Julian Champagnie makes confident St. Johns prediction for March Madness

SAN ANTONIO — Julian Champagnie, the former St.John’s star, has a confident prediction for his alma mater.“Final Four.

I really think so.I believe it,” Champagnie, now a forward on the Spurs, said in an interview with The Post before the Knicks’ 120-105 loss.

“That defense is something else, boy.That defense is something else.

They play a different kind of defense.”Champagnie has a good track record with predictions.Before San Antonio’s Christmas game at MSG, he told The Post’s Zach Braziller that St.

John’s would beat UConn.Then the Red Storm went 2-0 against the two-time defending champs, which was brought up in the interview as Champagnie’s teammate, former Huskies star Stephon Castle, walked by.“Speaking of UConn,” Champagnie said.“Gave them the belt.”Champagnie is eager for another matchup against UConn in the NCAA Tournament, which would only happen if No.

2 St.John’s and the No.

8 Huskies advance to the Elite 8.The Red Storm face No.15 Omaha in the first round on Thursday night in Providence.“I hope we see UConn in the tournament,” Champagnie said.

“Hopefully, UConn does their thing.They got to beat Florida [in the second round].

But I would love to beat them again.”St.John’s never played in the NCAA Tournament during Champagnie’s three seasons under Mike Anderson, which overlapped with the 2020 cancellation of the postseason because of the pandemic.Still, Champagnie, who averaged more than 19 points in his final two college seasons, saw the potential of a popular program — one that has now captivated the city with coach Rick Pitino as the figurehead and NIL donations as the catalyst.“When I was there, NIL wasn’t really a thing.

My last year, it started to come around.So I don’t really know where it was going to go with the school.

But they always had the potential to take over the city,” he said.“It’s a solid-sized campus.

There’s a lot to do over there.So a lot of potential.

I could see...