NEW YORK — There were many storylines in Syracuse’s 95-70 beatdown of St. John’s Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Jim Boeheim tied Dean Smith for third place on the all-time Division 1 wins list at 879.
Fab Melo returned from a three-game absence to post a season-high 14 points.
But the most interesting development may have been that Happy Walters — the NBA agent who reps Knicks Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert, among others — was sitting directly behind the St. John’s bench.
Walters is in town for Saturday night’s Nets-Knicks game at MSG and was likely scouting the plethora of talent on the Garden floor.
Syracuse has a number of future pros in Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Fab Melo
St. John’s freshman Moe Harkless may also test the NBA waters after this season, multiple sources told SNY.tv.
The 6-foot-8 Harkless, who had 14 points and 8 rebounds in the loss, is rated the No. 36 prospect among 2012 NBA Draft prospects by DraftExpress.com.
He ranks second among Big East freshmen in scoring at 16.3 points per game and first in rebounding at 8.7.
“He’s very mobile,” Boeheim said of Harkless. “He has a nice touch. He puts the ball on the floor. He’s a real good player.”
Some say Harkless should leave after this season because the NBA Draft is all about potential, of which he has a ton. Others say he should wait.
“Great future,” one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “I would like to see him stay in and get stronger.”
