St. John’s lands point guard John McGriff, targeting big man (UPDATED)

By ADAM ZAGORIA

New St. John’s coach Mike Anderson and associate head coach T.J. Cleveland landed their first new player on Thursday.

Johnathan McGriff, the 5-foot-9 point guard from Bishop McNamara (MD) and Team Thrill, Tweeted he had committed to St. John’s following a Tuesday visit to campus. McGriff became a priority for St. John’s after the program lost Shamorie Ponds to the NBA Draft and Cam Mack to Nebraska.

Tough times don’t last Tough people do!! ST JOHNS UNIVERSITY♦️100% committed MD✈️ NYC? pic.twitter.com/lbOkMBCyni

— John McGriff♛ (@yooo_john) May 2, 2019

McGriff picked up an offer from St. John’s Tuesday after the staff saw him at the Under Armour stop.

“Johnathan McGriff is a tenacious on-ball defender,” said Donnell “Mookie” Dobbins of Team Thrill. “He has an elusive handle, and an ability to get others involved while keeping the defense honest. He will be a very good guard in the Big East is he chooses St John’s as his home.”

.@McNamaraHoops Johnathan McGriff pulls the jumper and knock its down to start the game. pic.twitter.com/Kc1SEasMBu

— WashPost HS Sports (@WashPostHS) February 24, 2019

Meantime, Scotland Campus Class of 2019 forward Chris Maidoh visited St. John’s this week.

“It went well,” the 6-10 Maidoh told ZAGSBLOG contributor Zach Smart. “I like the fact that it is a basketball school in a big time basketball city. I know the fans at really passionate about the team. It gave me an opportunity to see what Big East level basketball is like and that’s important to me because I see myself playing at that level.

“I mean you’re talking Madison Square Garden, you are talking NYC. It is a basketball mecca. You can’t do wrong with that. Right now I am just weighing my options and looking forward to visiting other schools.”

Georgia saw Maidoh work out Wednesday, while UMass, Towson and Stetson are also involved.

Meantime, Anderson is expected to visit Christ the King on Thursday with their standouts Moussa Cisse, Ryan Pearson and Quaran McPherson.

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