St. John’s in Trouble?, Goodman Reneges, Harrow to UK and more

The St. John’s 2011 recruiting class might have taken two bombshells yesterday. First, Lenn Robbins of the New York Post wrote

Does St. John's have a real shot at losing Harkless?

that stud recruit Maurice Harkless may not be eligible because of his former relationship to DOBO Moe Hicks while Hicks was with the NY Gauchos AAU program. This joint inquiry into Harkless by the NCAA and St. John’s may have arisen after the recent news that Lamont “MoMo” Jones would not be eligible to play for the Red Storm because of his former relationship with Moe Hicks.

The next barrage came in the form of a tweet from Niel Nieves, owner of Coast 2 Coast Recruiting. Nieves is certainly not a random guy just spreading rumors on Twitter, but thats exactly what Norvel Pelle claimed this morning.

Each scenario looks like it is less than likely to pan out against the Red Storm, but hypothetically, Pelle’s decision to prep or not (seemingly based on grades) is more important to keep an eye on. While Harkless is a higher rated recruit, Pelle is one of only two true interior forwards, the other being JUCO transfer God’s Gift Achiuwa, in St. John’s 2011 class. In comparison, Harkless is one of at least four incoming recruits that could be classified as a wing, therefore making his loss would be less important, at least in the short run.

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After what has been a whirlwind of success for head coach Mike Rice and his trusty assistants Van Macon and David Cox on the recruiting trails, Rutgers suffered its first significant setback when 2012 center Jordan Goodman decommitted yesterday.

Goodman’s strong relationship with DC recruiting guru David Cox through his playing on the DC Assault AAU  team originally brought the center to Georgetown (decomitted) and then Rutgers. With this strong relationship, some may be wondering why exactly did Goodman decommit then? The answers vary: Goodman’s poor grades, rumors that David Cox is leaving the Rutgers program for a job elsewhere and the Rutgers staff has cooled their recruitment of Goodman are a few of the leading candidates.

No matter how you spin it, a highly rated center with strong ties to the coaching staff of his future school doesn’t just decommit from a rapidly improving program for no reason.

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Not only can Kentucky coach John Calipari run the tables on the high school recruiting trails, but it looks like he can also snag highly sought after transfers when he wants to. Calipari landed NC State transfer Ryan Harrow, the rising sophomore point guard who was highly rated out of high school.

Calipari can play the transfer game too.

Harrow decided to transfer out of crumbling NC State after the firing of head coach Sidney Lowe on March 15th. Since, he has been courted by Louisville, Texas, St. John’s, and Georgia in addition to Kentucky. The transfer will have to sit out next season due to NCAA transfer regulations and will have three years of eligibility beginning in 2012-13.  By then, McDonalds All American Marquis Teague might be preparing himself for the NBA Draft, leaving a vacant floor general position for Harrow.

Harrow averaged 9.3PPG & 3.3APG in 23MPG as a freshman at NC State.

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Virginia’s already solid 2012 class just got a little better. Justin Anderson, a super athletic wing from Montrose Christian (MD) decomitted from Maryland and committed to Virginia this morning.

This move shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone familiar with Anderson’s recruitment and Maryland’s recent recruiting woes. Anderson is the third recruit to decommit after Gary Williams left his head coaching post, following guard Sterling Gibbs and forward Martin Breunig.

Anderson’s decommit became very likely when he visited Virginia last weekend despite still being committed to Maryland. Less than a week later, the Montross (VA) native decided his future looked better as a Cavalier.

The departure of Anderson leaves guards Nick Faust (2011) and Seth Allen (2012) as the only two Maryland recruits committed at this point.

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Transfer Wire Lite:

In addition to Ryan Harrow to Kentucky, the following transfer moves were made over the past few days… Arizona transfer Daniel Bejarano landed at Colorado State yesterday … Towson transfer Isaiah Philmore to Xavier over Dayton & Delaware State, a great get for the Musketeers … Marquette transfer Erik Williams to Sam Houston State … Dayton transfer Juwan Staten, who chose Penn State this spring, is uncertain about where he might play next …

Commitments:

JUCO forward Alex Jackson (Federick CC, MD) has committed to Quinnipiac, he will have three years of eligibility remaining … Fresno State landed JUCO All-American Larry McGaughey over Seton Hall, UTEP, South Alabama and Troy, he will have two years of eligibility left … 2012 R.J. Hunter of Pike HS (IN) committed to Georgia State to play for his father … 2012 forward Mo Ali-Cox committed to VCU yesterday … 2011 guard Brandon Herman  committed to Robert Morris yesterday … 2011 point guard Anthony Williams has decided to go the JUCO route via Kankakee CC … Navy commit Kevin Alter of Rumson Fair-Haven HS (NJ) remains committed to Navy despite the coaching change …

Other:

Weber State’s leading scorer Damian Lilliard successfully obtained a medical hardship waiver for two more years of eligibility … Jhamir White & Patrick Cole (2011) will take a postgrad year at The Robinson School (NJ) next year … Former Loyola coach Jim Whitesell will join the St. Louis staff as an assistant