St. John’s Ponds Talks U19 Camp, Says It’s a ‘Failure’ if Red Storm Miss NCAA Tournament
St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds is one of 27 players in Colorado Springs, Colo., trying out for the USA U19 team coached by Kentucky’s John Calipari, but as he looks ahead to his sophomore season he says it will be a “failure” if the Red Storm don’t make the NCAA Tournament.
“Personally, I believe it’s a failure [if we don’t],” he said Monday night by phone.
Ponds believes St. John’s is developing and should contend for a spot in the Big Dance in 2018.
“I think Chris Mullin’s first year was a bad year,” he said. “This year was a better improvement and we see what we can do when we play together and the teams we could beat like Syracuse, Butler, Marquette, Seton Hall. So I just believe that if we just stick to what Chris Mullin and the coaching staff is doing, it’s no doubt in my mind we should have a spot in the NCAA Tournament.”
