# 2014–15 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team

The 2014–15 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team represented St. John's University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Steve Lavin in his fifth year at the school. St. John's home games were played at Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden and the team was members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to Providence. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to San Diego State. On March 27, 2015 St. John's and head coach Steve Lavin mutually agreed to part ways.

## Previous season

The Red Storm finished the season 20–13, 10–8 in Big East play to finish in three-way tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to Providence. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to Robert Morris in the first round.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Marc-Antoine Bourgault | 2 | G/F | 6'6" | 216 | Senior | Saint-Malo, France | Graduated |
| God'sgift Achiuwa | 3 | F/C | 6'8" | 236 | RS Senior | Port Harcourt, Nigeria | Graduated |
| Max Hooper | 10 | G/F | 6'6" | 202 | RS Sophomore | Carmel Valley, California | Graduated Transferred to Oakland |
| JaKarr Sampson | 14 | F | 6'8" | 208 | Sophomore | Akron, Ohio | Entered 2014 NBA draft |
| Orlando Sánchez | 33 | F | 6'9" | 216 | Senior | Nagua, Dominican Republic | Graduated |

### Class of 2014 signees

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Adonis De La Rosa C | Bronx, NY | Christ the King High School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 322 lb (146 kg) | Apr 9, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 70 ||||||
| Amar Alibegovic PF | Rome, Italy | Istituto Tecnico Minerva | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### Transfer additions

