2018-19 campaign.

This also figures to be big news for Chris Mullin and the Red Storm. In a year in which the Big East will be in transition, the Johnnies have a chance to make a lot of noise. Ponds joins Justin Simon, Marvin Clark II and quite a few others who will be on a Red Storm team that could very well finish in the top half of the conference if all goes well. Or, in much more reasonable terms, make the NCAA Tournament if they’re able to scrap together a good resume. With Ponds in tow, they have the talent to do exactly that.