Former St. John’s basketball star selected No. 1 overall in G-League Draft

It was a positive weekend for former St. John’s basketball standout Shamorie Ponds. 

As the NBA has begun its regular season, the G-League held its draft on Saturday afternoon and former St. John’s basketball guard Shamorie Ponds was the first overall selection.

Ponds is off to join the Delaware Blue Coats, an affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, after the former Red Storm guard had a workouts with the NBA team last week.

After leaving St. John’s with one year of eligibility left, Ponds was undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Summer League Houston Rockets.

Houston then invited Ponds to training camp before releasing the Brooklyn, New York native prior to the start of the season.

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Shortly after Shamorie Ponds was cut by the Rockets, he inked a two-way deal with the Toronto Raptors.

Ponds spent time with the Raptors G-League affiliate, Raptors 905, and made his NBA debut on November 27, 2019 with four points against the New York Knicks.

The 6-foot guard has only played in a total of four NBA games with his last outing coming with the Raptors on December 31, 2019.

Ponds averaged 2.3 points per game in his four NBA contests.

Shamorie Ponds agreed to a deal with OKK Spars of the Bosnian League in February 2021 but never appeared in a game with the team.

St. John’s basketball star familiar with NBA G-League

In Shamorie Ponds’ time with Raptors 905, he played in 18 games, starting five.

The two-time Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention averaged 28.1 minutes, 14.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 41.5-percent from the floor and 25.2-percent from 3-point territory in the G-League.

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The Delaware Blue Coats are coming off of a season in which they lost in the G-League Finals to the Lakeland Magic, the affiliate of the Orlando Magic.

Shamorie Ponds and the Blue Coats begin their season on Saturday, November 6 at 7:00pm EST against the Long Island Nets at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Delaware.