St. John’s basketball: Posh Alexander embracing transfer to Butler

Former St. John’s basketball guard Posh Alexander is embracing move to Butler. 

It felt hard to envision Posh Alexander in anything but a St. John’s basketball jersey after he shined for the Johnnies in his freshman season.

The Brooklyn native won the Big East Freshman of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year during his first season in Queens, only becoming the fourth player in league history to accomplish the feats in the same season, and had the makeup to become one of the next New York City guards that is remembered forever in the program.

There was improvement in his game as a sophomore as his scoring, rebounding, and assist numbers all rose but the averages dipped throughout his junior season after St. John’s added another point guard, Andre Curbelo, to its roster in the offseason.

Alexander, though, never pouted publicly. He always had the right answer when asked about the team adding another ball dominant player, however, the Red Storm did not thrive and the future of the 6-foot defensive minded guard was put into question when the school fired head coach Mike Anderson.

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Alexander eventually entered the transfer portal and committed to Butler and that leadership quality is what head coach Thad Matta is relying on from the former St. John’s basketball standout.

“[Being a leader] was the one thing when I recruited him I told him he had to do. We can’t have negative energy when things don’t go well.”

He was one of the few candidates to return St. John’s after the hiring of Rick Pitino but only Joel Soriano and Drissa Traore remained in Queens with the Hall of Famer.

“He’s brought a lot of life,” Matta continued on Posh Alexander’s impact on his program for the last four months.

“His personality, his energy when he’s on the court. I love coaching him everyday.”

Former St. John’s basketball guard looking to win for first time in career

Posh Alexander will assume the starting point guard role for a Butler team that is trying to reassert itself in the Big East after not having made the NCAA Tournament since 2018 and only having two seasons with a .500 record or better in the league since Chris Holtmann left for Ohio State after the 2017 season.

It will not be easy for Alexander to try and return the program to the national stage as he has never experienced a winning team after missing the NCAA Tournament and NIT in his three seasons with the Red Storm.

“We tried to run offense away from him because he was such a good defender,” Matta recalled of game planning against Alexander and St. John’s in the three games the team’s played last year.

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“I thought he was the master of making difficult shots. I had never seen a guy make harder shots.”

However, there is a glaring hole in Posh Alexander’s game, 3-point shooting, and Thad Matta recognizes it and is trying to improve the percentages after making just 25.0-percent (49-of-196) of his attempts beyond the arc with the Johnnies.

“I think he’s really embracing the change and, more importantly, I think Butler is really embracing him.”

It will not take long for Posh Alexander to make his return to New York and play St. John’s as the two program meet on Tuesday, January 2 inside Carnesecca Arena — one of just two Big East games the Red Storm will play in Queens this season.