St. John’s fans can take a deep breath: The team’s frontcourt depth became official Monday.
St. John’s announced it has signed Westchester Community College forward Keith Thomas and Christ the King big man Adonis Delarosa, much-needed additions after JaKarr Sampson left early for the NBA draft and fellow forwards God’sgift Achiuwa and Orlando Sanchez graduated.
“We are pleased to sign two prospects from New York as we bolster the frontline depth of our roster,” St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said in a statement.
The duo will join returning forwards Chris Obekpa and Christian Jones up front. Delarosa’s older brother Joey, a 7-foot-1 Florida International transfer, has enrolled at St. John’s as well, and is expected to be part of the program.
Adonis Delarosa helped guide Christ the King to back-to-back city and state Federation championships as a junior and senior. The 6-foot-11 big man averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds per game and picked St. John’s over Pittsburgh, Miami, South Carolina and Alabama.
The 6-foot-8 Thomas was an honorable mention NJCAA All-American and the NJCAA Region XV Player of the Year last season at Westchester Community College. Thomas led all Division I junior college players with 15.7 rebounds per game and tallied 15.3 points per game to help lead the Vikings to a Division I District III Championship crown, an automatic bid into the 24-team NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship and a 28-5 record.