For the second time in as many seasons, Shamorie Ponds has found a spot on the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District Team, it was announced this afternoon by the organization.
Ponds was one of 10 Division I players recognized in District II, which encompasses New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman earned Player of the Year honors. Ponds is one of four players from the BIG EAST to have earned a spot on the All-District Team, joining Georgetown’s Jessie Govan, Villanova’s Eric Paschall and Seton Hall’s Myles Powell.
Ponds is in the midst of a stellar junior season for the Red Storm, leading the team and ranking third in the league in scoring with 19.8 points per game. The Brooklyn native has scored in double figures 26 times in 30 appearances with 17 showings of 20 points or more and four outings with 30-plus points. In addition to his scoring prowess, Ponds also paces the team and ranks second in the conference in assists per game (5.2) while topping the squad and the BIG EAST in steals per game (2.6). Through games played on Monday, Ponds ranks 10th nationally in steals per outing.
The sweet-shooting southpaw has skyrocketed up a number of St. John’s career lists during his third campaign in Queens. Following a 19-point, 10-assist outing in the Red Storm’s regular season finale at Xavier, Ponds now ranks sixth on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,814 points and is just 12 points away from tying Bob Zawoluk for fifth. His 400 career assists are good enough for sixth in program history while his 216 steals rank third all-time and are just four shy of tying Jason Buchanan for second. Ponds is one of just two players in St. John’s history to rank inside the top 10 in career points, steals and assists. His head coach, Chris Mullin, is the other.
Ponds earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors for the second-straight season on Sunday, becoming just the fifth player in program history to earn multiple selections to the conference’s top squad alongside Mullin, Mark Jackson, Malik Sealy and Marcus Hatten.
Ponds, who has led the Red Storm to its first 20-win season since 2014-15, was twice named the BIG EAST Player of the Week and earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll eight times in 2018-19.
The Red Storm will kick off postseason action on Wednesday, taking on DePaul in the opening sessions of the BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. on FS1 and 570 AM WMCA.
USBWA District II All-District Team
Shizz Alston Jr., Temple
Tyus Battle, Syracuse
Jessie Govan, Georgetown
CJ Massinburg, Buffalo
Matt Morgan, Cornell
Eric Paschall, Villanova
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s
Myles Powell, Seton Hall
Lamar Stevens, Penn State
Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra
Player of the Year: Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra
Coach of the Year: Joe Mihalich, Hofstra
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