St. John’s basketball target Jordan Riley will announce his college decision on Friday morning in one of the biggest local announcements in recent memory.
There might not be more of an important recruit for Mike Anderson and St. John’s to land then Class of 2021 guard Jordan Riley.
Luckily, or unlucky, for him and the program that anticipation will shortly come to an end as Riley is set to make his commitment on Friday, July 24 at 10:00 AM in the Sonderling Gym at Brentwood High School.
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The Brentwood High School star, and four-star ranked recruit by ESPN, has narrowed his list down to five schools; St. John’s, Connecticut, Georgetown, Florida State, and Kansas.
Not only is it important for Anderson to land Riley as he would be the first major recruit the Red Storm has landed in years but the Johnnies are also pinned up against two other Big East foes, a blue blood with a Hall of Fame coach, and one of the fastest rising programs in the country.
While Kansas certainly has the fame and prestige, a player like Jordan Riley doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of the Jayhawks and could be forgotten about quickly as Bill Self typically brings in a handful of Top-50 recruits.
Similar to Kansas, Florida State was one of the last programs to offer Jordan Riley and while head coach Leonard Hamilton typically recruits, and lands, players with the same skillset and explosiveness as Riley there was no deep time for the prospect to get know the program and see how he would fit in after the offer at the end of June.
Georgetown has been on a major cold streak with just about everything in the last six months with the departure of half its roster and the lack of incoming talent, Patrick Ewing certainly has his work cutout for him this fall.
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Jordan Riley would be an ideal fit to try and jumpstart the Hoya program, it just doesn’t appear to be in the cards in Washington D.C.
Moving over to another Big East program, Dan Hurley and the Connecticut Huskies have jumped back into the conference with a lot of momentum on the court and on the recruiting trail.
Because of that momentum UConn could run into a serious logjam at the guard position with not enough minutes to go around with players such as James Bouknight, Tyrese Martin, RJ Cole, and Jalen Gaffney, all scheduled to be on the Huskies roster for the 2021-22 season.
That brings the conversation to St. John’s where everything seems to be trending in the right direction for the Johnnies.
In Queens Jordan Riley would have the chance to step in and play from his first day on campus and his athleticism would be the perfect fit in Mike Anderson’s system.
Following the 2020-21 season the Red Storm will lose point guard Rasheem Dunn which would then allow Posh Alexander to run the offense the following season as the Johnnies would continue to run its guard dominated lineups.
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The possibility to play close to home so family and friends would be able to watch games live from Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden.
In what seems to be a two horse race between St. John’s and Connecticut, the positives for the Red Storm outweigh those for the Huskies and Jordan Riley has the chance to become one of the local greats to put on the Red and White of St. John’s.
It would be a surprise if Jordan Riley picks a school other than St. John’s or Connecticut but stranger things have happened on the recruiting trail.
PREDICTION: Jordan Riley commits to St. John’s