Swiss Army knife ready to expand her role with St. John’s basketball

St. John’s basketball is ready to fully utilizes its Swiss Army knife in the 2020-21 season.

Head coach Joe Tartamella had two bonafide stars on his 2020-21 St. John’s basketball roster in Preseason All-Big East selections with Qadashah Hoppie and Leilani Correa.

However, one player that is not gathering any attention this offseason is junior wing Kadaja Bailey, who can do it all for the Red Storm.

Bailey has proven that she can play down low, on the perimeter, score, and rebound. What more else could you want?

Prior to arriving at St. John’s, the Long Beach, New York native stared at St. Mary’s High School, scored over 2,000 points during her high school career and was ranked as four-star recruit, No. 32 player and the No. 6 wing in the class of 2018, according to Prospect Nation.

ALSO READ: St. John’s forward looking for added production as sophomore

Bailey also averaged 19.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a junior to land on Newsday’s All-Long Island Team.

As a freshman, the then newcomer was named as the Big East Freshman of the Year and named to the All-Big East Freshman team after averaging 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Bailey saw her numbers rise as a sophomore, averaging 6.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

The wing has played in all 61 games she has been available for in her college career.

How the St. John’s basketball standout can improve in 2020-21

The biggest area for improvement for Kadaja Bailey is her 3-point shooting, firing from only a 25.9 percent last season, but shooting 58.2 percent from the floor.

ALSO READ: St. John’s uses second half run to cruise to Thanksgiving victory

As a player who thrives at putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim, Bailey would be able to reach a new level offensively if she finds a respectable 3-point shot and can incorporate a pump-fake to get the defense off their feet and then attack the rim.

Kadaja Bailey and the Red Storm will begin her junior season on the road against Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, November 28 at 2:00pm EST.