Posh Alexander's return to Carnesecca Arena highlights the success of St. John's pre-Rick Pitino roster
Butler Bulldogs guard Posh Alexander in looks to pass during a college basketball game against the Providence Friars on Dec. 2, at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. Credit: AP/Mingo Nesmith/Icon Sportswire
Posh Alexander’s return to St. John’s Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday night came amid an excellent first season since his departure from St. John’s last spring. He was one of more than a dozen players involved in the massive roster turnover that followed last March’s firing of coach Mike Anderson and installation of Rick Pitino. Alexander entered the NCAA transfer portal and landed on his feet as Butler’s starting point guard.
Alexander entered play on Tuesday averaging 10.7 points, 5.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals. Dylan Addae-Wusu, who also entered the NCAA transfer portal after the coaching change, moved to Seton Hall and will get to go against his former program Jan. 16 at Prudential Center. He starts and is averaging 8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 28.9 minutes for the Pirates (8-5, 1-1 Big East).
On the day he was introduced as coach, Pitino said that he would seek to rebuild the St. John’s roster with players who fit the system he wants to play and that few of the members of the 2022-23 team would remain. Ultimately he would need to bring in 12 new players to join holdovers Joel Soriano and Drissa Traore. Alexander isn’t the only one who departed and is thriving in his landing spot.
In fact, four former St. John’s players lead or are tied for the lead in scoring on their new teams going into play on Tuesday night.
“I think all the guys that left – the young man at Seton Hall, the young man at Memphis [David Jones] – they're all playing great,” Pitino said. “Even the young man who didn't play much, down in Tulane [Kolby King] is playing.
“It worked out great for everybody involved,” Pitino said. “It worked out for these guys being here and it worked out for all the guys that left.”
The guy making the biggest splash is Jones at Memphis. Tigers coach Anfernee Hardaway won a recruiting battle for Jones that included Xavier, Kansas State and Kentucky and its paid huge dividends. Memphis is 11-2 and Jones is averaging a team-best 21.2 points and is second on the squad in rebounding with 6.4 per game.
At St. John’s, King averaged just 7.7 minutes as a role player. He is now the centerpiece for Tulane (9-3). King is averaging a team-high 15.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Green Wave. He had a career-high 22 points in a win over Southern.
“Today was the best Kolby's ever played since he's been here, and there isn't even a close second,” Tulane coach Ron Hunter said after the Dec. 16 win. “He was in control. . . . He just kind of let the game come to him.”
The Storm coaching change came after a promising freshman season for AJ Storr, who averaged 8.8 points in 21.1 minutes with St. John’s. He, like Alexander, was invited by Pitino to stay but opted to transfer. He is now the leading scorer for Wisconsin, which is 9-3 playing one of the 10 toughest non-conference schedules, with a 15.0-point average. The Badgers have played four nationally-ranked opponents, going 2-2, and he has averaged 11.8 points against that quartet.
Boise State’s non-conference strength of schedule is ranked among the 25 toughest this season and O’Mar Stanley, a Storm role player for two seasons, is a big reason the Broncos are 9-4. He is averaging 11.5 points and 5.0 rebound in his first season out west.
Rafael Pinzon was seen as having big-time potential during his two seasons at St. John’s, but couldn’t stay healthy and only played in 32 games. The former Long Island Lutheran standout has played in all 15 games for Bryant (8-7) this season, playing an average of 27.2 minutes as the Bulldogs’ sixth man, and is averaging 13.0 points and making 39% of his three-point attempts.
Andre Curbelo, the one-time Newsday Long Island Player of the Year, was an enigma for the Storm last season after a transfer from Illinois with his most memorable moments probably a pair of ejections. But he is now at Southern Mississippi (6-7) and had a transfer waiver approved last month. In three games, he is averaging 14.7 points and 3.3 assists.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
