By JOHN PAVIA
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK — Malik Beasley has finally cut his list to eight schools on the eve of the Big Strick Classic in New York and St. John’s is one of the remaining schools with a shot to land him.
A 6-4 guard of St. Francis High School in Atlanta, GA, Beasley listed UConn, St. John’s, UCLA, Wake Forest, Florida State, Oregon, VCU and Georgia as the final eight schools in contention for his talents on the hardwood, via Paul Biancardi of ESPN.
He has had a tremendous summer on the AAU circuit as he started off red-hot in April and has continued that success all the way into the beginning of August. Beasley performed well during the workout session on Friday at the Gauchos Gym in the Bronx and seemed to be enjoying his time in New York.
When asked about a visit to St. John’s, which has made him a priority in 2015, Beasley said, “I haven’t been to visit St. John’s yet, but hopefully after the Big Strick [Classic] I can go up there to visit before I go back home. My dad and mom are planning to do that so we’ll see.”
Beasley also mentioned that he talks to St. John’s coach Steve Lavin a couple times a week and it has been noted that St. John’s is pursuing him very aggressively.
“All the schools I’m looking at have great coaches,” Beasley said. “I feel like I can be really good in the programs that I’m looking at. There’s a lot of other programs with great coaches, but with the situations that my family and I are in, it’s tough to go to some of schools that I don’t end up listing.”
Beasley is also looking for a school that “will help me in the future in getting to the NBA and with academics.”
“I’m planning on majoring in business and finance so I can manage my money well in the NBA,” Beasley said.
One interesting aspect of Beasley’s recruiting saga is that he visited Georgia Tech very recently and enjoyed the visit, yet the Yellow Jackets did not end up making his final eight schools.
