Arizona, Florida Among Those Recruiting Slovakian 7-Footer
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_huiLUtrhw] Arizona and Florida are among those
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_huiLUtrhw] Arizona and Florida are among those
By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK – It wasn’t that long ago that St. John’s was left for dead, sitting at 9-8 overall and 0-5 in the Big East following a double-overtime loss at Providence on Jan. 16.
Since then, the Red Storm have been on a tear, winning six straight and nine of 10 to re-enter the NCAA Tournament picture following Tuesday evening’s 77-52 win over Butler at Madison Square Garden.
The final score would indicate a dominant St. John’s performance, but minus Chris Obekpa, the Red Storm trailed the Bulldogs by three at halftime. With all of that work over the last month in danger of going by the wayside, St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin did not see the need to rant and rave.
Here are a few quick recruiting tidbits
By JOSH NEWMAN
special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK – As St. John’s continues to march back towards the NCAA Tournament conversation, it will have to do so without its best interior presence.
The school announced on Tuesday evening, two hours before the Red Storm registered a 77-52 win over Butler at Madison Square Garden, that 6-foot-9 sophomore shot-blocking sensation Chris Obekpa will be out 10-14 after suffering a right ankle injury in practice on Monday.
According to that timetable, Obekpa not only missed Tuesday, but will also be out Saturday at No. 9 Villanova and likely the Feb. 25 matchup against Xavier at the Garden. St. John’s plays DePaul at MSG on March 2, which is 13 days from Tuesday.
We had practiced yesterday and once he tweaked it, turned it, he sat out, but he was walking on it and seemed to feel okay even last night walking over to dinner from our hotel,” St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin said. “When he woke up this morning is when he had the excruciating pain or discomfort and we knew we had to obviously have the doctors examine him.”
Tyus Battle is planning to get to Villanova
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9jlTFAHDs]
SMU continued its wave of recruiting success Tuesday when Sedrick Barefield, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Corona (CA) Centennial, verbally pledged to head coach Larry Brown and the Mustangs.
“For those who don’t know I have officially committed SMU,” he Tweeted.
Ranked No. 85 in the Class of 2015 by Rivals, Barefield also had offers from Boston College, San Diego State and UConn, according to Future150.com.
SMU has McDonald’s All-American Emmanuel Mudiay signed for 2014 but he could be a one-and-done as he is projected as the No. 5 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
By JOHN PAVIA
Special to ZAGSBLOG
UNION, N.J. — With many eyes on the marquee battle between St. Joseph’s Karl Towns and Monteverde Academy’s Ben Simmons, D’Angelo Russell used the second half of Montverde’s 79-70 victory to leave his mark on the game and lead his team to a come-from-behind victory at the Metro Classic on Sunday night at Kean University.
Russell, the 6-foot-4 2014 Ohio State-commit, finished with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a fantastic all-around performance that had to leave Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, who was in attendance, very excited about what Russell will bring to his Buckeyes next season.
