St John’s will get the scraps. They won’t be able to compete for recruits with the likes of Seton Hall, UConn, Rutgers and now Iona.
In the past, I would have agreed, but I think we still have advantages over Iona, Rutgers and UConn.
If a kid really wants to get away, they are going to get away. UConn got theirs during the latter of Calhoun’s time there in part because we were so undesirable. Coach Anderson’s career tells us that he isn’t Norm Roberts. It doesn’t tell us that he’s Jim Calhoun, but we have a style of play that certain kids want, and Coach is already starting to land those kids.
I’m not concerned with rankings as much as others, but just like Iona and Rutgers can find success with sleeper talents, St.John’s can as well, provided we have a staff that is looking hard enough for them.
Justin Champagnie is a great start. He’s not Walter Berry, but if we are going to ever develop a pipeline back to NYC, it has to be a good idea to have come here. For this kid, it was.
I predict, provided this is not the end of days, that next season, we will reach 20 wins, and be competitive for the entire season. With Rutherford and Dunn in our backcourt, we had the least talented backcourt I can remember.
But the big picture here is exciting for me. Rutgers, Hall, St.John’s and Hofstra all exceeded expectations this season. I can’t remember the last time I said that about those programs.