Johnnies in the Pros: A look at where St. John’s men’s basketball alumni are playing in 2024-25

Over two dozen St. John’s men’s basketball alumni will be playing professionally this fall, including Julian Champagnie of the San Antonio Spurs

A few weeks ago, the Charlotte Hornets officially announced they had signed recent Johnnies graduate Joel Soriano to an Exhibit 10 contract, a deal that gave the 6-foot-11 center the chance to try and make the Hornets’ NBA or G-League roster. Although he was waived yesterday and will have to find a new home for the upcoming professional season, he is one of many players from Rick Pitino’s debut roster last season who have signed professional contracts and are looking to join an even larger group of former Red Storm players who will be playing professional basketball this upcoming season.

With 40 days until the Red Storm start their season, let’s take a look at the former Johnnies men’s basketball alumni who will be playing across a variety of levels this upcoming season.

NBA/G-League

The only guy on a full-time NBA deal is Julian Champagnie, who will be entering his third season with the San Antonio Spurs. The 6-8 forward, who made two All-Big East First Teams in his three-year run with the Storm from 2019-2022, signed a couple of two-way contracts with the 76ers and Spurs in the 2022-23 season. His 15-game stint with the Spurs that season was enough to earn him a 4-year, $12 million contract. In his first year of that deal last season, he made 74 appearances, starting 59 of them, averaging 6.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 36.5% from deep.

A couple of former Johnnies will have the same opportunity Champagnie had his rookie season and will be splitting time between the NBA and the G-League. Daniss Jenkins, last season’s point guard who made the All-Big East Second Team in his only year as a Johnny, signed a two-way deal with the Detroit Pistons. Jenkins had a couple of standout performances for the Pistons in the Summer League and will be joined on a two-way deal by forward David Jones, who played one season for the Storm in 2022-23.

Jones played two seasons for DePaul before transferring to St. John’s, and after Rick Pitino took the helm, he transferred to Memphis for his senior season. He had a standout season at Memphis, averaging over 20 points per game and earning All-AAC First Team Honors, which was enough to earn him a two-way deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Overseas

Although only three former Johnnies will be at NBA training camp in October, over 20 will be playing pro ball internationally next season. Two guards from Rick Pitino’s debut squad last season will be taking their talents to Greece. Nahiem Alleyne, who played three seasons at Virginia Tech and won a national championship in his season at UConn before playing his last year with the Storm, will be playing for AEK Athens in the top league of Greek basketball. Sean Conway, who played four years at VMI before joining the Johnnies last season, will be suiting up for Proteas Voulas in the second tier of Greek pro ball.

The country that will see the highest number of former St. John’s players is Italy, where five former Johnnies will be playing next season. One of which is Amar Alibegovic, a 6-9 big who played four years for the Storm from 2014-2018. Since then, the Bosnian native has been playing professionally in Europe, and next season will suit up for Trapani Shark at the top level of Italian basketball.

Also playing in the top Italian league next season will be Johnnies legend D’Angelo Harrison, a two-time All-Big East First Team selection in his four years in Queens from 2011-2015. The 6-4 guard has played in a variety of pro leagues since graduating and will play his tenth professional season for Universo Treviso Basket this season.

A third player playing in the highest level of Italian pro ball is Tariq Owens. The 6-10 rim protector played his freshman season at Tennessee before playing two seasons for the Johnnies from 2016-2018. After St. John’s, he made a national championship game in his final college season with Texas Tech and has since played professionally in the G-League and internationally, including three games played in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns. Next year, he will be playing for Vanoli Cremona.

In the second tier of Italian basketball, two former Johnnies will be teaming up for Avellino Basket. Federico Mussini, a 6-1 Italian guard who played two seasons for the Storm from 2015-2017, has played professionally in Europe since his time with the Johnnies. He will play alongside Marcellus Earlington, the 6-6 forward who played three seasons in Queens from 2018-2021 before transferring to San Diego for his final two seasons, where he made an All-WCC Second Team.

