ST. LOUIS — The Saint Louis University Billikens men's basketball team got some welcome news on Monday.
After missing all of the previous season with a torn ACL, SLU guard Javonte Perkins has announced he will return to SLU for the 2022-2023 season. This will be the final year of eligibility for Perkins.
"I get to show myself for another year and prove I'm back from injury. I feel like it can't hurt me too much," Perkins told 5 On Your Side's Frank Cusumano about why he wanted to return. "I can get back there and play in front of the fans again. I feel like it's a win-win situation."
In the 2020-2021 season, Perkins was a second-team All-Conference selection in the Atlantic 10, leading SLU in points at 17.1 per game.
Perkins said he had been thinking about returning for one more season ever since senior night at Chaifetz Arena.
"Probably senior night when everybody was cheering for me to come back. But I made the decision a couple weeks ago," Perkins said.
A St. Louis native, Perkins has been working out and has been cleared to begin working on his jump shooting. He said he expects to be back to 100% in September.
He knows it will be a long road.
"Coming back from injury I know it's not gonna be easy. You can't do the things you were doing already. You've got to do more now," Perkins said.
Perkins has aspirations to play beyond college and wants to go out on a special note as a Billiken.
"We can do something real special here," Perkins said. "We can do something real special."