St. John’s basketball target Franck Kepnang announced he will be committed to the Oregon Ducks.
Well, the Franck Kepnang dream is officially over for St. John’s fans after he made the decision to commit to the Oregon Ducks.
The Cameron native announced the commitment on a livestream via Instagram.
Listed at 6-foot-11, the center is ranked as the No. 27 recruit overall in the Class of 2021, the No. 6 center, and No. 2 player in the state of Pennsylvania, according to 247 Sports Composite Rankings.
Along with turning down the Red Storm, Kepnang turned down offers from DePaul, Miami (FL), Auburn, Kansas, Maryland, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wake Forest, UCLA, Georgia, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Connecticut, Washington, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Dayton, La Salle, VCU, and Fordham in choosing to head to the west coast and join Dana Altman’s program.
Along with Oregon, Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Miami were thought to be the favorites for his commitment once it was announced that he would reveal his decision on Saturday afternoon.
Nonetheless, Kepnang will head to Eugene for the 2021-22 season, but there is still a chance in which the four-star will enroll at Oregon during the 2020-21 season.
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Although unlikely, if Kepnang were to play this upcoming season, he could be viewed as a one-and-done, but there’s a strong chance he will take the floor with a player Red Storm fans know well, LJ Figueroa.
Figueroa transferred to Oregon this offseason where he is still awaiting the NCAA’s decision on a immediately eligible waiver for the 2020-21 season.
If the NCAA grants his waiver, Figueroa will play in his senior year starting in November, but if the waiver is denied he will sit out this year and begin his senior year in the 2021-22 season.
St. John’s was on the outside looking in coming into Saturday’s announcement, but one way or another the program came up empty-handed as they are looking for a center to fill that last open scholarship spot for 2021, if things go according to plan on paper.
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Franck Kepnang would have been a game-changing recruit as he’s been hovering around the Top-25 on all recruiting listings, which would have easily made him into one of the highest recruits for the Red Storm in the past two decades and the face of the program for his time in Queens.
However, they can now officially cross him off their boards and start looking at other options, if they haven’t already.
Those options will be headlined by junior college standout Carlos Curry amongst others as they look to add to a 2021 recruiting class that currently contains Long Island Lutheran High School standouts Drissa Traore and Rafael Pinzon.