St. John’s coach Steve Lavin and his staff haven’t recruited New Jersey too heavily since coming aboard in Queens in 2010.
Sure, they went after former St. Anthony star Kyle Anderson but he was an elite talent who ultimately chose UCLA over Seton Hall, St. John’s and others.
Now Lavin has jumped into the Isaiah Briscoe Sweepstakes and the St. John’s coach was at Roselle (N.J.) Catholic Sunday night to watch Briscoe and his teammates work out. Briscoe, in turn, is slated to be at St. John’s Friday for Red Storm Tip-Off. He may also visit Rutgers Saturday.
“[Lavin] loves his size at the guard position and how he uses his body,” RC coach Dave Boff told SNY.tv.
The Johnnies are loaded in the backcourt for the coming season with freshman Rysheed Jordan as well as D’Angelo Harrison, Phil Greene and Jamal Branch, but two years from now they will need an infusion of talent at the guard position.
“[St. John’s] is a great school,” Briscoe told SNY.tv last month when we reported that St. John’s had offered him. “They play at the Garden which is a great place to play. And the coaching staff is doing a great job recruiting.”
Of course, local schools Seton Hall and Rutgers are also recruiting Briscoe, and Arizona has long had a strong connection to him.
Lavin also liked 2016 RC guard Asante Gist and 2015 forward Chris Silva, who holds offers from Syracuse, Cincinnati, Villanova, Rutgers and Seton Hall.
“He likes [Gist’s] combination of strength and quickness,” Boff said.
N.C. State was also in to see Gist.
On Silva, he said, “athletically and defensively he’s of the charts.”
