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St. John’s adds another front court player to its 2014-15 roster

Steve Lavin

St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin watches from the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Butler, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, in Indianapolis. St. John’s won 69-52. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

AP

With classes at many schools set to begin in short order, some college basketball programs are still going through the process of adding players to their 2014-15 rosters. One such team is St. John’s which on Wednesday announced the addition of 6-foot-9 forward Amar Alibegovic. Alibegovic, who played on Bosnia’s Under-20 team this summer, also played with Stella Azzurri’s junior team this past season.

“We are pleased that Amar has chosen to join our St. John’s basketball family,” St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin said in the release. “Amar has the skill, size and basketball intellect to help fuel our purposes as we continue to build our program into a sustainable winner.”

Alibegovic averaged six points and just over three rebounds per game for Stella Azzurri in 2013-14, and he’s been described by some as a “stretch four.” He’s also the third addition to the St. John’s program this offseason, and all three have the size needed to help the Red Storm in the front court with 6-foot-11 center Adonis Delarosa and 6-foot-8 forward Kevin Thomas being the other additions.

The Red Storm lost their top two rebounders at the end of the 2013-14 season, with JaKarr Sampson foregoing his final two seasons of eligibility to turn pro and Orlando Sanchez running out of eligibility. That left guard D’Angelo Harrison (4.9 rpg) and center Chris Obekpa (4.8) as the team’s leading returning rebounders, meaning the newcomers (especially Thomas) will be asked to help in this area.

St. John’s finished the 2013-14 season with a 20-13 record (10-8 Big East), losing to Robert Morris in the first round of the Postseason NIT.

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