Three former Johnnies will play in France next season, including two former teammates who will play together in the top league. Guard Stef Smith and big Aaron Wheeler, who both played for St John’s in 2021-22 after four seasons at Vermont and three seasons at Purdue, respectively, will both play for Cholet Basket this upcoming season. In the second level of French basketball, Chris Ledlum, the 6-6 power forward who played his final year of college basketball for Rick Pitino last season after a great career at Harvard, will play for Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez.

In Spain, two former members of the Red Storm will be playing at the top level of basketball. 6-11 center Yankuba Sima, who is originally from Spain, played two seasons for the Storm from 2015-2017 before spending a year at Oklahoma State. He will be playing for Baloncesto Málaga for the third straight season this year. Also in Spain will be LJ Figueroa, who played two years for the Johnnies from 2018-2020 before spending his final college season at Oregon, and who will be playing for Básquet Coruña this upcoming season.

In addition to Figueroa, the four other members of the Red Storm’s 2018-19 NCAA Tournament squad will all be playing pro ball next season. Shamorie Ponds, a two-time All-Big East First Team selection and the Johnnies’ fifth all-time leading scorer, has spent time in a variety of professional leagues, including logging four regular season NBA games for the Toronto Raptors. Next season, he will lace up for Marinos de Oriente in Venezuela.

His backcourt mate from 2018-19, Mustapha Heron, who played for the Johnnies from 2018-2020 after two seasons at Auburn, will play for Abejas de León in Mexico. Their teammate and the 2018-19 Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Justin Simon, will play for MHP Riesen Ludwigsberg in Germany. Finally, 6-7 power forward Marvin Clark II, who started for the Johnnies for two years from 2017-19 after two seasons at Michigan State, will play for Falco Kosárlabda Club in Hungary.

A couple of former Johnny teammates will both be playing in the top level of Kuwait basketball this upcoming season. 6-2 guard Phil Greene IV was a four-year starter for the Storm from 2011-2015 and has played in pro leagues across the globe since. Next year he will play for Al Qadsiya. His former teammate, 6-9 forward JaKarr Sampson, played two seasons for the Johnnies from 2012-2014 before carving out a six-season, 236-game NBA career from 2014-2021. Since then, he has played internationally, and next season will suit up for Al Kuwait SC.

A couple of Johnnies will be taking their talents to different leagues in Asia next season. 6-0 guard Marcus Lovett, who made the Big East All-Freshman team in his only full season with the Storm in 2016-17, has played in a few different countries since leaving St. John’s and will play for the Tianjin Pioneers in the CBA, China’s top league, next season. 6-7 forward Justin Brownlee, who has played in quite a few pro leagues since his two seasons for the Johnnies from 2009-2011, will play for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at the top level of pro ball in the Philippines.

The last four former St. John’s players left to mention will all be playing professionally in Eastern Europe next season. Jordan Dingle, the shooting guard for last season’s Red Storm squad, inked a deal to play for KK Vojvodina, who plays in the top Serbian league. 6-3 guard Greg Williams Jr., who played three seasons for the Johnnies from 2018-2021 before two seasons at Louisiana, will spend next season playing for Anorthosis Ammohostou in the top league in Cyprus.

6-foot-8 big Arnaldo Toro spent the 2020-21 season with St. John’s after four seasons at George Washington and recently represented Puerto Rico in the Summer Olympics. Next season, he will play for Utenos Juventus at the top level of Lithuanian basketball. Finally, Christian Jones, who played his senior season for UNLV after spending 2012-2016 with the Red Storm, will suit up for FC Arges Pitesti in Romania.

One interesting thing to note is that in the likely scenario that Joel Soriano bumps that number up to 28 guys playing pro ball, all six of Rick Pitino’s seniors from last season would be playing somewhere professionally. Hopefully, under Pitino’s guidance, the St. John’s program will send more and more players to professional leagues, especially the NBA.