Despite mid-pack predictions, St. John's maintains NCAA Tournament aspirations

Chris Mullin fields questions from throng at Wednesday's Big East media day, where his St. John's team was picked sixth in league's preseason poll. (Photo by Doug Feinberg/Associated Press)

NEW YORK -- The Big East Conference placed seven teams in the NCAA Tournament last season, proving that the national championship won by Villanova in 2016 was not the aberration some had suspected it may be.

If a similar fate is to come to fruition this year, St. John's will be among the field of 68 as suggested by their sixth-place standing in the Big East's preseason coaches' poll, and despite the significant jump that would come from a 14-19 record one year ago to hearing their name announced on Selection Sunday, such an uptick is right in line with the program's mindset as the Red Storm enters year three under head coach Chris Mullin.

"When you're a freshman, everything is fast-paced," said sophomore point guard Marcus LoVett when describing the biggest takeaways he gleaned from his first campaign at the collegiate level. "You're just running, not really knowing what everything is. The fact that I know what everything is now will make it much better. Now I know what Big East play is, and I think all of that, the maturity and everything, has to factor in."

"Last year, I feel like we made a big improvement," senior forward Bashir Ahmed said amid a gaggle of media inside Madison Square Garden, site of the Big East's annual media day. "Over the summer, all the guys on the team have been working hard, Coach (Mullin) has really been pushing us, and I feel like this year, we're pretty confident with all the new pieces that we've added. We're just looking forward to it."

Chief among the new pieces Ahmed speaks of are Justin Simon and Marvin Clark II, the pair of transfers who sat out last season while learning the offense on the corner of Union and Utopia. Simon, a guard who arrives by way of the University of Arizona, is a combo guard whose defense will cause mismatches while also freeing up LoVett and Shamorie Ponds to play off the ball, while Clark, the 6-foot-8 forward who comes in from Michigan State, will be a refreshing complement to Tariq Owens and Kassoum Yakwe in the paint.

"Justin is a guard we didn't have," said Mullin of Simon and his inclusion into what could be among the best backcourt in the league. "We had two really dynamic guards but on the smaller side as far as stature, so it's nice to fill them in with a guy you didn't have. And then Marvin is a physical, versatile forward, a body type we didn't have on our roster."

"He's 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6, and he can really move," LoVett chimed in when discussing what Simon brings to the stable of guards, moments before lauding Clark's size and ability to pop out for a mid-range shot. "He's long, he has a 7-foot-2 wingspan, so he's a great defender as well. You've got Shamorie, who could score the ball; me, who facilitates, it's a lot to deal with in the backcourt, but it's great for us."

In addition to the two transfers, freshman Bryan Trimble joins the Red Storm, a 6-foot-3 guard who turned down overtures from Florida State to sign with St. John's, and although his youth tends to get lost in the shuffle amid the experience, his presence has paid dividends.

"He's been great," said LoVett. "He's a freshman, so he's still learning the process of everything, but we've been helping him out through it all. He's a good shooter, and he's definitely going to be a help with the minutes he will play."

All told, the middle-of-the-road projection may cause some skepticism among fans, but the prevailing opinion around the team is that the three-year rebuild started when Mullin was hired to replace Steve Lavin will culminate in the ultimate payoff.

"The tournament is where we're going to get to," a confident LoVett stated. "That's what we've all been talking about, and the potential is crazy in the practices, just how everybody has been operating. We have a lot of athleticism, it's scary."

"They can expect a show coming soon," he proclaimed, offering fans a glimpse of what they can count on seeing once the ball is tipped. "They should be happy they have this group of young men going into battle. We're going to show them what we're all about."