NEW YORK — New St. John’s coach Chris Mullin has wasted no time reaching out to New York City’s top high school coaches and prospects.
After his introductory press conference Wednesday, Mullin called Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello, and offered a scholarship to the best junior in New York City, 6-foot-5 guard Rawle Alkins.
“Chris Mullin and [assistant coach] Matt Abdelmassih called and offered Rawle a scholarship,” Arbitello told SNY.tv Wednesday evening.
As we suggested here the other day, Alkins is among the top recruits — and Arbitello among the top coaches.
Former coach Steve Lavin and Arbitello had a fractured relationship for the last year, and the new staff was wise to repair it.
Meantime, Alkins is an explosive combo guard reminiscent of a young Lance Stephenson. While St. John’s never recruited him, Villanova, Indiana, Cincinnati and others have already been involved for a year or more.
“St. John’s has not recruited me,” Alkins told the Daily News before the offer. “I don’t know if they will come see me if Chris Mullin comes back, but if he does I would love to see what he has to say.”
“Rawle thinks [Mullin] could help him a lot,” Arbitello told SNY.tv. “I’ve said this several times, New York City kids are trying to get out of New York, Rawle’s looking to stay in New York. I think he wants to stay at Christ the King High School. He’s trying like crazy so what does that tell you about him? I think there’s a lot of thinks that he would like about St. John’s and he would love a phone call from Chris Mullin.”
Meantime, as of Tuesday morning, several other New York coaches had not yet heard from Mullin, nor had Jeff Jones, who coaches former Lavin commit Brandon Sampson at Madison (LA) Prep.
“I’m sure he will get around to it,” said Brooklyn (N.Y.) Thomas Jefferson coach Bud Pollard, who coaches explosive 2016 guard Shamorie Ponds. “I think he would want to keep the best player in New York City home. The last two Jefferson players that went to St. John’s were Tony Jackson and Leroy Ellis and they were great. It may be time for another.”
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