It wasn’t completely a lost day for St. John’s.
Although the Red Storm were obliterated by Villanova, 105-68, Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, they received a verbal commitment from Arizona guard Sammy Barnes-Thompkins later in the day.
Barnes-Thompkins becomes the third member of Steve Lavin’s 2015 recruiting class, joining four-star Louisiana guard Brandon Sampson and three-star Philadelphia guard Samir Doughty. The Red Storm could lose their entire backcourt — seniors D’Angelo Harrison, Phil Greene IV and Jamal Branch graduate and sophomore Rysheed Jordan could declare for the NBA Draft.
Barnes-Thompkins’ AAU coach, Kenny Mullins, said USC, California, Utah, Iowa State and Purdue also were recruiting him. Mullins described his star guard as a hard-nosed long-distance shooter who also can handle the ball and make plays for others. Mullins said St. John’s got involved with Barnes-Thompkins a few weeks ago, after he had a big performance against Findlay Prep (Nev.), scoring 32 points against one of the top high school programs in the country. He visited the Queens school last weekend.
“He’s an undersized two guard who scores the ball at all three levels,” Scout.com West Coast recruiting analyst Josh Gershon said. “He’s a very good shooter from long distance off the catch and bounce. He’s ball dominant and tends to force jumpers, but is capable of making difficult shots. He has a good enough handle to play some [point guard], but his scoring ability is his strength.
“His scoring ability gives his value. In order for him to be an effective Big East player, he’ll need to improve his efficiency as a scorer and gain comfort playing without the ball in his hands.”