After helping the Red Storm register back-to-back wins to close the regular season, Julian Champagnie has been named the final Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association All-Met Player of the Week, it was announced by the organization on Tuesday.
This latest honor from the MWBA marks the third of the season for Champagnie, who was also named the area’s top Division I player on Jan. 19 and Feb. 2.
Champagnie, who on Monday was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week and the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player, averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds during the Red Storm’s undefeated week. On Wednesday against Providence, Champagnie tallied his league-leading seventh double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 boards as the Red Storm erased an 11-point halftime deficit to win by 14. On Saturday against Seton Hall, St. John’s trailed by as many as 18 in the first half and 10 at the intermission before the Red Storm came back to win by double digits yet again. Champagnie posted 22 points and six boards, his 11th outing of the season with 20 or more points.
A member of the All-BIG EAST First Team, Champagnie became just the fourth player in program history and the first underclassman to lead the BIG EAST in scoring over the course of a conference season (19.5 ppg). He joins an elite fraternity in that regard, as Chris Mullin (1983-84), Walter Berry (1985-86) and Marcus Hatten (2001-02) are the only other St. John’s players to accomplish the feat. Champagnie became the 17th player in program history and just the fifth sophomore to earn a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team. Mullin, Ron Artest, Erick Barkley and Shamorie Ponds are the only other St. John’s sophomores to land a spot on the league’s top team.
Champagnie and the fourth-seeded Red Storm will begin BIG EAST Tournament action on Thursday when they take on Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. on FS1.
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