St. John’s basketball postpones game against DePaul, COVID-19 issues

St. John’s basketball has postponed its matchup with DePaul because of COVID-19 issues.

It was not a good start to 2021 for the St. John’s basketball program as the team canceled its matchup against DePaul because of COVID-19 issues with the Red Storm.

DePaul was pulled off the floor from warmups just before 11:00am EST as the Johnnies never emerged from its locker room.

The St. John’s women’s basketball program shut down on December 28 after receiving a positive COVID-19 test with one of its staff members.

It is unclear how long the Red Storm will pause its program for or if any games going forward will be affected.

St. John’s had given its players off for the holiday break with a postponed game against Villanova, mutually agreed upon by both programs, allowing for players to spend the Christmas break at home with family.

“While we’re obviously disappointed at not being able to play today, postponing the game is unequivocally the right thing to do.” Athletic Director Mike Cragg said in a statement.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff has always been our top priority and we saw no reason to take any unnecessary risk.  We thank Coach [Dave] Leitao, the DePaul administration and the Big East Conference for their cooperation in this manner.”

St. John’s basketball finds itself in first COVID-19 related issue

Since arriving on campus in July, the Red Storm had not announced a positive test within its program until today.

The Johnnies are slated to hit the road for a two-game trip beginning on Wednesday, January 6 against Xavier and Saturday, January 9 against No. 11 Creighton.

ALSO READ: Women’s team pauses after positive COVID-19 test

St. John’s has not played since December 20, a 93-84 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas, the first conference victory of the season for the Johnnies.

The Red Storm sit with a 6-4 record (1-3 Big East).