St. John’s basketball star Julian Champagnie to miss multiple games

St. John’s basketball star Julian Champagnie will miss multiple games after a positive COVID-19 test. 

Bad news struck the St. John’s basketball program as star forward Julian Champagnie has tested positive for COVID-19.

A frontrunner for Big East Player of the Year will miss Saturday’s matchup with Pittsburgh and have to isolate for ten days according to New York State guidelines.

The isolation will force Champagnie to miss the Red Storm’s December 23 game against Butler and he will have to pass all cardiac testing, as required by St. John’s University and its athletic program, in order to return to the Johnnies next game against Marquette on December 29, according to a source close to the situation.

Champagnie is St. John’s leading scorer this season, averaging 20.3 points per game on 46.9-percent shooting from the field and 43.3-percent from 3-point range.

St. John’s already saw its game on Monday, December 20 against No. 16 Seton Hall canceled due to positive tests within the Pirates program.

The game is deemed a forfeit in favor of the Red Storm as the game will only count towards the team’s conference record.

This is the first time St. John’s has won a game via forfeit since 1926.

Champagnie, along with the rest of the members of the program, is vaccinated and all other players are available for head coach Mike Anderson on Saturday.

It remains unclear how often St. John’s will test its players in the coming day.

St. John’s basketball relying on star sophomore duo

With Julian Champagnie out, the Johnnies will be counting on sophomore duo Posh Alexander and Dylan Addae-Wusu to carry the load in his absence.

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The former Our Savior Lutheran (NY) stars are combining to average 24.9 points per game.

St. John’s will also be counting on transfers Montez Mathis and Stef Smith to give the team a boost as well as freshman guard Rafael Pinzon.

The Big East requires its teams to have at least seven scholarship players available in order to play.