# 2018–19 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team

The 2018–19 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team represented St. John's University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by alumnus and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Chris Mullin, in his fourth year at the school. They played their home games at Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 21–13, 8–10 in Big East Play to finish in seventh place. They defeated DePaul in the first round of the Big East tournament before losing Marquette in the quarter-finals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as an 11th seed. However, they lost to fellow 11th seed Arizona State at the First Four.
On April 9, 2019, head coach Chris Mullin resigned after four seasons. On April 19, the school announced it had hired former Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson as the team's new coach.

## Previous season

The Red Storm finished the 2017–18 season with a record of 16–17, 4–14 in Big East play to finish in ninth place in the conference. They defeated Georgetown in the first round of the Big East tournament before losing to Xavier in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Bashir Ahmed | 1 | G/F | 6'7" | 210 | Senior | Bronx, New York | Graduated |
| Mikey Dixon | 3 | G | 6'2" | 170 | RS Sophomore | New Castle, DE | Transferred to Grand Canyon (mid-season) |
| Amar Alibegović | 10 | F | 6'9" | 240 | Senior | Rome, Italy | Graduated |
| Tariq Owens | 11 | F | 6'11" | 205 | RS Junior | Odenton, MD | Graduated Transferred to Texas Tech. |
| Kassoum Yakwe | 14 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Bamako, Mali | Graduated Transferred to Connecticut. |
| Marcus LoVett Jr. | 20 | G | 6'0" | 180 | RS Sophomore | Fort Wayne, IN | Entered KLS |
| Boubacar Diakite | 22 | F | 6'8" | 185 | Freshman | Bamako, Mali | Transferred to Iona |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| David Caraher | 11 | F | 6'6" | 220 | Sophomore | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Houston Baptist |
| Mustapha Heron | 14 | G | 6'5" | 218 | Junior | Waterbury, Connecticut | Auburn |
| Eli Wright | 40 | G | 6'4" | 203 | Junior | Owensboro, Kentucky | Mississippi State |
| L. J. Figueroa | 30 | G/F | 6'6" | 185 | Sophomore | Lawrence, Massachusetts | Odessa College |
| Ian Steere | 33 | F | 6'9" | 260 | Freshman | Sanford, North Carolina | NC State (mid-season) |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Greg Williams Jr. SG | Lafayette, LA | Lafayette Christian Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Nov 15, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Josh Roberts SF | Troy, AL | Montverde Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 8, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Marcellus Earlington PF | Ramsey, NJ | Don Bosco Prep | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Feb 28, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Johnathan McGriff PG | District Heights, MD | Bishop McNamara | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | May 2, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 70 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Maryville | W 71–57 | | 15 – Figueroa | 12 – Ponds | 6 – Tied | Carnesecca Arena (4,262) Queens, NY |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2018* 6:30 pm, FSN | | Loyola (MD) Legends Classic campus-site game | W 76–55 | 1–0 | 20 – Ponds | 8 – Figueroa | 4 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (4,863) Queens, NY |
| November 9, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS2 | | Bowling Green Legends Classic campus-site game | W 84–80 | 2–0 | 26 – Heron | 6 – Heron | 6 – Simon | Carnesecca Arena (5,174) Queens, NY |
| November 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Rutgers Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 84–65 | 3–0 | 27 – Heron | 11 – Figueroa | 6 – Ponds | Louis Brown Athletic Center (7,102) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. California Legends Classic semifinals | W 82–79 | 4–0 | 32 – Ponds | 8 – Clark II | 5 – Ponds | Barclays Center (5,967) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 20, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. VCU Legends Classic championship | W 87–86 $^{OT}$ | 5–0 | 35 – Ponds | 9 – Figueroa | 7 – Ponds | Barclays Center (5,453) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 27, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Maryland Eastern Shore | W 85–64 | 6–0 | 25 – Figueroa | 13 – Figueroa | 6 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (4,727) Queens, NY |
| December 1, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Georgia Tech Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 76–73 | 7–0 | 37 – Ponds | 7 – Simon | 3 – Heron | American Airlines Arena (5,749) Miami, FL |
