Julian Champagnie Enters NBA Draft Process

Following a breakout sophomore season, Julian Champagnie has announced he will enter the NBA Draft process.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pound wing intends to take all the necessary steps to maintain his eligibility should he choose to return to college for his junior season.

“After long thought and multiple discussions with our coaching staff and my family, I have decided that it would be in my best interest to test the NBA Draft process,” said Champagnie. “The feedback that I will gain during this process will be very helpful in making my decision on returning to St. John’s for my junior season. I really look forward to having this opportunity and developing into a better player either for St. John’s or in the National Basketball Association. Playing at the next level has always been a dream of mine, so I am fully committed to getting better on and off the court each day.”

After a BIG EAST All-Freshman campaign in 2019-20 during which he averaged 9.9 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds, Champagnie took a major leap forward as a sophomore. Champagnie averaged 19.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, the former of which led the BIG EAST and the latter of which ranked seventh in the league. The Brooklyn native reached double figures in all 25 of his appearances with 11 showings of 20 or more points and seven double-doubles.

“I think this is without question the right move for Julian at this point in his career,” said Head coach Mike Anderson. “He’ll gain tremendous insight on what he needs to work on to become a threat at the next level, whether that’s next year or in the future. Julian has our unwavering support as he begins this exciting next step on his basketball journey.”

Champagnie’s 19.5 points per game in BIG EAST play secured for him the conference’s league-only scoring title, as he became just the fourth player in St. John’s history to accomplish the feat. Champagnie joined an elite fraternity in that regard, as the only other Red Storm players to do so are Chris Mullin (1983-84), Walter Berry (1985-86) and Marcus Hatten (2001-02).

Champagnie shot 43.3 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from three-point range while ranking fifth in the BIG EAST with 2.4 made triples per contest. He converted on 88.7 percent of his tries from the charity, good enough for tops in the BIG EAST and 18th in the country.

The Bishop Loughlin product also finished among the top 10 in the BIG EAST for steals (4th-1.4 per game) and blocks (9th- 1.0 per game).

With Champagnie leading the way, St. John’s finished the season with a record of 16-11, including a 10-9 mark in BIG EAST play. The Red Storm’s winning record in BIG EAST was its first since 2014-15 while the team’s four seed in the BIG EAST Tournament was its best since 2000.