Larry Wright
Well-known member
I am bored waiting for Selection Sunday that we are actually in so figured I would see which BET champ was best. Thankfully We Are St John’s so only have to compare four teams.
Center
1982-83
Two headed monster Wennington and Allen
Combined to average 10 & 9 though they did sometimes play together.
85-86
Here is the thing. Walter Berry was the best college player I have seen. Yes best college player not just St John’s player. Was great and did it with style. 23 &11. Was still
Hampered by sprained ankle in 2nd round upset to Auburn and their linebacker sized front line.
99-00
Glover came in with a lot of hype and Jarvis added to that when directly after Elite loss said “Glover would have dunked all over that Johnson kid.” Now Glover played very hard and was a strong kid bunt spent much of his career here getting shots thrown back at him as he was only 6-5 or 6-6.
Averaged 10 & 5.
24-25
If not for David Cain, Zuby would be the most improved Johnny from one season to the next. And only reason he doesn’t match Cain is that Cain was terrible for 3 years. Zuby was a nice backup last year. Zuby is a pleasure to root for and watch. The amazing thing is as good as he is, still very raw basketball player. Wouldn’t be shocked if made another jump next year, hopefully playing for us.
Rankings:
1. There really isn’t anything I wouldn’t rank Walter Berry number 1 in so this wasn’t really fair but Berry was clearly the best of the Centers.
2. Zuby
3. Wennington /Allen
4. Glover
Winner 85-86
Power Forward
1982-83
So as a small child Larry Wright went to the old Alumni Hall to see a lefty that my dad said was one of the best college basketball players in the country. Well I left the game and immediately went home and played hours of nerf basketball lefty. The thing is I wasn’t shooting jumpers, I was dunking like my first favorite Johnny, David Russell. And thus my long often frustrating sometimes sad and embarrassing and once every couple decades extremely fulfilling journey as a St John’s fan was born.
Russell averaged 15 & 7.
85-86
Shelton Jones was a super athlete and a good player who you just always felt should have been better. Still
Had solid St John’s career and was a big part of St John’s beating Gtown the year before.
Averaged 8.5 and 6.
99-00
This team was interchangeable so didn’t necessarily have a real 4 but will put Reggie Jessie here. Jessie before falling off a cliff his senior year had e good Soph year on Elite 8 team as basically 6th man and a solid junior year. Good passer, defender and had good handle. His jumper may rival Kadary on ugly scale.
Averaged 9 / 5.5 and just under 4.
24-25
Much like 99-00 this team doesn’t really have a true 4. Gonna put RJ here. What can you say about Luis. Along with Zuby our most valuable players. If lost either probably not a tournament team. I know he still drives some on here crazy, but some on here are crazy. If he comes back next year and team can go on tournament run this year and next, puts himself in upper, upper echelon of Johnny all time players.
Rankings:
1. RJ- regular season and BET MOP are nothing compared to knocking off Larry Wright’s first fav player on a list.
2. David Russell
3. Shelton Jones
4. Jessie
Winner 24-25
This was much longer than I anticipated so will have to do in 2 or 3 parts. Maybe
Center
1982-83
Two headed monster Wennington and Allen
Combined to average 10 & 9 though they did sometimes play together.
85-86
Here is the thing. Walter Berry was the best college player I have seen. Yes best college player not just St John’s player. Was great and did it with style. 23 &11. Was still
Hampered by sprained ankle in 2nd round upset to Auburn and their linebacker sized front line.
99-00
Glover came in with a lot of hype and Jarvis added to that when directly after Elite loss said “Glover would have dunked all over that Johnson kid.” Now Glover played very hard and was a strong kid bunt spent much of his career here getting shots thrown back at him as he was only 6-5 or 6-6.
Averaged 10 & 5.
24-25
If not for David Cain, Zuby would be the most improved Johnny from one season to the next. And only reason he doesn’t match Cain is that Cain was terrible for 3 years. Zuby was a nice backup last year. Zuby is a pleasure to root for and watch. The amazing thing is as good as he is, still very raw basketball player. Wouldn’t be shocked if made another jump next year, hopefully playing for us.
Rankings:
1. There really isn’t anything I wouldn’t rank Walter Berry number 1 in so this wasn’t really fair but Berry was clearly the best of the Centers.
2. Zuby
3. Wennington /Allen
4. Glover
Winner 85-86
Power Forward
1982-83
So as a small child Larry Wright went to the old Alumni Hall to see a lefty that my dad said was one of the best college basketball players in the country. Well I left the game and immediately went home and played hours of nerf basketball lefty. The thing is I wasn’t shooting jumpers, I was dunking like my first favorite Johnny, David Russell. And thus my long often frustrating sometimes sad and embarrassing and once every couple decades extremely fulfilling journey as a St John’s fan was born.
Russell averaged 15 & 7.
85-86
Shelton Jones was a super athlete and a good player who you just always felt should have been better. Still
Had solid St John’s career and was a big part of St John’s beating Gtown the year before.
Averaged 8.5 and 6.
99-00
This team was interchangeable so didn’t necessarily have a real 4 but will put Reggie Jessie here. Jessie before falling off a cliff his senior year had e good Soph year on Elite 8 team as basically 6th man and a solid junior year. Good passer, defender and had good handle. His jumper may rival Kadary on ugly scale.
Averaged 9 / 5.5 and just under 4.
24-25
Much like 99-00 this team doesn’t really have a true 4. Gonna put RJ here. What can you say about Luis. Along with Zuby our most valuable players. If lost either probably not a tournament team. I know he still drives some on here crazy, but some on here are crazy. If he comes back next year and team can go on tournament run this year and next, puts himself in upper, upper echelon of Johnny all time players.
Rankings:
1. RJ- regular season and BET MOP are nothing compared to knocking off Larry Wright’s first fav player on a list.
2. David Russell
3. Shelton Jones
4. Jessie
Winner 24-25
This was much longer than I anticipated so will have to do in 2 or 3 parts. Maybe