| December 5, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS2 | | Mount St. Mary's | W 85–71 | 8–0 | 21 – Clark II | 11 – Figueroa | 7 – Tied | Carnesecca Arena (4,928) Queens, NY |
| December 9, 2018* 1:00 pm, FS1 | | Princeton Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival | W 89–74 | 9–0 | 26 – Ponds | 8 – Tied | 5 – Ponds | Madison Square Garden (10,078) New York, NY |
| December 16, 2018* 4:30 pm, FS1 | | Wagner | W 73–58 | 10–0 | 19 – Figueroa | 9 – Ponds | 14 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| December 19, 2018* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | St. Francis Brooklyn | W 86–52 | 11–0 | 13 – Tied | 9 – Figueroa | 5 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (5,151) Queens, NY |
| December 22, 2018* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Sacred Heart | W 104–82 | 12–0 | 23 – Tied | 6 – Clark II | 9 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 29, 2018 8:30 pm, FSN | | at Seton Hall | L 74–76 | 12–1 (0–1) | 19 – Heron | 7 – Figueroa | 7 – Ponds | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| January 1, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 16 Marquette | W 89–69 | 13–1 (1–1) | 26 – Ponds | 8 – Heron | 5 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| January 5, 2019 1:08 pm, CBS | | at Georgetown Rivalry | W 97–94 $^{OT}$ | 14–1 (2–1) | 37 – Ponds | 9 – Tied | 6 – Tied | Capital One Arena (11,115) Washington, D.C. |
| January 8, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 24 | at Villanova | L 71–76 | 14–2 (2–2) | 23 – Ponds | 7 – Figueroa | 9 – Simon | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 12, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 24 | DePaul | L 71–79 | 14–3 (2–3) | 23 – Figueroa | 12 – Clark II | 7 – Simon | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| January 16, 2019 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Creighton | W 81–66 | 15–3 (3–3) | 22 – Ponds | 13 – Figueroa | 5 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| January 19, 2019 4:30 pm, FOX | | at Butler | L 71–80 | 15–4 (3–4) | 20 – Tied | 8 – Tied | 5 – Simon | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,121) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 27, 2019 12:00 pm, FOX | | Georgetown Rivalry | L 78–89 | 15–5 (3–5) | 21 – Ponds | 7 – Simon | 3 – Tie | Madison Square Garden (17,801) New York, NY |
| January 30, 2019 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at Creighton | W 83–67 | 16–5 (4–5) | 26 – Ponds | 8 – Ponds | 8 – Ponds | CHI Health Center (16,832) Omaha, NE |
| February 2, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 2 Duke | L 61–91 | 16–6 | 14 – Figueroa | 8 – Figueroa | 4 – Ponds | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| February 5, 2019 8:00 pm, FS1 | | at No. 10 Marquette | W 70–69 | 17–6 (5–5) | 28 – Ponds | 7 – Ponds | 3 – Simon | Fiserv Forum (14,030) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 9, 2019 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | Providence | L 56–70 | 17–7 (5–6) | 20 – Ponds | 8 – Clark II | 4 – Simon | Madison Square Garden (16,268) New York, NY |
| February 12, 2019 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | Butler | W 77–73 $^{OT}$ | 18–7 (6–6) | 28 – Heron | 7 – Tied | 4 – Figueroa | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| February 17, 2019 5:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 13 Villanova | W 71–65 | 19–7 (7–6) | 22 – Figueroa | 12 – Figueroa | 4 – Simon | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| February 20, 2019 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at Providence | L 59–78 | 19–8 (7–7) | 16 – Figueroa | 5 – Tied | 5 – Ponds | Dunkin' Donuts Center (9,872) Providence, RI |
| February 23, 2019 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Seton Hall | W 78–70 | 20–8 (8–7) | 27 – Ponds | 6 – Clark II | 5 – Ponds | Madison Square Garden (18,529) New York, NY |
| February 28, 2019 6:30 pm, FS1 | | Xavier | L 73–84 | 20–9 (8–8) | 23 – Figueroa | 7 – Simon | 6 – Ponds | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| March 3, 2019 12:00 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | L 83–92 | 20–10 (8–9) | 29 – Ponds | 5 – Figueroa | 2 – Tied | Wintrust Arena (5,736) Chicago, IL |
| March 9, 2019 5:00 pm, FOX | | at Xavier | L 68–81 | 20–11 (8–10) | 20 – Figueroa | 8 – Clark II | 10 – Ponds | Cintas Center (10,391) Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019 9:30 pm, FS1 | (7) | vs. (10) DePaul First Round | W 82–74 | 21–11 | 18 – Tied | 7 – Heron | 7 – Ponds | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| March 14, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | (7) | vs. (2) No. 23 Marquette Quarterfinals | L 54–86 | 21–12 | 14 – Simon | 8 – Simon | 2 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 20, 2019* 9:10 pm, truTV | (11 W) | vs. (11 W) Arizona State First Four | L 65–74 | 21–13 | 25 – Ponds | 10 – Figueroa | 4 – Ponds | UD Arena (11,827) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||