By Jerry Del Priore
When St. John’s University basketball team (Big East Conference) takes to the court in an exhibition game against Division II Queens College on Wednesday, October 30th at Carnesecca Arena, the Red Strom will have two Brooklynites on its roster: Julian Champagnie and Rasheem Dunn.
Champagnie is a freshman guard/forward who played hoops at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where he averaged 17.2 points per game and scored 20 or more points 13 times in his senior year. Plus, he helped lead the Lions to a 23-4 record.
The three-star recruit, according to Rivals, earned All-CHSAA “AA” First Team accolades last year.
In his junior senior, Champagnie averaged 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per tilt to help him garner Third Team All-CHSAA “AA” honors.
Dunn, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations, played two years at St. Francis Brooklyn, in Brooklyn Heights. There, the redshirted junior guard averaged a team-high 15.4 points per game, scored 20 points or more 11 times, and also led the squad in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg) while finishing second on the club in assists (2.3 apg) in his sophomore campaign.
In his freshman year at the college, he led the Terriers in scoring at 13.1 points per game and posted 394 points overall, a program freshman record for the Northeast Conference (NEC) era.
In high school, at Brooklyn’s Thomas Jefferson, Dunn, alongside Shamorie Ponds, the two childhood friends led the Orange Wave to its first PSAL title since 1954 and won the New York State Class AA Federation Title as well.
Additionally, the PSAL named them Co-MVP of the championship game at Madison Square Garden after draining 23 points in a 29-point lopsided win over of New York City high school powerhouse Abraham Lincoln.
Dunn also earned a spot on the Federation All-Tournament Team after dropping 21 points in the championship game against Aquinas Institute.
