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#A.J. Storr picked St. John’s with assist from Julian Champagnie

#A.J. Storr picked St. John’s with assist from Julian Champagnie

There were a number of factors that worked in St. John’s favor in landing the biggest-name prospect, four-star guard A.J. Storr, of the Mike Anderson era last Wednesday.

Storr and his mother, Annette Brandy, were impressed by how active Anderson was in his recruitment and the relationship they built. The entire coaching staff was involved, but Anderson took charge in recent weeks.

New assistant coach Greg “Shoes” Vetrone’s relationship to his AAU program, Vegas Elite, from his days as an assistant coach at UNLV. Fellow assistant T.J. Cleveland had a prior relationship with one of Storr’s coaches.

Storr, a top-50 prospect according to ESPN, told me the idea of getting to play games at the Garden was a huge bonus, and a major selling point.

But one factor cannot be discounted or diminished. The role Julian Champagnie played here. The rising junior from Brooklyn and reigning Big East-leading scorer had dinner with Storr during his official visit. I was told he played an important role, breaking down his progress to Storr under this coaching staff as someone who wasn’t a highly-rated prospect, but now is expected to get drafted next summer.

Julian Champagnie
Julian Champagnie hopes to bring the Red Storm to the NCAA Tournament.
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Sometimes your best recruiter can be a player. He’s already experienced what Storr will go through. I’m not saying St. John’s doesn’t land Storr if Champagnie stays in the draft, but his presence certainly made an impact. It also spoke volumes of the program in place, and the trust its top player has in the coaching staff that he would return.

I don’t think it can be overstated how important Champagnie’s decision to come back was. It created major expectations for this season — St. John’s is a projected top-four team in the Big East now — and now Anderson has landed his biggest recruit only a few weeks later. If this season reaches the heights I think it can — the Johnnies advance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 and Champagnie is a first-round pick — he will go down as one of the program’s most beloved players in quite some time.


A few readers have sent me my story from late March about what needed to happen this offseason for St. John’s to be a top-25-caliber team. The Johnnies addressed two of my three suggestions, adding a back-to-the-basket scoring and rebounding presence (Joel Soriano) and a Rasheem Dunn replacement (Stef Smith), yet falling short of keeping the core intact.

Aaron Wheeler joins the Johnnies after transferring from Purdue.
Aaron Wheeler joins the Johnnies after transferring from Purdue.
Getty Images

Now, it should be noted, I think Anderson and Co. improved the roster overall. They added transfers in Aaron Wheeler (Purdue) and Montez Mathis (Rutgers) who fit their up-tempo style better. The one caveat is all the new pieces on this roster. Only three players — Posh Alexander, Champagnie and Dylan Addae-Wusu — saw significant minutes for this team a year ago. Making the newcomers fit won’t be easy and it may not be quick.

Ultimately, though, I do believe this is a team with top-25 potential. In fact, I think this is the best spot this program has been in since I started covering it in 2013, when you factor in the high hopes for this season, the recent addition of Storr and the fact it is coming off two winning seasons under Anderson.


Right now, I expect St. John’s to bring in one more high school prospect for its 2022 class. It already has two in point guard Kolby King and Storr. But with how important the transfer market has become without players having to sit out, it is now such a significant source of recruiting. One potential player to keep an eye on is Jaquan Sanders, a three-star guard from Our Savior Lutheran, the same school as Alexander and Addae-Wusu. A Queens native, Sanders’ high school coach, Pete Wehye, told me he believes Sanders and Storr can complement each other well, and his commitment doesn’t change anything for Sanders in terms of St. John’s. Sanders is a quality shooter, something the program will definitely need with Champagnie expected to move onto the professional ranks, and graduate transfers Tareq Coburn (Hofstra) and Smith out of eligibility. 

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