Jose Alvarado to Announce on Thursday
Jose Alvarado, the 5-foot-11-inch guard from Christ
North Carolina has already lost out on
St. John’s currently has only one player from the Garden State on its roster in sophomore guard Malik Ellison.
But if Chris Mullin and his staff have their way, they will be adding more Jersey Boys in the years to come.
“We take New Jersey very seriously and our presence will be felt,” assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih said. “We view it as our backyard. We want our program to get to a point where all the local kids, New York and New Jersey, feel it’s their home school.”
St. John’s hasn’t always taken this approach.
Former St. John’s coach Steve Lavin hardly recruited New Jersey at all, with the notable exception of former Roselle Catholic point guard Isaiah Briscoe, who ultimately chose Kentucky over the Red Storm.
Brandon Randolph, the 6-foot-6-inch guard from Yonkers, N.Y., and the Westtown (Pa.) School, is down to four schools.
Randolph is considering Arizona, Syracuse, Oregon and Wake Forest.
He cut a number of schools, including Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Xavier.
He took his first official visit to Syracuse last weekend.
