ST. JOHN'S SIGNING REVIEW

November 18, 2008


When your campus is located on the doorstep of dozens of the top high school basketball prospects year in and year out, keeping those players home is a key to improving your college basketball odds of competing for titles.

In his tenure as head coach of St. John's, Norm Roberts has not had much luck in interesting the top players of NYC to come play for him. However, the 2008-2009 recruiting class might begin to signal a change in that luck.

In the early signing period for basketball, the Redstorm inked a pair of NYC natives as South Kent Prep shooting guard Omari Lawrence and NYC native Dwight Hardy, who is currently attending Indian Hills (IA) Community College.

St. John's is also getting a little more of a positive vibe in the Big Apple with a couple recent hires to Roberts' administrative staff of Kimani Young and Oswald Cross do give the Redstorm a much more positive image and influence in NYC circles. Cross coached current SJU power forward Justin Burrell in high school and was a coach of the NY Panthers AAU team last summer that Lawrence competed with. Young was the director of the New Heights AAU program that has several of the area's top 2010 prospects in its program.

One SJU commitment, Malik Stith, did not sign with the Redstorm. It was rumored to be the case for sometime, so when it began public that SJU and Stith had parted ways, it did not come as much of a surprise.

The 'storm is in a little bit of a scholarship pinch...they do have one available for the spring, but unless other players leave (an annual rite of spring with SJU), that is the only 'ship for 2009 and 2010 available.