St. John’s stuns way into top 25 — with a disappointing star

On paper, St. John's entered this season worse than last year, lacking depth on its front line and reliable scoring off the bench.

Yet, as the Big East conference season nears, St. John's is one of college basketball's biggest surprises over a third of the way through the regular season.

Nationally ranked for the first time since the tail-end of the 2010-11 season — Steve Lavin's first year in Queens — the No. 17 Red Storm have made believers of the national media with their grit, defensive tenacity and explosive transition game. But the steadying presence of a starting lineup featuring four seniors and one junior is perhaps the biggest reason reason for their success.

"It's an undeniable progression of this group," Lavin said, referring to winning 13 games three years ago, 17 two years ago and 20 last year. "It's just one of those examples, the things that when you're younger you find challenging, once you have experience and confidence then you just begin to see individuals and a group blossom. What we're seeing is a number of individuals who have made these gradual strides climbing the mountain."

St. John's enters Sunday's Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival matchup against Tulane at Barclays Center an impressive 10-1 — the program's best start since the 1990-91 season, when legendary coach Lou Carnesecca was roaming the sidelines — and the player with the most upside, sophomore guard Rysheed Jordan, has yet to find his form.

The 6-foot-4 Jordan, an All-Big East preseason second-team selection, has battled consistency issues and turnover woes. He also missed the team's last game, a 66-49 domination of quality non-conference foe Long Beach State, with the flu.

But as Jordan looks to work his way back into the starting lineup, the team's upperclassmen have blossomed, each taking major leaps after last year's disappointing NIT finish, and giving Lavin the freedom to get creative with defensive game plans and strategy he wouldn't previously have attempted for fear of his players not being able to grasp them.

"This team can adapt and adjust," Lavin said. "We can put a zone defense in the night before a game and go out and execute it very effectively."

Junior Chris Obekpa has remained a shot-blocking dynamo while evolving as an offensive threat. Senior forward Sir'Dominic Pointer, playing out of position as a power forward, has been the team's unquestioned MVP, a versatile playmaker and lockdown defender. Jamal Branch has become a stabilizing force at the point guard spot. Phil Greene IV, another senior, has emerged as the clutch shot-maker the team desperately needed, while D'Angelo Harrison has taken another step as the Red Storm's leader, as its heartbeat and leading scorer.

It all has added up to this scintillating start.

"I've seen it before, but it's a more dramatic example of a team that continues to get better," Lavin said. "We see it on display and the winning results make it even sweeter."

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