By CHRIS RUSSELL
NEW YORK — On the same day that Isaiah Briscoe officially signed his NLI with Kentucky — ending any dreams of a change of course in the Johnnies’ favor come spring — St. John’s began anew at Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm — who know this season is about making the NCAA Tournament or bust — controlled the game from the start and came away with a 77-58 victory over NJIT.
Sophomore guard Rysheed Jordan went for 18 points and five assists and junior center Chris Obekpa posted a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Sir’Dominic Pointer added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and D’Angelo Harrison scored 10 for St. John’s.
“Our goal is to win more games than we did last year because that wasn’t enough,” Harrison said, referencing the team’s NIT appearance a year ago. “That’s our entire team’s mindset.”
Coming into the season-opener, the Red Storm were victims of negative momentum on the recruiting front after Briscoe on Thursday spurned St. John’s to play for top-ranked Kentucky after head coach Steve Lavin and his staff had recruited him for several years.
“Everything about Kentucky made me want to attend the school,” Briscoe said on ESPNU.
Now, instead of attracting other five-star recruits to Queens, Briscoe will be a vocal pitchman for John Calipari’s Wildcats. He is tight with Florida shooting guard Antonio Blakeney, who went off for 65 points on Friday night, and is considering Kentucky, Missouri and LSU among others.
The Johnnies thus far have zero recruits for 2015, which creates a major problem considering the team must replace the six seniors on their current roster.
St. John’s could also lose Obekpa and or Jordan to the pros.
On top of that, St. John’s lost JUCO forward Keith Thomas to academic ineligibility while freshman big man Adonis De La Rosa can practice with the team but isn’t playing games because of his own academic situation.
Those factors — and the questionable nature of St. John’s roster a year from now — probably weren’t lost on Briscoe and his family, either.
For St. John’s to compete for Big East titles and consistently make the NCAA tournament without Briscoe going forward, the recruiting results must improve. Chicago point guard Marcus Lovett is a new target at point guard with Briscoe gone, while power forward Cheick Diallo of Our Saviour New American and Louisiana shooting guard Brandon Sampson remain among the top prospects that Lavin is currently targeting.
Sampson’s coach disputed reports that he would have automatically followed Briscoe to Queens had Briscoe committed.
“That’s not true,” Jeff Jones told SNY.tv Friday, adding that Sampson is still considering St. John’s. He has cut his list to five and will commit in the spring, as will Diallo.
As next year’s roster is looking tenuous, the Johnnies must assemble a recruiting class of five to six recruits and also make the NCAA tournament this season.
“If we don’t make the NCAA tournament, it’s going to be a complete failure of the year,” Harrison told SNY.tv at Big East media day. “Hands down.”
