St. John’s basketball loses potential starter to broken hand

The St. John’s basketball team has lost a potential starter for an extended period of time. 

Everything has been going perfect for the St. John’s basketball program since Rick Pitino has been hired as head coach but the Red Storm have finally hit adversity.

UMass transfer wing RJ Luis, who was potentially going to start for the Johnnies, suffered a broken hand during the team’s open practice in which Pitino split the team up into two sides and scrimmaged.

There was major fall or collision that could have forecasted the broken hand of Luis, however, the expectation is that he will be out for the beginning of the season but could return around the time when St. John’s travels to play in the Charleston Classic on November 16.

Luis played in 27 games during his freshman season at UMass and made 10 starts while he averaged 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest en route to being named on the Atlantic-10 All-Rookie Team.

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Oregon State transfer Glenn Taylor Jr. could be next in line to start for St. John’s alongside Jordan Dingle, Daniss Jenkins, Chris Ledlum, and Joel Soriano when the season begins on November 7 against Stony Brook.

Taylor Jr. started 26 times for Oregon State as a sophomore last season while posting 11.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

St. John’s basketball equipped to handle brief absence

St. John’s, unlike in previous years, is very deep on the wing with UConn transfer Nahiem Alleyne, VMI transfer Sean Conway, and freshman Brady Dunlap filling out the talented roster for Pitino.

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The Red Storm also have the ability to play small with freshman guard Simeon Wilcher or Iona transfer Cruz Davis while Kansas transfer forward Zuby Ejiofor, combined with Soriano and Ledlum, could give the Johnnies a formidable combination in the front court.

St. John’s plays five games before Thanksgiving.