St. John’s basketball forward Aaron Wheeler set to leave school and head to professional ranks.
The St. John’s basketball offseason is off and running as the Red Storm have seen first departure from its roster.
Graduate student Aaron Wheeler will not return to Queens for his final year of eligibility and opt to head for the professional ranks, he announced on social media on Tuesday night.
CBS Sports’ college basketball insider Jon Rothstein was the first to report the news.
Will forever be grateful for the opportunity Coach Anderson and his staff gave me. They believed in me, helped me grow as a person, and developed me into the player I knew I was capable of being. Looking forward to my next journey!! https://t.co/8jqJcuICzr
— Wheels (@_AaronWheeler_) March 30, 2022
Wheeler came to St. John’s last offseason after three seasons at Purdue in which he posted underwhelming numbers despite his talent, but he eventually turned into one of the Red Storm’s best players during Big East play.
The Stamford, Connecticut native averaged 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this season while making 16 starts. Wheeler posted 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest in conference games.
After struggling in non-conference play, Aaron Wheeler provided some great moments in his lone year in Queens, which highlighted by his 31 point showing at Madison Square Garden on February 8 against Villanova.
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Wheeler also poured in a 17 points and 10 rebound against Seton Hall in a historic contest at Walsh Gymnasium on January 24.
The Red Storm forward notched double-figures in scoring 17 times this season.
St. John’s basketball roster will need key additions
Aaron Wheeler’s decision certainly is a blow to the Johnnies as they enter an offseason with plenty of questions to answer surrounding the team, but the decision is not totally unexpected.
Wheeler would have turned 24 years old next season and only had another year of colligate eligibility due to the free COVID season the NCAA granted to student-athletes.
St. John’s is already losing Stef Smith and Tareq Coburn to graduation and the expectation is that Julian Champagnie will also opt for the professional route, although there still yet to be a formal announcement.