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The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

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Top 5 Prospect Kyle Anderson of St. Anthony Visits St. John’s

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Kyle Anderson’s college visitations have followed suit with his recruitment, to this point. That holding true, the far-from-glamorous, business-like, on-to-the-next-one “Kyle Anderson College Tour” made a stop in Queens on Wednesday.

Anderson will be making his college decision September 20th. (Photo: NJ Sports)
Anderson, the sought-after New Jersey product and consensus Top 5 player in the Class of 2012, is in the middle of a final round of visits that include Georgetown, Seton Hall, UCLA, and St. John’s. Those schools, along with Florida, are the five from which Anderson will choose in just under two weeks, on September 20th.

During Anderson’s visit, former UCLA point guard Baron Davis was on campus working out and had a chance to speak with the high school senior.

“It made a big impact,” Anderson told the New York Post’s Zach Braziller. “It shows [head coach Steve Lavin] gets guys NBA ready. Baron talked about Coach Lav, how he helped him get to where he is today.”

Anderson also met with university president Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M. and took time to be with the team.

A physical anomoly as a 6’8″ point guard, Anderson is one of the most unique players in the country. Though lacking the quickness of many smaller point guards, he maintains a size and basketball IQ advantage over opponents.

As the on-floor leader of St. Anthony (NJ) and the New Jersey Playaz AAU team, Anderson has been a winner. Being such a calculated player, he works well with athletic teammates, whether in transition or the half court. He has great court vision and long arms that cover space on defense.

Following his visit to St. John’s, he tweeted, “St johns visit was great but i dont wanna hear about college for the next couple days [sic].”

Speculation leading up to Anderson’s decision are purely that: speculation. Few details have been released about which way the guard may be leaning.

No one expects it to be accompanied by the fanfare of other top recruits, but September 20th is the date. Mark your calendars.

St. John’s Commit Darrick Wood Leaves NIA Prep for Bridgton Academy

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Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv is reporting that St. John’s commit Darrick Wood will transfer from Newark, New Jersey’s NIA Prep to Bridgton Academy in Maine.

Wood, originally from D.C., is now headed to Maine and Bridgton Academy. (Photo: coast2coastrecruiting.net)
The Washington D.C. native committed to the Red Storm two weeks ago, becoming the second player from the Class of 2012 to give his word to play for Steve Lavin and St. John’s.

NIA Prep has come under scrutiny recently after four graduating basketball players, including TCU commit Ryan Rhoomes and Towson-bound Kelvin Amayo, were ruled ineligible by the NCAA.

In an article by Matthew Stanmyre of The Star-Ledger, written in June, Stanmyre characterized the school as, “a little bigger than a one-bedroom apartment and is carved from bottom-floor office space at the Robert Treat Hotel” and school founder Alif Muhammad as a, “controversial basketball kingmaker.”

These rulings of ineligibility come five years after an NCAA investigation found NIA Prep to be a legitimate institution.

“I might have had one course denied, but never where all the class work was wiped out,” Alif Muhammad told Zach Braziller of the New York Post, following the NCAA ruling this August.

Wood leaves NIA for Bridgton Academy, a school that enrolls 188 students and sits on a 55-acre campus in North Bridgton, Maine.

Bridgton Academy is not unfamiliar to the Red Storm, as current junior point guard Malik Stith spent time there, as well as recent St. John’s graduates Paris Horne and Justin Burrell.

Along with Wood, Ricardo Gathers is committed to St. John’s from the Class of 2012, leaving one open scholarship. Top 5 overall prospect Kyle Anderson will be visiting St. John’s next Wednesday, September 7th, and is scheduled to make his decision September 20th.

Former St. John’s Forward Justin Brownlee Signs to Play in Mexico

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Less than one week after fellow St. John’s graduate Justin Burrell signed to play in Japan, another member of the Red Storm Class of 2011 is headed abroad to play professionally.

Brownlee hopes basketball in Mexico is a stepping stone to a future career in the NBA. (Photo: Icon/SMI Select)
Justin Brownlee, the 6’7″ forward who played two years in a St. John’s uniform, has signed to play with the Toros de Nuevo Laredo (New Laredo Bulls) of the Mexican National Basketball League.

“My ultimate goal is to play in the NBA and hopefully I can accomplish that,” said Brownlee, in a press release. “Thanks [to the fans] for all of the support, I really appreciate it. I am about to go to Mexico and try to represent for St. John’s.”

