St. John’s basketball: Chris Ledlum illness may limit minutes against West Virginia

The St. John’s basketball team might be limited against West Virginia. 

Chris Ledlum has missed two days of practice for the St. John’s basketball team and might not start on Friday night against West Virginia.

Rick Pitino said on Wednesday afternoon that the Harvard transfer has been battling a stomach virus that has caused him to lose nine pounds after he was unable to eat.

“For him that’s really sickness because he can gain ten pounds in one meal,” Pitino said, who has been trying to decrease Ledlum’s body fat since he arrived on campus.

The Hall of Famer tweeted on November 10 that he was down to 8-percent body fat, a career best for Ledlum.

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Despite the illness, the expectation is that Chris Ledlum will play against the Mountaineers in the Big East vs. Big 12 Challenge on Friday night (7:00p.m. EST, ESPN2) in Morgantown, but if the 6-foot-6 forward is going to be limited because of the missed practice time RJ Luis would likely start in his place.

Luis came off the bench in his first game of the season on Saturday night against Holy Cross after suffering a broken hand in practice on October 1 and added 14 points and four rebounds in the 46-point victory.

St. John’s basketball has not changed starters often

St. John’s has not changed its starting lineup since the second game of the season when Jordan Dingle and Glenn Taylor Jr. replaced Nahiem Alleyne and Sean Conway, respectively.

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Chris Ledlum has started all six games for the Johnnies this season and is averaging 9.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 38.2-percent from the floor and a career-best 42.1-percent from 3-point range.

“With the makeup of our program, that’s probably the least important thing,” Pitino added on his starting lineup. “The best five players will always be on the court in the last five minutes.”

Daniss Jenkins and Joel Soriano have been the other two players that have started each game for the Red Storm.