Plus, Jahmal McMurray commits to SMU
Much like last Jaunary’s Big Recruiting Day at the end of January, St. John’s will host a number of top local talents from multiple classes - plus a 2017 target - this Sunday at the conference game against the Xavier Musketeers. St. John’s is planning to host, per Zagsblog:
Class of 2018 Boubacar Diakite, Luther Muhammad, Naz Reid, Moses Brown, Khalid Moore, Christian Hinckson, Jared Rhoden; Class of 2019 Khalil Whitney, Scottie Lewis, Bryan Antoine, Alex Klatsky, Ahmadu Sarnor, Aidan Igiehon, Elijah Perry, Kareem Reid, Jalen Gaffney Class of 2020 Noah Farrakhan, Posh Alexander, Hassan Diarra
And in addition, the Red Storm will also welcome 2017 forward Derrick Walker to Madison Square Garden in hopes of getting him to commit to the Johnnies for next year - and shore up some of the team’s interior weaknesses. Walker was slated to visit on January 14th but rescheduled until this weekend.
Walker is a 6’8” 220 pound forward that the Red Storm have been interested in, but have pursued more eagerly since the transfer of Yankuba Sima and the legal troubles with now-former commit Zach Brown.
Boubacar Diakite, a 6’8” wing, is a St. John’s verbal commit in the class of 2018, but the rest of the players are, the team hopes, the next phase in the rebuilding process, with some top-100 players who Mullin hopes to keep home.
In the 2018 class, Naz Reid is #16, Moses Brown is #21, Luther Muhammad is #48. Boubacar Diakite is listed as #178, but seems to have a lot of talent, while Queens wing Khalid Moore is #134. Jared Rhoden and Christian Hickson are newer local names; Hickson is at Flushing’s John Bowne High and Rhoden plays at Our Savior New American, like Boubacar Diakite.
Scottie Lewis (#12) and Bryan Antoine (#8) are stars at the Ranney School in Jersey, and are getting strong interest from Kentucky and others; Klatsky and Sarnor are teammates at the Ranney school as well. Aidan Igiehon (#56)plays at Lawrence Woodmere Academy, and St. John’s has been in pursuit of the big man for some time.
Interestingly, Cole Anthony of Molloy High (teammates with Moses Brown) and Precious Achiuwa (God`sGift Aciuwa’s brother) are not slated to come.
In other news, Jahmal McMurray, a transferring guard from South Florida, committed to Southern Methodist after his visit last week. He is currently playing in junior college near the Dallas campus.
St. John’s had inquired about him and hosted him on his visit, but was uninterested in pursuing him after McMurray committed to junior college. He will be eligible in December for the SMU Mustangs.