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Joey De La Rosa | C | 6'11" | 240 | Senior | Bronx, New York | mid-season transfer from Florida International (0.5 yr eligibility remaining). Under NCAA transfer rules, he would be forced to sit out the fall semester of the 2014-15 season. |
| Keith Thomas | F | 6'8" | 221 | Junior | Mount Vernon, New York | junior college transfer from Westchester Community College (2 yrs immediate eligibility). Did not met the necessary NCAA transfer requirements and was ruled ineligible for the 2014-15 season. |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| 11/01/2014* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Humboldt State | W 95–83 | | 28 – Harrison | 10 – Obekpa | 5 – Branch | Carnesecca Arena (3,338) Queens, NY |
| 11/08/2014* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | St. Thomas Aquinas | W 97–71 | | 21 – Greene IV | 10 – Harrison | 4 – Greene IV | Carnesecca Arena (3,490) Queens, NY |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| 11/14/2014* 7:00 pm, FSN | | NJIT | W 77–58 | 1–0 | 18 – Jordan | 13 – Obekpa | 5 – Jordan | Carnesecca Arena (4,703) Queens, NY |
| 11/17/2014* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Franklin Pierce NIT Season Tip-Off opening round | W 94–81 | 2–0 | 31 – Harrison | 17 – Harrison | 6 – Tied | Carnesecca Arena (3,553) Queens, NY |
| 11/19/2014* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | LIU Brooklyn NIT Season Tip-Off opening round | W 66–53 | 3–0 | 18 – Pointer | 10 – Obekpa | 2 – 3 Tied | Carnesecca Arena (3,733) Queens, NY |
| 11/26/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Minnesota NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals | W 70–61 | 4–0 | 19 – Harrison | 11 – Pointer | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (5,128) New York, NY |
| 11/28/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 10 Gonzaga NIT Season Tip-Off championship | L 66–73 | 4–1 | 20 – Greene IV | 9 – Pointer | 5 – Pointer | Madison Square Garden (5,548) New York, NY |
| 12/02/2014* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Niagara | W 70–57 | 5–1 | 16 – Harrison | 9 – Tied | 6 – Branch | Carnesecca Arena (4,475) Queens, NY |
| 12/06/2014* 5:15 pm, ESPN2 | | at Syracuse | W 69–57 | 6–1 | 24 – Harrison | 16 – Obekpa | 5 – Pointer | Carrier Dome (24,884) Syracuse, NY |
| 12/10/2014* 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 24 | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 74–52 | 7–1 | 26 – Harrison | 12 – Obekpa | 5 – Jordan | Carnesecca Arena (4,528) Queens, NY |
| 12/14/2014* 1:30 pm, FSN | No. 24 | vs. Fordham Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival | W 74–53 | 8–1 | 24 – Jordan | 6 – Jones | 7 – Branch | Madison Square Garden (8,074) New York, NY |
| 12/19/2014* 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 20 | Saint Mary's | W 53–47 | 9–1 | 21 – Harrison | 11 – Pointer | 5 – Pointer | Carnesecca Arena (4,645) Queens, NY |
| 12/22/2014* 7:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 17 | Long Beach State | W 66–49 | 10–1 | 16 – Tied | 10 – Harrison | 7 – Pointer | Carnesecca Arena (5,014) Queens, NY |
| 12/28/2014* 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 17 | vs. Tulane Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival | W 82–57 | 11–1 | 24 – Pointer | 8 – Obekpa | 4 – Pointer | Barclays Center (6,032) Brooklyn, NY |
| 12/31/2014 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 15 | at Seton Hall | L 67–78 | 11–2 (0–1) | 25 – Harrison | 7 – Tied | 4 – Branch | Prudential Center (9,183) Newark, NJ |
| 01/03/2015 4:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 15 | Butler | L 69–73 | 11–3 (0–2) | 31 – Harrison | 8 – Pointer | 4 – Pointer | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| 01/06/2015 9:00 pm, FS1 | No. 24 | No. 8 Villanova | L 72–90 | 11–4 (0–3) | 25 – Harrison | 5 – Obekpa | 3 – Branch | Madison Square Garden (8,565) New York, NY |
| 01/14/2015 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Providence | W 83–70 | 12–4 (1–3) | 20 – Tied | 8 – Pointer | 4 – Harrison | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,176) Providence, RI |
| 01/18/2015 2:30 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | L 67–71 | 12–5 (1–4) | 17 – Tied | 5 – 3 Tied | 4 – Jordan | Allstate Arena (6,243) Rosemont, IL |
| 01/21/2015 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Marquette | W 60–57 | 13–5 (2–4) | 15 – Tied | 12 – Pointer | 6 – Pointer | Madison Square Garden (7,532) New York, NY |
| 01/25/2015* 2:00 pm, FOX | | No. 5 Duke | L 68–77 | 13–6 | 21 – Pointer | 10 – Pointer | 4 – Pointer | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York, NY |
| 01/28/2015 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at Creighton | L 74–77 | 13–7 (2–5) | 18 – Harrison | 10 – Pointer | 6 – Pointer | CenturyLink Center (16,544) Omaha, NE |
| 01/31/2015 12:00 pm, FOX | | Providence | W 75–66 | 14–7 (3–5) | 20 – Pointer | 10 – Obekpa | 5 – Pointer | Madison Square Garden (8,973) New York, NY |
| 02/03/2015 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at No. 22 Butler | L 62–85 | 14–8 (3–6) | 19 – Pointer | 6 – Pointer | 4 – Jordan | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,132) Indianapolis, IN |
| 02/07/2015 12:00 pm, FSN | | Creighton | W 84–66 | 15–8 (4–6) | 25 – Jordan | 10 – Harrison | 6 – Harrison | Madison Square Garden (10,759) New York, NY |
| 02/11/2015 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | DePaul | W 86–78 | 16–8 (5–6) | 33 – Harrison | 11 – Pointer | 4 – Tied | Carnesecca Arena (5,040) Queens, NY |
| 02/14/2015 12:30 pm, FOX | | at Xavier | W 78–70 | 17–8 (6–6) | 24 – Pointer | 5 – 4 Tied | 3 – Harrison | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/17/2015 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Georgetown | L 57–79 | 17–9 (6–7) | 18 – Greene IV | 8 – Pointer | 5 – Branch | Verizon Center (8,685) Washington, D.C. |
| 02/21/2015 12:00 pm, FOX | | Seton Hall | W 85–72 | 18–9 (7–7) | 22 – Pointer | 10 – Pointer | 6 – Jordan | Carnesecca Arena (5,602) Queens, NY |
| 02/23/2015 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Xavier | W 58–57 | 19–9 (8–7) | 20 – Harrison | 9 – Pointer | 6 – Jordan | Madison Square Garden (6,634) New York, NY |
| 02/28/2015 12:00 noon, CBS | | Georgetown | W 81–70 | 20–9 (9–7) | 26 – Pointer | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (13,615) New York, NY |
| 03/04/2015 9:15 pm, FS1 | | at Marquette | W 67–51 | 21–9 (10–7) | 23 – Jordan | 13 – Pointer | 7 – Pointer | BMO Harris Bradley Center (14,201) Milwaukee, WI |
| 03/07/2015 12:00 p.m., FOX | | at No. 4 Villanova | L 68–105 | 21–10 (10–8) | 21 – Jordan | 4 – Tied | 8 – Jordan | Wells Fargo Center (19,161) Philadelphia, PA |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| 03/12/2015 2:30 pm, FS1 | | vs. Providence Quarterfinals | L 57–74 | 21–11 | 18 – Jordan | 9 – Obekpa | 2 – Branch | Madison Square Garden (15,197) New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| 03/20/2015* 9:40 pm, CBS | No. (9) | vs. (8) San Diego State First round | L 64–76 | 21–12 | 21 – Pointer | 10 – Pointer | 2 – Tied | Time Warner Cable Arena (16,945) Charlotte, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region S=South. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes. NR=Not ranked. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Post | Final |
| AP | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | 24 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 24 | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | RV | NR | N/A |
| Coaches | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | RV | 23 | 19 | 17 | 24 | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | NR | NR | NR |

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 2 | 53 | Sir'Dominic Pointer | Cleveland Cavaliers |