Almost 24 hours after St. John’s held their annual Men’s and Women’s Basketball Media Day Head Coach Joe Tartamella has found his squad’s leaders for the 2024-25 season.
Per a release from Red Storm Sports on Oct. 16, graduate guard Ber’Nyah Mayo and junior guard Jaliah Donald were selected as captains by the coaching staff and players.
Mayo played in 33 games and started 32 at the Johnnies point guard position during the 2023-24 season.
The Delaware native became the first player since the 2015-16 season to record at least 300 points, 100 assists, 100 rebounds and 50 steals in a single season — following in the footsteps of the program’s all-time leading scorer Aliyyah Handford.
A transfer from the University of Massachusetts, Mayo stepped into a big role alongside former St. John’s guard Unique Drake. Tartamella credited her for a season turnaround following a string of losses in the Discover Puerto Rico Classic last season.
“She was a main reason why we turned it around,” Tartamella said at media day. “We started 2-5 [last season], and we came back from Puerto Rico in a bad spot. We were able to turn the corner and Ber’Nyah was a big reason for that.”
“I thought she was one of the best guards in the league,” he continued.
Despite St. John’s finishing 11-7 in conference play last season, Mayo was a top-10 ranked player in the Big East in assists per game (3.5) and steals per game (1.7).
As a sophomore, Donald made 21 starts for the Johnnies. She averaged 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 27.6 minutes per game, compared to 1.1 points, 0.3 rebounds and 2.9 minutes in her freshman season.
The California native shot 41.5 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from three and 90 percent from the free-throw line. She produced seven double-figure scoring games, making a career-high 13 points against Loyola Maryland last year.
Following back-to-back postseason tournament berths in 2023 and 2024, Donald is poised to lead St. John’s to the NCAA tournament.
“I’m very excited for this year,” Donald said at media day. “We’re competitors, practice is intense and we’re ready to win.”
The 5-foot-7 guard provided a flashy defensive edge for the Red Storm last season — picking up 81 defensive rebounds with a career-high six boards at Madison Square Garden in their Dec. 16 victory over Villanova.
St. John’s will begin their regular season at home on Nov. 4 against Saint Peter’s. The game will mark Donald and Mayo’s official start to leading the Red Storm in their 50th year as a program.