Omari Lawrence, the 6-4 swingman hailing from South Kent Connecticut, has been an absolute media monster of late. Featured in the Daily News, Rivals.com, and College Hoops.Net, the touted prospect recently lent some of his time to JohnnyJungle.com, discussing a variety of topics, ranging from basketball to music. Without further adieu…

His Health?

Lawrence recently underwent shoulder surgery, a procedure that will curtail serious athletic activities for the duration of 2-4 months. He has however, been granted clearance to continue shooting, so long he avoids physical contact. Omari is also running daily, keeping his legs in peak condition so when he returns he can quickly get back to form.

Past playing Experience?

Omari has long been playing AAU basketball since he was 15 years old. He started off with the Long Island Lightning because he was allowed to play two years up at an advance level, Lawrence mentioned he was teammates with Justin Burrell and Villanova’s Corey Fisher. This past year was his first year with the NY Panthers AAU program where he and the team both had very successful seasons.

His message?

When it comes to player analysis, college coaches tend to favor differing attributes, some preferring fundamentals, others craving raw skill. John Calipari, just for instance, could give a damn about free throw shooting. Just ask the guy, though he might have changed his mind.

But what should coaches look for first when scouting Omari Lawrence? The man speaks for himself:

“I would want coaches to first notice my leadership and intensity.”

The fact he addresses intangibles before his actual skill is an excellent sign make-up wise, or so says the official coaching handbook within the chapter discussing “character guys”.

Scoop on Pursuit?

Omari is a prized commodity, and has no shortage of serious suitors. Louisville has already offered him a scholarship since recently jumping on the bandwagon. Jim Calhoun has suddenly pounced, displaying a risen level of interest, as Red Storm fans everywhere fear a Doug Wiggins flashback. Florida is interested in playing telephone tag with Omari but have had schedule conflicts preventing them from seeing him play in person(thats weak Billy should have went to the Magic when you had a chance).

How was the visit?

Upon visiting the campus, Omari was treated to a guided tour.

“First they gave me a campus tour, and there was a lot of things I didn’t know about St. John’s.”

He mentioned he was surprised at the “big facilities” St. John’s had to offer and he really enjoyed himself. He echoed earlier thoughts about his family feeling very comfortable at St. John’s. They really liked what St. John’s had to offer academically, the campus facilities, and with Coach Roberts. Omari said its very important to him what his family thinks.

How seriously is he considering coming to St. John’s?

“I’m trying to be a trend setter other guys(mentioned Durand Scott and Dan Jennings) have other mind sets, but I’m trying to convince them otherwise……..I have a lot of time.”

Omari Lawrence: Trailblazer. How bout that on a billboard?

New York?

When asked what does basketball mean to NYC Omari exclaimed, “Basketball is BIG”

Omari is keyed into the importance of basketball in New York City. He highlighted the Knicks as an example of the city’s passion, their record woeful but attendance figures high. Omari would enjoy bringing back the “spirit”, to justify the passion.

“New York is just waiting for another star to be born”

Music?

If Omari was stuck on an island and could only listen to just one song, for the rest of his life, it’d be “Never Change” by Jay-Z.

He also said most people wouldn’t know that he enjoys the listening to Cold Play, Blink 182, and Nickleback.

Dinner?

When faced with the difficult task of picking five people, dead or alive, to have dinner with, Omari went with Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, his dad, Kim Kardashian , and Alicia Keys in that order.

Man, one of those just doesn’t fit in with the rest.

Jennifer Lopez?

Favorite eatery?

Omari enjoys dining down at the Cheesesteak Factory, his dish of choice chicken teriyaki.

Favorite movie?

Overlooked Spike Lee Joint “He Got Game”. A solid pick, misunderstood by most critics.

Favorite interviewer?

Omari paused for a minute until I said, “besides me” and then he quickly tabbed Stacey Davis, a staff writer with Rivals.com and NYChoops.net.

Thus concludes another enlightening player profile. This is Johnnyjungle.com proclaiming: “Not out of fear but love/ love for the game/ Roc family first, we never change man.”

