Maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise that St. John’s lost at home to NJIT on Sunday afternoon in New York. NJIT actually entered the game 56 spots higher in KenPom’s rankings and as a one-point favorite, according to the betting lines.
St. John’s is off to a nightmare start in Chris Mullin’s first season
There are brighter days ahead for St. John’s, but they may not be coming anytime soon.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Still, a 7-5 start that now includes back-to-back losses to Incarnate Word and NJIT in addition to a defeat against Fordham (and not including a 32-point loss to Division II St. Thomas Aquinas College in a season-opening exhibition) certainly wasn't what the Johnnies were looking for when they replaced Steve Lavin with Chris Mullin following last season's NCAA Tournament appearance. A win over Syracuse just one week ago is starting to feel more and more like an aberration.
Incarnate Word beat St. John's by 22 tonight.That's St. John's worst home loss vs a non-major conf team since a 23-pt loss to Niagara in 97.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 19, 2015 It's important to note that the team Mullin has in his first season is far from the one Lavin took to the tournament last year. St. John's lost its top six scorers from last season, including the dynamic starting backcourt of Rysheed Jordan and D'Angelo Harrison. Center Chris Obekpa's decision to transfer to UNLV has also been a major blow.
For St. John’s, this season has to be viewed as the first year of a building plan that will take two or three years to materialize. Mullin brought in a strong debut recruiting class for this season given the circumstances, with freshman Italian point guard Federico Mussini currently leading the team in scoring. Guard Marcus LoVett, deemed a partial qualifier, would be a big boost if he can get on the court this season.
Rebuilding year for St. John’s. Fans, don’t lose faith. Rebuilding takes more than an offseason.
— East Coast Bias (@ECoastBias) December 20, 2015 St. John’s already has a top-100 recruit lined up for next season in guard Shamorie Ponds. LoVett and Ponds should be able to help an offense that ranks No. 304 in the country, according to KenPom. If nothing else, St. John’s offense can’t get much worse. Here’s a look at their KenPom rankings at the moment:
Now down to No. 219 in KenPom’s rankings, St. John’s is looking like the worst team in the Big East so far. There will be brighter days ahead of St. John’s, but they might not come this season.
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