Suspended St. John’s center Aaron Spears apologized yesterday, and sources within and outside the program said a multitude of transgressions led to his indefinite penalty.
Spears could return to the team after the Holiday Festival. In the meantime, one of the Red Storm’s few experienced big bodies will remain out, starting with last night’s game against New Jersey Tech at Carnesecca Arena.
“I apologize to my teammates, coaches, fans and alumni at St. John’s for causing an embarrassing situation for this university,” Spears said in a statement yesterday.
The former University of Illinois player won’t be able to practice with St. John’s while he is out, but he will be on the bench during games.
“I will learn from my mistakes and I will work hard to improve as a person and player during my time away from the basketball court,” Spears said. “I appreciate what being a St.
John’s basketball player means to so many people, and I will try my best to come back from this and make everyone proud.” Spears had been very disappointing prior to this incident, averaging 2.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Roberts said before the season he hoped the combination of Spears and Lamont Hamilton would give St. John’s a powerful presence inside.
Instead, the team has struggled in the paint and will be especially hurt if Hamilton should find himself in foul trouble.
Fortunately for the Red Storm, 6-3 and winners of four straight, last night’s game came against New Jersey Tech, a team in its first season in Division I that had lost eight straight games after debuting with wins over Manhattan and Rider. Tomorrow, St. John’s plays Columbia.
The competition gets tougher when St. John’s returns to the Garden for the Holiday Festival. That is followed by the start of the team’s Big East schedule, with an opener against DePaul.
Last night, Tomas Jasiulionis was slated to start at center for the fourth time in five games, which speaks to Spears’ ineffectiveness even before the suspension.
But with two players remaining over 6-feet, 8-inches tall, St. John’s quickly has become undersized.
“Our schedule is going to get tougher,” Roberts said.
“That’s what we’re headed into now. And we don’t need these kinds of distractions.”
Additional reporting by Lenn Robbins.