NEW YORK — Super-sophomores Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis and their Team Rio teammates were among the many recruits on hand at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night for the Xavier-St. John’s game.
The 6-foot-5 Lewis is ranked No. 13 in the 2019 ESPN 25, and the 6-4 Antoine is No. 14. Both play at the Ranney (N.J.) School.
“On Sunday night they got a taste of how exciting playing in New York City at Madison Square Garden would be,” said Team Rio director Brian Klatsky, whose son, Alex, also attended the game. “The Garden came alive and they are still in the early stages of rebuilding the St. John’s program.”
The Rio guys sat behind one of the baskets and unfortunately got a close look at the knee injury to Xavier sophomore point guard Edmond Sumner. Sumner, the projected No. 23 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft via DraftExpress.com, was set to have an MRI on Monday.
“It was a great environment but the Edmond Sumner injury put a damper on the evening,” Klatsky said. “Many comparisons have been made between Edmond and Bryan Antoine for the last couple years. Bryan was real excited to see him play and Edmond was having a great game. The awful injury took place right in front of Antoine’s seat and it was tragic to witness first hand basically in his lap. Bryan has never met Edmond and that was closest he ever got to him was when he got hurt. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Edmond on a speedy recovery.”
After the game, the recruits visited the St. John’s/Knicks locker room and were impressed with how the room was converted for St. John’s. The Knicks were in Atlanta losing a quadruple-overtime thriller to the Hawks.
“The locker room is cool,” Klatsky said.
Lewis recently said that Florida, Villanova and Kentucky were the schools working hardest for the duo, although it remains to be seen if they will attend the same college.
“Some schools we’re both considering,” Lewis told ZAGSBLOG earlier this month. “Definitely Florida, Villanova, Kentucky, those are really the top three that we’re both considering going to.”
