By JOSH NEWMAN
More than a week after reclassifying to the Class of 2015 and taking an official visit to St. John’s, four-star small forward Maverick Rowan is down to three schools and will decide his destination in August.
Speaking to Scout’s Evan Daniels at the inaugural Nike Basketball Academy in Santa Monica, Calif, Rowan said he is down to the Red Storm, Wisconsin and North Carolina State.
St. John’s is thought by some to have the upper hand given Ron Rowan, Maverick’s father, was a teammate of new Red Storm head coach Chris Mullin in the 1980’s.
That said, Maverick Rowan is just getting to know Mullin.
“I’ve just recently met Chris Mullin,” Rowan said. “He’s a great guy and I play the same position he did. If I go there, he could help me improve myself to help me become a pro. Then Slice (Red Storm assistant Barry Rohrssen), I’ve known him for a couple years, but I haven’t really been in contact until he came to St. John’s.”
Rowan plans to take his last two visits to Wisconsin and N.C. State, then make a decision in August after finishing up his course work to get into the 2015 class.
Complicating this process some is the fact Badgers head coach Bo Ryan announced Monday afternoon that he will coach in 2015-16, then retire. In a school-released statement Monday, Ryan is quoted as saying he hopes longtime assistant Greg Gard will succeed him.
“He said what he said and it makes it seem like he’s retiring, but he could have one year left,” Rowan said.
Mullin has moved quickly to restock the St. John’s roster since being named head coach on March 31. Mullin, Rohrssen and ace recruiter Matt Abdelmassih have pulled in four-star point guard Marcus LoVett, three-star shooting guard Malik Ellison and most recently, Italian guard Federico Mussini on Monday.
