It was exactly one week ago that St. John's made the single most shocking hire of the college basketball cycle, tabbing Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino to try and revive the once dormant program.
It brings home one of the most successful coaches of his generation with a program that is in need of some level of credibility - and now gets it at the national scale.
It also makes a long-time college hoops doormat now relevant, and makes a school which recruits long looked past all of a sudden, interesting.
Since he got the job, Pitino has hit the ground running in recruiting, reaching out to some of the biggest names both in high school basketball and in the portal.
And because we love you here at AT Media, we put together a full list of all the names he's connected with so far, with a big assists from our St. John's fan page @TorresOnSJU.
Class of 2023
Four=star guard Garwey Dual: It's too late for Pitino to make too many inroads in the class of 2023 at St. John's, but there is one exception as he's in hot pursuit of Darwal, the No. 83 ranked player in the country.
The 6'5 guard based out of California was originally committed to Providence, but re-opened his recruitment once Cooley left for Georgetown.
He's expected to visit St. John's this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Class of 2024
Five-star guard Ian Jackson (no offer yet, committed to North Carolina): Rumors began to circulate in Pitino's first day on the job last Tuesday that would ultimately flip Jackson, the No. 3 ranked player in the class of 2024 from North Carolina to St. John's.
While there has been little in the way of tangible proof that a flip is coming (Jackson's camp has so far denied it) Pitino and his staff are expected to visit Jackson at his school this week, per Adam Zagoria.
Five-star wing Carter Bryant (offered): The No. 11 ranked player in the class of 2024, Bryant was offered by Pitino and his staff in their first full day on the job last Wednesday. Bryant has publicly announced a final two of Arizona and Louisville, so it might be too little, too late for the Red Storm on this one.
Five-star guard Boogie Fland: One of Pitino's first tasks, on his first full morning as St. John's head coach last Wednesday was to visit the five-star Fland at his high school in New York.
As of right now, no formal offer appears to have been delivered to the No. 13 ranked player in the class per 247 Sports Composite. Among the many schools linked to Fland early include UNC, UConn and Kentucky.
Pitino's staff was again in to see Fland on Saturday.
Five-star guard Vyctorious Miller (offered): Pitino has also offered Miller, a 6'5 wing who plays at Compass Prep in Arizona. Right now, there are no, known leaders in Miller's recruitment.
Five-star forward Tyler Betsy (offered): The latest high school player to receive an offer from Pitino is 6'8 wing Tyler Betsey. Playing high school ball in Connecticut, Betsey is a Top 25 prospect in the class of 2024, who also holds offers from Duke, UConn and Alabama among many others.
Transfer portal
Walter Clayton Jr., Iona guard: Just days after Pitino officially left for St. John's, Clayton hit the portal and is already down to two schools. He'll choose between his home state Florida Gators or following Pitino to St. John's, with a visit to Gainesville this past weekend, and one to Queens upcoming.
The 6'2 Clayton was a star for Pitino's final Iona squad this past season, averaging a team-high 17.8 points on a blistering 43 percent from three.
TJ Bamba, Washington State guard: A 6'5 guard who is originally from New York City, Bamba entered the portal on Monday and has already been contacted by St. John's, according to our "TorresOnSJU" account.
Bamba has also declared for the draft, so there is no guarantee he'll play college basketball at all next season, and has also heard from the likes of Kansas and Arizona among others.
Nick Timberlake, Towson guard: One of the hottest names in the transfer portal, St. John's will have an in-home visit with Timberlake on Monday, per the New York Post's Zach Braziller.
Timberlake was a star in the CAA this season, averaging 17.7 points per game on 41.6 percent three-percent shooting, and has already heard from some of the biggest names in the sport since entering the portal. In addition to meeting with St. John's, North Carolina and Ohio State are among the schools to have already conducted in-home sitdowns with Timberlake.
Chris Ledlum, Harvard forward: Another New York native, Ledlum is a 6'6 forward who has been in hot pursuit since entering the transfer portal last week.
Ledlum averaged 18.8 points per game and 8.8 rebounds last year, leading the Crimson in both categories.
Like Timberlake, he received an in-home visit from Pitino on Monday.
Zac Hicks, Temple forward: A slew of Temple transfers have hit the portal since Aaron McKie stepped down as the school's head coach, and Pitino and staff have shown interest in at least one: Hicks.
The 6'7 wing averaged 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds this season for the Owls, while shooting 36 percent from three. Many other high-majors are after Hicks, including Georgetown, Oklahoma State and others.
For up to the minute news on all things St. John's basketball - follow our St. John's fan account, @TorresOnSJU.
Comments