The Georgia native was integral to the Red Storm’s success last season, averaging just over 12 points and 5 rebounds per game, including strong performances that earned him Most Outstanding Player of both the Aeropostale Holiday Festival and Great Alaska Shootout.

Brownlee, like all members of the St. John’s basketball Class of 2011, was recruited by former St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts. He chose the Red Storm, coming out of Chipola Community College (FL), over Memphis, Kansas, Tennessee, and Arizona.

“For a front line player his size, Justin possesses a rare combination of playmaking and shotmaking,” said head coach Steve Lavin, who coached Brownlee for one season in Queens. “Our Johnnies’ basketball family is pleased to know Justin will be continuing his playing career at the next level.”

Nuevo Laredo is located just inside the Mexico-United States border, about 160 miles from San Antonio, Texas. The Toros are coming off their first championship last season, winning the 16-team league.

Big East Unveils Schedule, Red Storm Open With Exhibition Against C.W. Post

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After 21 wins, six of which came against teams ranked in the Top 25, and being ranked as high as 14th in the Associated Press poll, the question going into the 2011-12 season would be how St. John’s would follow such a sudden act of resurgence. The long-awaited answer became a little clearer with the release and announcement of the Big East schedule, coupled with the unveiling of the Red Storm’s non-conference ledger for the youngest team in program history.

Point guard Malik Stith is the only returning letterwinner to the 2011-2012 Red Storm. (Photo: Icon/SMI Select)
The 104th season of Red Storm basketball officially begins on November 7th when the Johnnies welcome William and Mary into Carnesecca Arena, but is preceded by two exhibition games: One against C.W. Post and former Norm Roberts assistant Chris Casey, and the other against Division III institution St. Mary’s of Maryland.

Following the William and Mary contest, the Red Storm play host to Lehigh on November 9th before welcoming America East opponent UMBC to the corner of Union and Utopia on November 13th, their last tuneup before making their 2011-12 Madison Square Garden debut against Arizona in the 2K Sports Classic. St. John’s will then face either Texas A&M or Mississippi State in the second night of the Garden tournament.

Upon returning from the Garden, the Johnnies will entertain Brooklyn’s St. Francis College on November 22nd for the first time since 2008, in what could be an intriguing matchup.

While St. John’s has had the edge in the intra-city rivalry since losing to the Terriers in 2004, each of the last two meetings in the series were decided by just eight points. The Red Storm will next take on Northeastern on the 26th of November, two days after Thanksgiving.

After a month of home games, the new-look Storm will take to Rupp Arena for their first road game, a December 1st tilt against John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats. Fresh off a Final Four run, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb return for the Wildcats, along with an impressive four-man recruiting class that was ranked first in the nation.

From the Bluegrass State, head coach Steve Lavin and company will travel to Detroit to play the Titans in a game where ESPN analyst and former Detroit coach Dick Vitale will be honored by having the court named after him.

St. John’s will then take a break for finals before returning to the court on December 17th in the restructured Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden against Fordham, a matchup where the Red Storm will look to avenge a bitter defeat that proved to be the launching pad for their Cinderella run to the NCAA Tournament.

The Johnnies’ final nonconference game takes place on December 21st against Texas Pan-American.

The Red Storm open Big East play two days after Christmas at Carnesecca Arena against Providence and new coach Ed Cooley before closing out 2011 on New Year’s Eve in Hartford against reigning national champion Connecticut. The Huskies will be without the services of head coach Jim Calhoun, as he serves an NCAA-imposed suspension for the Huskies’ first three Big East games.

Following the UConn matchup, St. John’s squares off against another former national champion coach when Rick Pitino and Louisville invade the Garden in the Johnnies’ 2012 opener on January 3rd.

A road trip featuring Cincinnati and Marquette awaits from there before the Red Storm return home on January 15th to face Georgetown, looking to take down the Hoyas for the fourth consecutive time at Madison Square Garden. St. John’s will also welcome Villanova and West Virginia into the Garden for two of the eleven games they will play in midtown Manhattan, but not before traveling to Tampa for a meeting with USF on January 18th.

St. John's Head Coach Steve Lavin. (Photo: Ballin' Is A Habit)
The Johnnies take to the road once again after the West Virginia game, first to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a matchup with Mike Krzyzewski and Duke on January 28th. In addition to defeating the Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden this past January, St. John’s is also the last non-ACC program to defeat Duke in Durham, doing so back in 2000.

