Joel Soriano (born January 30, 2000) is a Dominican-American college basketball player who is a free agent. He played college basketball for the Fordham Rams and the St. John's Red Storm.

Joel Soriano
Free agent
PositionCenter
Personal information
Born (2000-01-30) January 30, 2000 (age 24)
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight256 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High school
College
NBA draft2024: undrafted
Career highlights and awards

Early life and high school career

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Soriano grew up in Yonkers, New York and attended Archbishop Stepinac High School[1] He completed a post-graduate year at St. Thomas More School in Montville, Connecticut.[2]

College career

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Soriano became a starter during his freshman season with the Rams and finished the year with five double doubles.[3] As a sophomore, he averaged a near double-double, averaging 10.4 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game.[3] After the season, he entered the transfer portal.

On April 19, 2021, Soriano committed to St. John's.[4] During the 2021–22 season, he started 26 of 30 games, averaging 6.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.[5] Soriano broke out during the 2022–23 season, averaging 15.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.[5] His performance earned him the Big East Conference Most Improved Player award and a second team All-Big East nod.[6][7]

Soriano stayed with St. John's following the hiring of Rick Pitino as coach. Prior to the 2023–24 season, he was named to the Preseason All-Big East team and was placed on watchlists for the John R. Wooden Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.[8][9][10]

Professional career

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After going undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft, Soriano signed with the Charlotte Hornets on September 11, 2024,[11] but was waived on September 28.[12]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Fordham 30 12 19.5 .455 .000 .686 6.6 0.5 0.4 0.9 4.8
2020–21 Fordham 14 14 27.1 .545 .000 .558 9.2 0.9 0.4 0.8 10.4
2021–22 St. John's 30 26 18.9 .569 .000 .729 5.5 1.1 0.1 1.7 6.4
2022–23 St. John's 33 33 30.4 .563 .000 .730 11.9 1.3 0.3 1.4 15.2
2023–24 St. John's 31 30 28.2 .582 .438 .699 9.4 1.4 0.2 1.8 14.1
Career 128 115 24.7 .553 .438 .700 8.5 1.1 0.3 1.4 10.3

Personal life

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Soriano is Dominican American and competed for the Dominican Republic national team in the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Zagoria, Adam (February 1, 2024). "St. John's Joel Soriano once struggled with his motor. Now he's one of the best bigs in college basketball". NJ.com. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  2. ^ "Fordham Men's Basketball Signs Joel Soriano". Fordham University Athletics. November 14, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Joel Soriano - Men's Basketball". Fordham University Athletics. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "Fordham forward Soriano transfers to St. John's". ESPN.com. April 19, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Joel Soriano - Men's Basketball". St. John's University Athletics. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "BIG EAST Announces Individual MBB Awards". BigEast.com. March 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  7. ^ "All-BIG EAST Teams Announced". BigEast.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "Marquette's Tyler Kolek Voted BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year". BigEast.com. October 24, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD PRESENTED BY PRINCIPAL ANNOUNCES 2023-24 PRESEASON TOP 50 WATCH LIST". WoodenAward.com. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watchlist". HoopHallAwards.com. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  11. ^ "Hornets Sign Marcus Garrett, Keyontae Johnson, Caleb McConnell And Joel Soriano". NBA.com. September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "Hornets Announce Roster Transactions". NBA.com. September 28, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  13. ^ "Joel SORIANO at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
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