St. John’s basketball forward Josh Roberts to enter transfer portal

St. John’s basketball forward Josh Roberts will be entering the transfer portal. 

The third St. John’s basketball player has entered the transfer portal this offseason as junior forward Josh Roberts has joined junior college standouts Isaih Moore and Vince Cole.

Recruiting analyst Andrew Slater was the first to report the news on Roberts’ potential departure.

Josh Roberts entered Queens in the final recruiting class of former head coach Chris Mullin, alongside Greg Williams Jr. and Marcellus Earlington.

The Troy, Alabama native struggled to see the floor in his freshman season, only appearing in 19 games and playing 5.1 minutes per contest.

Roberts opted to remain in Queens following the coaching change to Mike Anderson and saw his minutes and production increase dramatically as a sophomore before his season came to an end after a shoulder injury in an upset victory over Creighton in the final week of the regular season.

ALSO READ: Former St. John’s guard David Caraher commits to High Point

As a sophomore, the former three-star recruit averaged 5.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 19.0 minutes per game.

Listed at 6-foot-9, 220 pounds, Josh Roberts again opted to return to St. John’s for his junior season after adding 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason but struggled to find consistent playing time despite the on-court struggles of George Washington graduate transfer Arnaldo Toro and off-court issues of Isaih Moore.

Roberts was a very impactful player in St. John’s six game winning streak in which he anchored the once shaky defense but never played more than 13 minutes in the final nine games of the season.

In his junior year, the St. John’s forward played in 25 games, starting 16, and averaged 10.6 minutes, 2.6 points, and 2.7 rebounds per contest.

Transfer impact of Josh Roberts on St. John’s basketball

Should Josh Roberts not opt to remove his name from the transfer portal and return to St. John’s, head coach Mike Anderson would now have three open scholarships for the 2021-22 season with a significant void in the front court.

Adding at least one forward was going to be a priority for the Johnnies this offseason and now that needed is significantly heightened with the pending departure of Roberts.

ALSO READ: St. John’s targeting local transfer target, defensive star

The on-court production of the transferring big man can be replaced with a player in the transfer portal, but the front court players that Anderson has added during his time in Queens via transfer have not worked out perfectly for St. John’s (Damien Sears, Arnaldo Toro, Isaih Moore).

Josh Roberts was a valuable locker room leader for St. John’s and a senior who understood the complicated defensive system of Mike Anderson, and that will be missed.

There are certainly a large amount of high-impact front court players in the transfer portal already, now it just comes down to try and find the right prospects to recruit to Queens.