"A year ago Steve Lavin pulled off an 11th hour recruiting coup when he landed spring commitments from Jakarr Sampson and Chris Obekpa. Sampson went on to win Freshman of the Year honors in the Big East while Obekpa led the conference in blocked shots.
Thursday, Lavin was at it again, landing a huge spring commitment from Rysheed Jordan, the No. 22 player in the ESPN 100, who picked St. John's over Temple and UCLA.
Jordan becomes the first player to commit to Lavin in the class of 2013 and has a chance to follow in the footsteps of Sampson and Moe Harkless and become the third straight St. John's product to earn Big East Rookie of the Year honors.
Here's a look at how Jordan might impact the Johnnies next season and beyond.
Rysheed Jordan
Point guard
2013
Committed: St. John's Pos Rk Stars Grade Hometown
NR Philadelphia, PA
Opportunity
St. John's went with a three-guard starting unit for the majority of the second half of the season in Jamal Branch, Phil Greene IV, and D'Angelo Harrison. With all three players set to return next season, Jordan will have to beat out an incumbent starter if he hopes to play with the first five. He may be best utilized off the bench where his size and superior athleticism would allow him the versatility to potentially spell any of the three perimeter positions. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, look for Lavin to go with small and athletic lineups through most of the season and essentially split time in his three-guard line-up between the foursome, while finding some additional minutes for Felix Balamou.
Defensively
Jordan has all the tools to be a great defender. He's long and quick, has instincts to anticipate plays away from the ball and the athleticism to erase mistakes. While those physical tools are ideal for any defensive system, they're exactly the skill set for what St. John's looks for on the perimeter. Lavin continues to rely on the match-up zone defense that was the brainchild of his former associate head coach, Mike Dunlap, who left last year to take the reins of the Charlotte Bobcats. Because the defense demands maximum ball pressure while extending well beyond the 3-point line, it also requires explosive rotations on the weak-side of the floor. Length and athleticism are requisites in order to make those rotations while also preventing straight-line passes, generating deflections and jumping into passing lanes.
Offensively
When it's at its best, St. John's is a team that creates offense from its defense, as the Storm are as aggressive in the open floor as almost any program in the Big East. That's an area of the game where Jordan excels because he's simply too explosive to be contained when allowed to get a head of steam with the basketball. While he's used to playing with the ball in his hands, playing alongside the likes of Branch and Greene should enable him to also get out and fill lanes on the break. That's likely to be a little bit of an adjustment as he'll have to learn when to look for the outlet and when to run ahead of the ball, but once he understands those nuances he'll be especially versatile in the open floor.
Upside
Based on his obvious talent and fit into St. John's style of play, Jordan should be very capable of making an immediate impact next season. But one of the most intriguing things about Jordan is that he's just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential. He's made consistent strides with his game in the last year and certainly become more of a true point guard along the way. He's still got to polish his jump shot from the 3-point line and learn how to play without the ball at times, but what has the potential to truly set him apart is his combination of explosiveness and size at the point guard position. As he learns to efficiently utilize those tools, and continues to build his skills up along the way, he's a guy who should be able to eventually facilitate by playing in pick-and-roll situations, scoring (or passing) over opposing defenders from the midrange area, or even taking smaller guards down to the low post." (Adam Finkelstein, ESPN)