With its Midnight Madness slated for Friday night at Carnesecca Arena, St. John’s could be in store for a big week on the recruiting front.
**D’Angelo Harrison, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Dulles (Texas) High, is expected to announce Thursday that he has chosen the Johnnies over Baylor, Marquette and Oklahoma State. The news was first reported by NY2LASports.com. Harrison is the No. 9 shooting guard in the Class of 2011, per Rivals.com.
**Nurideen Lindsey, a 6-4, 185-pound guard from Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., is also expected to pop for St. John’s in the coming days.
“You’ve got Coach Lav [Steve Lavin] that was successful at UCLA and produced almost 13 or 14 pros,” Lindsey told ZAGSBLOG.com last month. “They have a bunch of guys that came down from the pro level, guys like Mike Dunlap and Rico Hines, guys that know what it takes to get to the next level. They can prepare you to be better and work on things more than guys who don’t have as much as experience as those guys.
“As for where St. John’s plays every night, Madison Square Garden is a big stage and it’s at the highest level of basketball,” he added. “It’s an attractive place. They make you want to go there.”
**Amir Garrett, a 6-7 wing from Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep, is down to St. John’s and Oregon and could verbal to the Johnnies in the not-too-distant future.
“I think Amir’s going to be thorough with his decision,” Findlay assistant Todd Simon said recently. “I think he will know when the time is right.”
**Dom Pointer, a 6-5, 210-pound wing from Detroit, is down to Michigan and St. John’s, although his father, Tony Nolan, favors Michigan.
**Tyler Harris, a 6-8 forward from St. Benedict’s Prep, is down to Iowa, Providence, N.C. State and St. John’s. He will visit Providence this weekend and St. John’s the weekend of Oct. 29 before making a decision.
**Jevon Thomas, a 2012 point guard from Our Savior Lutheran in Centereach, Long Island, will visit St. John’s for Midnight Madness and is considering the Johnnies.
**The Johnnies already have commitments from 6-7 Maurice Harkless, a Queens native at South Kent (Conn.), and 6-8 JaKarr Sampson of Brewster (N.H.) Academy and have eight scholarships to give.
Sources said the Johnnies may opt to sign seven high school players and three JUCO players to balance the class.
“Next year because we’re going to lose nine seniors it’s really rebuilding,” Lavin told SNY’s Michelle Yu earlier his month. “It’s going to be a whole new group that will be in place. It will be 10 new players that will hit the campus next September.”
FREE THROWS
Jersey Boys Jarelle Reischel and Eli Carter will take official visits this weekend to Seton Hall…Providence got a commitment from 6-6 Dayton (Ohio) small forward Markus Crider, according to the Providence Journal. Crider averaged 15.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists as a junior.
“Markus possesses Big East athleticism, size, length and strength,” Travis Trice, the coach at Wayne High School in Dayton, told Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal. “He runs the floor extremely well, is an outstanding rebounder and is a very good defender. Markus is a highly skilled athlete who is versatile enough to play and defend multiple positions. Providence Head Coach Keno Davis and his assistant Chris Davis said that they were looking for a versatile player who possessed great athleticism, was a good defender and had a strong work ethic. That described Markus to a tee. He is a perfect fit for Providence’s pressure defense and fast breaking system.”
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