Wait, what–

Matt is entering his junior year at St. John’s where he is studying Journalism. He is a lifelong resident of Whitestone, NY and he has aspirations of making it big as a screenwriter in Hollywood. In the meantime his fallback plan is continuing writing for Johnny Jungle. You can contact him at mwaters@JohnnyJungle.com

There was once a time in St. John’s history where they had to turn down local talent because they didn’t have room on their roster for all the players who wanted to play.

But the days of players like Ron Artest, Chris Mullin, and Walter Berry being recruiting locks to St. John’s are long gone.

With players defecting from the city’s most historic program left and right, head coach Norm Roberts is aggressively pursuing New York area talent.

Among the players Roberts is showing interest towards are Omari Lawrence and Kevin Parrom. Lawrence, a 6-foot-4, 185 pound shooting guard and Parrom a 6-foot-6, 185-pound small forward, both played at St. Raymond’s last season. Next season they will both move their game to South Kent, Connecticut for their senior seasons. While Lawrence’s ranking may have dropped a bit in recent weeks, Parrom is skyrocketing up the recruiting chart.  After moving up to a four-star prospect, he was recently ranked as the 88th best 2009 prospect by Rivals.
n a recent interview, when asked about schools interested in him, St. John’s was the first school out of Parrom’s mouth.

There are strong indications that the players may end up being a package deal.  They have already visited St. John’s, Xavier and Marquette together and have plans to visit Clemson.

The competition for the two is deep, with numerous Big East and other east coast schools showing interest in one or both of them.

If everything goes to plan for St. John’s, then they will receive these two verbal commitments for 2009, but one intriguing prospect is 2010 guard Mike Poole.

While just being a sophomore this past season, the 6-foot-5, 175 pound Poole has shot up the New York City rankings into the top 10.

If Parrom and Lawrence commit, St. John’s might be overloaded with swingmen.  That would make both St. John’s and Poole reluctant for a commitment.

However, St. John’s isn’t putting all their eggs in one basket so to speak because if the offers to Parrom and Lawrence fall through, then St. John’s may try to gobble up Poole before some of the other bigger schools have a chance to truly get into his ear.

One major factor that may tie into St. John’s recruiting is the rumor that Oz Cross may be hired at some capacity on the St. John’s staff. Cross is a coach with the New York Panthers AAU program and has strong ties to all three of the players. Cross also coached current St. John’s sophomore forward Justin Burrell with the Panthers. If Cross is hired by St. John’s then it’s a clear indication that St. John’s is trying to reclaim their edge on city recruiting. Especially the way other schools have basically come into the city and plucked all the talent.

A lot of these players “show interest” in St. John’s but ultimately end up elsewhere. Take 2008 point guard Kemba Walker for instance. Both Walker and St. John’s were interested.  But Jim Calhoun and the Connecticut Huskies came in and scooped him up. Why is that?

One reason is that the UConn produces NBA players.  Walker is a top prospect and barring injury should see himself in the league in a couple years.  St. John’s hasn’t produced an NBA draft pick since Omar Cook.  That immediately goes out as a red flag for a prospective player. Walker is the type of player that used to regularly come to St. John’s. Walker isn’t the only one. Queens guard Sylven Landesberg ended up in the ACC at Virginia. Also former New Jersey guard Earl Clark played big minutes for Louisville or Long Island native Danny Green coming off the bench in crucial times for North Carolina.

Robert’s is fighting to turn the corner and make his run into building St. John’s back to the powerhouse they once were.  Early recruiting is the key and we need to land our first choice guys in order to win.  If St. John’s has any type of a year like the last couple and we miss out on recruits again then its almost certain that Norm’s job will again be in jeopardy. So it is in his best interest to be on the prowl recruiting as hard as humanly possible. All indications have him doing so.

“The last few years you see (St. John’s coaches) at more and more games,” Lincoln coach Dwayne Morton said. “It’s a sign they are hustling, doing their homework.”

They say all you could do is try, but its been a long time since St. John’s has seen postseason basketball, so trying might not be enough. However Robert’s early persistence in this case might help him finally win the race and hopefully St. John’s and the Panthers paths cross for 2009 and beyond.

Ken Walter is a freelance writer who regularly contributes to JohnnyJungle.com. Ken is a Temple Alumnus and roots for the North Carolina Tarheels. He is not the punter for the NE Patriots but girls would think he was cooler if he was. He can be contacted at tua38210@temple.edu