St. John’s basketball creates important positioning for Franck Kepnang
It was a very positive virtual visit on Sunday afternoon for the St. John’s basketball program and four-star center Franck Kepnang.
St. John’s hasn’t been linked to high profile and highly ranked recruits in recent memory, but the Red Storm could be the very early favorites for four-star center Franck Kepnang.
The Johnnies and Kepnang completed a virtual visit on Sunday, the third time the two sides have had documented contact in the 2020 calendar year.
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Kepnang, a 6-foot-11 center originally from Cameroon, took an unofficial visit to St. John’s in February when the Red Storm were playing at Madison Square Garden and prior to Sunday’s connection, Mike Anderson and his staff also met with the center about three weeks ago via a Zoom video chat.
Franck Kepnang’s guardian, Mark Carter, told Jason Jordan of Sports Illustrated that the meeting “went well” and that “St. John’s was well versed, super informative, and have a plan for Franck to pursue his goals off and on the court. There’s no bigger stage than the Mecca of Basketball.”
Although it looks like St. John’s might be the early favorite to land the Westtown High School (PA) star, Kepnang also holds offers from Kansas, Maryland, Georgetown, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and UCLA.
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The Norristown, Pennsylvania native also had unofficial visits to Georgetown and Maryland during the 2019-20 college basketball regular season.
If St. John’s were to land Franck Kepnang, he would be the highest rated recruit to commit to the Red Storm, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings.
Kepnang is ranked as the No. 23 player in the rising senior class, the No. 6 center in the Class of 2021, and the No. 1 player his home state of Pennsylvania.
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The total composite score the center gets is 0.9899, which is fractions higher than Class of 2013 commit Rysheed Jordan, who posted a 0.9873 composite score.
Franck Kepnang has not set a timetable for a possible cutdown of his list or a timeline for his decision date.