Former St. John’s coach Fran Fraschilla says the addition of Kassoum Yakwe to the Red Storm’s 2015 recruiting class could trigger a renaissance in St. John’s basketball.
The 6-foot-7 Yakwe will enroll this week but it remains unclear if he will suit up for 2015-16 or 2016-17.
“I think this is a new era for St. John’s,” Fraschilla, who was fired by St. John’s in 1998 and now works as an ESPN analyst, told The 4 Quarters Podcast on Monday. “The Big East is not what it used to be and it doesn’t have the prestige that it used to be but there’s still something magical about being a great college player and great college team in New York City. We haven’t seen one in quite some time, and I think this bodes well.”
Fraschilla likened the commitment of Yakwe and the potential commitment of 2016 Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson guard Shamorie Ponds to the arrival during his tenure of New York stars Ron Artest and Felipe Lopez.
Ponds will decide between St. John’s, Minnesota, Creighton and Providence and is set for an official visit to Queens this coming weekend.
“If they can get a Shamorie Ponds to stay home, which sounds like it’s very doable, then I think they’re off to the races,” Fraschilla said. “It takes the one or two guys, like Ron Artest for us when I was there. We had Felipe Lopez, Zendon Hamilton, Lavor Postell and others, but it took Ron to resurrect the program and to stay home and I think a Shamorie Ponds could be that type of player.
“It doesn’t sound like Rawle Alkins is leaning that way right now but he could be that type of player, but I think if you’re a St. John’s fan you gotta feel good that the program is heading in the right direction and I think under Mully [Chris Mullin] and the staff he’s putting together, it is.”
Alkins has 10 or 11 schools on his list and told SNY.tv he hopes to visit all of them after finalizing a prep school situation.
Fraschilla, meantime, says he’s finally rooting for St. John’s and has lifted his personal curse after the firing.
“It’s a great start for them,” Fraschilla said. “As you can imagine, I haven’t really rooted for St. John’s in quite a while for obvious reasons but I may take the curse off now. I think it’s time to take the curse off because Chris grew up in my neighborhood as did Barry Rohrssen, Slice. I’ve known those guys since they were kids, literally. I’m four years older than those guys and I have e great deal of affection for them. And Matt Abdelmassih is a very close friend.”