A trip to Chicago to face DePaul is next on the agenda and once St. John’s is back home, they continue February with two games at the Garden, welcoming Syracuse and Cincinnati into the Big Apple before a pair of road showdowns down Interstate 95 against Georgetown and Seton Hall.

On February 18th, the Red Storm play the first of three consecutive home contests, welcoming UCLA and Notre Dame to the Garden while DePaul is sandwiched between the two on Monday, February 20th at Carnesecca Arena. The Johnnies will close the regular season on the road, traveling to Pittsburgh to commemorate leap year, (February 29th) and will culminate the 2011-12 campaign against Mike Rice and Rutgers on March 3rd in Piscataway. That game will be the first meeting between the two schools since Justin Brownlee’s infamous travel out of bounds allowed the Red Storm to advance in the Big East tournament.

“Clearly, our team will face the most challenging schedule of my coaching career,” said head coach Steve Lavin in a press release. “Our young squad will clearly benefit from being tested in facing one of the toughest schedules in St. John’s history.”

With one returning scholarship letterwinner in junior Malik Stith, the Red Storm will feature at least nine newcomers, a group comprised of seven freshmen, one sophomore and one junior. STJ will look to its highly-rated 2011-12 recruiting class, featuring six recruits ranked in the Top 100 in the nation, to assist in replacing 96.3 percent of its scoring and 97.8 percent of its rebounding in the coming season.

Top 15 Prospect Chris McCullough of Salisbury School (CT) Talks St. John’s, Recruiting

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Though former St. John’s guard Dwight Hardy is now signed to play in Italy, the legacy he left in Queens could be a motivating factor in the college decision of Top 15 2014 forward Chris McCullough of Salisbury School (CT).

McCullough was one of the big risers during the July live recruiting period. (Photo: Dave Krupinski)
“We’re good friends,” McCullough said of his fellow Bronx native. “I’ve known him since I was about seven. He’s talked a lot told about how it’s a good school and the coaches and fans support you all the way.”

JohnnyJungle.com spoke to the sophomore in early July, a time when he called St. John’s his “dream school.” McCullough went on to have one of the most impressive July recruiting periods of any prospect in the country, bursting into the conversation when it comes to elite players in the Class of 2014. ESPN currently ranks him as the #11 overall prospect.

And high-major schools, especially in the Big East, have caught on.

He now holds offers from St. John’s, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Iowa State, Hofstra, Temple, Rutgers, Providence, and Connecticut, with interest reaching to schools as far west as Kansas and Washington.

“It felt good,” McCullough said of seeing his stock rise so steeply in July. “But I’ve seen a lot of kids go from Top 15 and drop. Every year I work harder and harder to produce so I can stay on top.”

With the pickup in interest recently, he maintains that his recruitment is “wide open” and has taken unofficial visits to Rutgers, St. John’s, Connecticut, Providence, and Seton Hall.

The lanky 6’8”, 215lb forward is a Chris Bosh-like prospect, with size and length, to go along with the ability to handle the ball and attack the rim. Only a sophomore, he already has a solid skill set offensively, including being able to face up in the post. He is most dynamic in transition, where he can get out and finish above the rim.

McCullough is a natural matchup problem. His athleticism is too much for bigger, slower forwards, and he uses his length to reach over smaller, quicker forwards.

He is most effective when he can get out and run in transition and uses his long arms to block a lot of shots on the defensive end.

But, the word that will stick with McCullough in the coming years is “raw.” He needs polish on the offensive end to make his game more well-rounded. With that “rawness”, he must work to be more aggressive and does not yet have the “killer instinct” that could make him dominant.

On the recruiting front, McCullough says he is looking for a strong relationship with a coaching staff at the school he commits to.

“A good relationship with the coaches is important,” he said. “Also, the way that they run their program and how I fit there.”

(Photo: Daniel Martin/JohnnyJungle.com)
On paper, McCullough appears to fit well into Steve Lavin’s system at St. John’s: a long, lanky forward who can run the floor and cover a lot of space in a full-court press and zone defense.

Though he seems to have backed off a bit from calling St. John’s his “dream school,” McCullough says St. John’s will be in his Top 5 when he releases his list.

Along with his strong personal connection to St. John’s through Dwight Hardy, the prospect of playing close to home is also appealing, saying he would like to get his family and friends to see his games, as many recruits do.

St. John’s freshman and Queens native Maurice Harkless has helped to open the gates of possibility for prospects to stay in the city and play for Steve Lavin.

From what McCullough has said, the Red Storm are firmly near the top of his list but, as he said himself, “we’ll see what happens.”