All eight newcomers will be eligible in the fall at St. John's, according to coach Steve Lavin. The Red Storm will have five returning players for a full load of 13. Lavin, who is cancer free and ready to resume coaching after taking most of last season off from the sideline, said he has signed 18 players in 28 months on the job. The Red Storm lost two players to transfers and one to the NBA draft and two players didn't qualify during Lavin's two years. In response to the 18 he has signed, Lavin said, "I believe I signed 20 or so kids in seven years as head coach at UCLA. It was seven years worth of recruiting in 28 months (at St. John's). It is so rewarding to walk into the weight room or gym and see 13 of our kids. It's hard to articulate." Lavin is convinced with 11 underclassmen he will have one of the youngest teams in the country and in St. John's history.
This is according from ESPN.
Hate to contradict Steve when he's on a PR roll, but....1) Baron Davis, 2) Schea Cotton, 3) Earl Watson, 4) Billy Knight, 5) Trevor Reed, 6) Rico Hines, 7) Todd Ramasar,
Kevin Daley, 9) Dan Gadzuric, 10) Jerome Moiso, 11) Matt Barnes, 12) Ray Young, 13) JaRon Rush, 14) Jason Kapono, 15) Spencer Gloger, 16) TJ Cummings, 17) Ryan Walcott, 18) Josiah Johnson, 19) Jon Crispin, 20) Ced Bozeman, 21) Dijon Thompson, 22) Andre Patterson, 24) John Hoffart, 25) Jason Flowers, 26) Ryan Hollins, 27) Mike Fey, 28) Brian Morrison, 29) Evan Burns. He also recruited/signed 30) Trevor Ariza, 31) Sean Phaler, tho was fired before he coached them....Oops, don't feel like renumbering the list, but I left out Moose Bailey in that first class - so 32 in 7 recruiting classes. Four of the signed players never played for UCLA - Cotton, Gloger, Burns & Phaler, and 6 others were transfers - Bailey, Daley, Crispin, Hoffart, Flowers & Morrison. But since for SJU he's counting Pelle (a recruit who never arrived) and Branch (a transfer) - they should all count in the UCLA totals. A tad more than "20 or so"
That's 10 NBA players, 7 NBDL players, and 3 Harlem Globetrotters...