No, Joel Soriano said with a smile, he could not have envisioned this when he transferred to St. John’s in the spring of 2021.
To call his three-year St. John’s career a roller-coaster ride would be understating it.
There have been highs. There have been lows.
There have been coaching changes and remade rosters.
Soriano has been the one constant in Queens.
“As you are saying it now, it is starting to hit me a little bit. It’s been a long three years,” the affable center said ahead of his final home game as a Johnnie, Saturday at the Garden against Georgetown.
He added: “It’s been great. It’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of adversity, a lot of trials and tribulations. But I feel like I’ve grown as a man here, on and off the court. I met a lot of great people, made friendships that will last for a lifetime. Just the love and care I have for this university, I’m going to cherish it for the rest of my life. St. John’s will always be in my heart.”
Soriano went through Senior Day festivities last year, but the circumstances were obviously very different.
The team was playing out the string, coach Mike Anderson was on his way out and he still had one year of eligibility remaining if he chose to use it.
This time, St. John’s (18-12, 10-9) is firmly in the NCAA Tournament mix, and there will be no next season for Soriano. This is it for him.
“It definitely will be a little more emotional for me because I know it’s going to be my last [regular-season] game here,” said the Yonkers native, who will be joined by his mother, Maria, in the pre-game ceremony. “I’m just going to cherish that moment.”
He has the chance to go out with a bang, to help the Johnnies return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
They have won four straight games and are on the right side of the bubble in most projections. With a win over Georgetown, St. John’s would have its most league wins (11) since going 12-6 in 2010-11.
“I mean, for me it would be a dream come true,” he said. “As a Division I college basketball player, that’s your dream. That’s your goal every season, to make the NCAA Tournament. This would be my first time and it would be a dream come true in my last season to make it to the tournament. I’m just eager to get there.”
Mirroring his career at St. John’s, this season has been full of ups and downs.
Pushed by coach Rick Pitino, Soriano got into the best shape of his life.
He was St. John’s best player until a mid-January slump.
Amid the team’s struggles, Soriano didn’t start in a loss at Providence on Feb. 13.
He has performed better of late, but not to the level he was at prior to those struggles. He is averaging 10.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the past five games entering Saturday.
“It kind of drove me a little more,” Soriano said, referring to coming off the bench in the Providence game. “It woke me up a little bit. I took it as motivation to get better.”
When last season ended in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, Soriano said he would only return if Anderson was still the coach.
That changed upon the hiring of Pitino, who made retaining Soriano his first priority. Of that group, only Drissa Traore stayed.
Soriano had a completely new set of teammates. It was like starting over in his final year of college. But he’s glad he stayed put — a trip to March Madness is likely on the horizon.
“It would mean the world, not just for me. I feel like it would mean the world to the fans,” Soriano said. “It’s something they’ve been waiting for. For the program, this would be the start. When we get there, that’s going to be the standard that this program is going to have to live by after we leave.
“That’s what we’ve tried to do when we first got here, set a standard here, to make St. John’s a powerhouse again.”