With last night’s 81-66 over Xavier at Carnesecca
Arena last night, St, John’s snapped a two-game losing streak. They welcomed
back junior center Joel Soriano, who contributed 10 points and 5 boards after
missing the two losses with a left knee injury. And they completed a season
sweep of the Muskies.
All of that might well be considered
secondary because Tareq Coburn, the graduate transfer from Hofstra who has
fashioned one of the best stories in a disappointing season for St. John’s added
one more great night to what has been an exemplary career as a student athlete.
He led 5 double-figure scorers for St. John’s with 20 points, made 5 of his 7
field goal tries from beyond the arc and tied a career high with 3 blocks. While
it was a signature game for him it’s only a small part of a great legacy.
He is, after all, a player with deep New York
City basketball roots. He prepped at Cardozo High in Queens where he developed in
to one of the PSAL’s best 3-point marksmen. After freshman struggles at St.
Bonaventure, he transferred closer to home, landing at Hofstra University where
he blossomed both on the court and in the classroom.
On the court he helped the Pride to a
regular season CAA title in 2019 and a CAA tournament title in 2020. The
beginning of the pandemic that year cost Coburn and his teammates a chance to
compete in the NCAA tournament.
Off the court he was twice named the CAA’s
scholar athlete of the year and an academic All-American. His good work in the
classroom earned him admission to St. John’s prestigious physician’s assistant master’s
degree program. He was approached by Red Storm assistant coach Van Macon about
playing for the Johnnies after he had been on campus already enrolled in the
program.
“It says something that he wanted to be
part of this”, coach Mike Anderson said of Coburn’s decision to play a final
season of basketball while matriculating in an exceptionally demanding graduate
program. “It’s amazing I’m in awe of him”, coach Anderson added. Julian
Champagnie who finished with 19 points of his own added “It’s something about senior
night I wanted him to have a big game”
He led a well-balanced and winning
effort for St. John’s. They held Xavier to a season low 32% from the floor. And the return of Soriano helped anchor a
defense that had given up 99 points to DePaul on Sunday. At 16-13 overall and 8-10 in conference play
St. John’s concludes the regular season at Marquette knowing they will enter
the Big East tournament as the 7th seed. The high hopes of the early season have been
replaced by disappointment. For Coburn, this season and his career as a student
athlete has been a richly deserved success. And all of us who have watched his
career as we follow New York basketball no that his basketball career will mark
the beginning of a great life’s work.
