St. John's Red Storm: Last Season's Struggles Will Only Help The Team
Feb 21, 2016; Queens, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm forward Kassoum Yakwe (14) and center Yankuba Sima (35) react after a basket during the second half against the Seton Hall Pirates at Madison Square Garden. The Pirates won 62-61. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

St. John’s went through one of the worst seasons in school history last year. It will benefit them for this upcoming season.

Last season was clearly a tough year for the St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball team.

They finished at a dismal 8-24 overall, including 1-17 in Big East play. At one point, they lost 16 straight games.

Maybe things shouldn’t have been as bad as the record indicates, but St. John’s was expected to have a tough year with a new head coach in school legend Chris Mullin and a roster full of freshmen.

Mullin did offer a positive note to it, saying that it was necessary and that one year later, people will see the development of his freshmen from last season and their confidence and bodies changing.

A couple of players from last season probably used it as motivation to get better. Forward Kassoum Yakwe and guard Frederico Mussini spent all of offseason, working on their games and trying to improve.

Yakwe worked a lot on improving his outside shot. Mussini also worked more on his jumper and his handles. He spent the summer playing for his national team in Italy and played with some of the best European players. Mussini also spent a lot of time in the weight room to add more strength to his thin frame. He is now listed at 170 pounds, which is more than what he was listed at last season.

Last season may have been a tough year but it was a definitely a learning experience not only for the freshmen but for Mullin too in his first year as head coach. That one year should definitely help them get more prepared for this upcoming season.

In addition, they will get some help. St. John’s added one of the best junior college players in Bronx native Bashir Ahmed, who will depth and scoring at the forward position.

St. John’s also added more backcourt players in Brooklyn native Shamorie Ponds and redshirt freshman Marcus Lovett. Both of them are four-star recruits who will provide more scoring and playmaking in the backcourt.

St. John’s is projected to finish ninth in the Big East but they will definitely have a more improved squad with more depth and talent, adding to more wins. They might not be tournament ready yet but the improved performance should definitely help more in future recruitment processes.

Other than God, sports are my biggest love. My teams are the Mets, Knicks, NY Giants, NY Rangers and St Johns basketball (St. John's alumni). I especially love the Mets like crazy, more than any other team and seeing them win the World Series would be a dream come true and definitely the best sports moment. The Knicks are a close second. I also like to write, so combine that with my passion for sports equals a perfect scenario, I would love to do sports writing long term. If not that, then probably sports broadcasting, cause I love to talk sports as well. In addition to writing for ESNY, I'm also currently writing for Metsmerizedonline.