The St. John’s Red Storm open their 2020-21 season up against Saint Peter’s on Wednesday. The Red Storm, in pursuit of their seventh consecutive season-opening win, will play host to Shaheen Holloway’s Peacocks at Carnesecca Arena in Queens. Both teams are on the heels of seasons in which they were above .500, and both are in pursuit of much more this time around in whatever this season may bring us.
Head coach Mike Anderson enters his second year at St. John’s after a successful 17-15 campaign. They won their Big East Tournament game against the Georgetown Hoyas last season before, well, everything went to bits. And now they will be aiming to rebound off that and hope for even better results. But they’ll have to do so with a bit of a different look. LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron, two of their most significant contributors last year, are gone. Heron graduated while Figueroa transferred to Oregon, leaving some significant scoring behind them.
But luckily for St. John’s, they still have Marcus Earlington, Rasheem Dunn and Julian Champagnie. This triple threat should be able to do big things for them this season, assuming all three take the necessary steps forward after solid seasons a year ago. With complementary role players around them, there is some hope and optimism for the program. But expectations aren’t so high for them, as they were picked to finish ninth in the Preseason Coaches Poll. Additionally, no players from the Red Storm were named to either Preseason All-Conference squads and none were honorable mentions, either.
Much like the Johnnies, the Peacocks were picked to finish ninth in their conference, the MAAC. Only Niagara and Fairfield were picked to finish lower than Saint Peter’s who might have a tough climb ahead of them. They return Amir Hicks, Cameron Jones, Derrick Woods and Quinn Taylor, as well as sophomores Dallas Watson and Majur Majak. Further, Penn State transfer Nazeer Bostick will be in the fold after sitting out last year due to NCAA transfer rules. And, additionally, six freshman will be suiting up for the Peacocks this season, bringing lots of youth and exuberance to this squad.
How to Watch
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: FS2
Watch Online: Fox Sports Go