San Antonio – Former St. John's star Julien Champany has a confident prediction about her alma mater.
“Final Four. I really think so. I believe it,” Champany, now a Spurs advance, said in an interview with a post before the Knicks' 120-105 loss. “That defense is another, boy. That defense is another. They have a different kind of defense.”
Champagnie has an excellent track record with forecasting. Before the San Antonio Christmas game at MSG, he told Post Zach Braziler that St. John's would beat the turmeric.
The Red Storm then went 2-0 against the two-time defending champions. This was raised through interviews as former Husky star Stephen Castle, a Champanee teammate, passed by.
“When you think of UConn,” Champanee said. “I gave them a belt.”
Champagnie is keen on another matchup against UConn in the NCAA tournament. This is no. This only happens when St. John's and No. 8 Huskies in 2 advance to the Elite 8.
Red Storm Face No. 15 Omaha is the first round of Thursday night in Providence.
January 5th, 2022. Robert Sabo of the New York Post
“I hope we see UConn in the tournament,” Champagnie said. “Hopefully UConn will do their thing. They're going to beat Florida. [in the second round]. But I want to beat them again. ”
St. John's never played in the NCAA Tournament during Champanee's three seasons under Mike Anderson, which overlapped with the postseason 2020 cancellation due to the pandemic.
Still, Champanee, who averaged over 19 points in his last two college seasons, saw the potential for a popular program. This was captivated by coach Rick Pitino, who took the character into his body and attracted Nir's donation as a catalyst.
“When I was there, Nir wasn't really an object. My last year it started coming. So I really don't know where it's going to school and where it's going. But they always had the chance to take over town,” he said. “It's a solid size campus. There's a lot to do over there, so there's a lot of possibilities. I could see it. But that wasn't what I thought when I was there – I thought, “OK, well, we'll be good.”
“I'm so happy for them. The city deserves it. So does school. So it's pretty cool to see them take over.”
Champaney, a regular in the Spurs rotation since last season, entered Wednesday with an average of 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.2 minutes.
He had five points and four rebounds in San Antonio's victory over the Knicks.
His nighttime work has made it difficult to watch St. John's games this season, but he did his best he could.
“I watch the first half. And we have a game or we can do something. And then the score gets closer and then there's the next thing you know they've won by 16,” Champanee said. “It was the same trend all year round.”
