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Former Johnnies wing excels in Wisconsin
It is ironic. AJ Storr finds himself back in the same city he started his college career for the biggest game of his life.
One year after leaving St. John’s, Storr is in New York City for his NCAA Tournament debut.
“I wish we played at Madison Square Garden,” he joked. “But it doesn’t really matter. My goals for this weekend are just to come in and live in the moment here in March Madness. It’s a crazy feeling to just be playing in this.”
Barclays Center will have to do for the high-scoring, 6-foot-7 wing. It has been a wild 12 months for Storr, from former coach Mike Anderson getting fired to winding up at Wisconsin and leading the Badgers, the fifth seed in the South Region, in scoring. Storr said he had some conversations with Rick Pitino after he took the Johnnies’ job, but he was already in the transfer portal and was pretty much set upon leaving. He wound up choosing Wisconsin, which is just over an hour drive from his hometown of Rockford, Ill.
St. John’s loss has been the Badgers’ gain. Storr averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game along with 3.9 rebounds for the Badgers. He helped the Big Ten program return to the tournament after missing out last March, providing the kind of dynamic scoring option on the wing that was lacking. In the Big Ten Tournament, Storr averaged 22.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, helping Wisconsin (22-13) shake off a poor close to the regular season to reach the title game.
“AJ’s a talent you don’t really see too often coming around the Wisconsin locker room,” teammate Carter Gilmore said ahead of the Badgers’ first-round contest against No. 12 James Madison on Friday. “He jumped out right away, when we saw him the first day of practice, giving us that athleticism boost. He can do a lot of stuff that the rest of us naturally just can’t. He bailed us out of a lot of situations on offense and he gives us an option on defense to go guard their best player, their most athletic guy. And he also just brings a dog mentality that I think this team needed to have.”
A consensus four-star recruit coming out of IMG Academy (Fla.), Storr had a limited role in his one year at St. John’s under Anderson. He averaged 8.8 points in 21.1 minutes for the Red Storm, who underachieved during an 18-15 season. It led to Anderson’s dismissal and the hiring of Pitino. Given a major opportunity at Wisconsin, Storr has been impressive, an All-Big Ten second-team selection. “Being on the floor more, you get a better feel for it,” Storr said. “More repetition, you get more comfortable. … I knew I was always capable of [doing this].” Although Storr left, he still followed his old school. He remains close with St. John’s wing Glenn Taylor Jr., a high school teammate of his who transferred into the Queens school and was a part-time starter. “It’s unfortunate that they didn’t make it,” Storr said of the snubbed Johnnies. “I wish they made it.” Storr is hoping to make the most of his chance in the dance. Before tipoff Friday night, he will look into the crowd for his mother, Annette Brandy, who has been with him throughout this journey. “I can just remember times as a kid sitting on the couch with her, watching March Madness,” he recalled, “and now I’m playing in it.”