St. John’s basketball sophomore ready to be the face of program

The St. John’s basketball program is hoping to see its sophomore forward become the face of the team.

Over the last few seasons, the St. John’s basketball program always had a preseason star on its team.

Whether it was Shamorie Ponds, Mustapha Heron, or LJ Figueroa, there was a figure in Queens that everyone was excited to see and this year it’s sophomore forward Julian Champagnie.

Flashing his potentially throughout his freshman season, Champagnie closed the season strong, leaving fans wondering of the possibilities that could come to the forefront in 2020-21.

Despite the Red Storm faithful unable to get to Carnesecca Arena or Madison Square Garden to see its next superstar, Champagnie will look to lead a balanced attack for the Johnnies, which has become a staple for Mike Anderson teams throughout his coaching career.

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The 6-foot-8 forward played in 32 games last season, starting 26, and averaged 9.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from 3-point range.

Shooting from beyond the arc was an issue for Champagnie in his first season in Queens, but that aspect of his game improved as the season progressed and that progression will need to be seen in his second year.

The sophomore could be the go-to man for the St. John’s basketball program.

There is never a consistent scorer with Mike Anderson as the head coach, and that should remain the case in the first 38 minutes of each game with the Red Storm in 2020-21 but Champagnie could emerge down the stretch for St. John’s as the go-to scorer.

Despite having LJ Figueroa and Mustapha Heron on the team last year, it was never known who would take the last shot as the ball had been in the hands of Rasheem Dunn, Nick Rutherford, Figueroa, and Heron in the final minutes of a slew of close games.

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In season expectations, Julian Champagnie should average over 12.0 points per game while close to a 45.0 shooting percentage and 38.0 percent from 3-point range, which would result in multiple postseason honors for the Brooklyn native.

St. John’s opens its season at home on Wednesday, November 25 against St. Peter’s University with tipoff at 7:00pm EST.