The recruiting atmosphere at SJU remains great, even with Lavin's absence from the bench (in fact, with Lavin investing more time in recruiting while he recovers, it might be a recruiting advantage). This is especially the case for the very best recruits, who can see that we have young, hungry, and talented players who are showcasing their skills in the nation's highest profile sporting venue ... and they also see gaps where they'll immediately fit into and land lots of playing time. SJU will be attractive to a potential big man as well as a true PG. I suspect Lavin is digging deep in his recruiting, looking not only at the nation's top prep players but potential recruits abroad. A player like Wood may have been scared off a bit by Lavin's promise to bring in 5 recruits next year. If Wood wavered in his committment, perhaps looking for reassurance, it is not unlikely that Lavin told him to feel free to decommit as voluntarily as he initially committed. Wood doesn't fit into the category of a Kyle Anderson or Shabazz Muhammad, that is a program changing player. Laterally, the negative news surrounding 3 of our top recruits being academically ineligible this year probably factored into this as well, as others have pointed out. I can imagine Father Harrington very gently communicating to Lavin that we need to be a little more careful in recruiting students who are not up to snuff academically to avoid negative press in the future. I know Harrington is a big supporter of Lavin.
In the end, I think Lavin is very carefully crafting his incoming recruiting class. He has a talented core to build around with some missing pieces. I think we have a lot to look forward to.