St. John's basketball lands ex-Tennessee player Handje Tamba in depth building move

You can never have enough bodies, right?

Well, the St. John’s basketball team continues to fill its roster with depth pieces after Handje Tamba announced his commitment to the Red Storm on Tuesday afternoon.

Tamba, who stands at 6-foot-11, played for Milligan – an NAIA school – last season. He averaged 10.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4-percent from the field.

The native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo started his career at Tennessee, not appearing in a game and being tabbed with a redshirt before transferring to Weber State as he struggled to crack the rotation.

He averaged just 10.0 minutes, 1.6 points, and 1.6 rebounds in 56 games before transferring down a level.

“Hard worker and terrific defensive player,” Rick Pitino posted on social media shortly after his commitment was made public. “Always wanted to have a Bobby Maze player. Incredible young man with an awesome work ethic!”

Handje Tamba graduated high school from Knoxville Catholic High School (TN) and reclassified to enroll with the Volunteers a year earlier than expected.

It could be a struggle for Tamba to find playing time with St. John’s even with the departures of Vince Iwuchuwku and Khaman Maker to the transfer portal.

Zuby Ejiofor will demand most of the minutes at the center position while rising sophomore Ruben Prey and Cincinnati transfer Dillon Mitchell could also get time at the position.

Maker, who transferred to DePaul, played just four total minutes last season while appearing in one game while Iwuchukwu averaged a career low 7.2 minutes per contest.

Handje Tamba only has one year of eligibility remaining after his two seasons in the NCAA, not including his redshirt year, and one at the NAIA level.

St. John’s only has one scholarship left on its roster unless the NCAA House Settlement gets approved, which could expand scholarship limits to 15 for men’s basketball programs.