St. John’s basketball officially welcomes three Class of 2021 recruits

St. John’s basketball officially welcomed its three Class of 2021 recruits in the early signing period.

The next crop of St. John’s basketball players are officially signed with the program during the early signing period.

Drissa Traore, Rafael Pinzon, and O’mar Stanley have all inked their named to their National Letter of Intents to St. John’s University and Mike Anderson is well on his way to yet another solid recruiting class in Queens.

“Rafael [Pinzon], Drissa [Traore] and O’mar [Stanley] are all very excited about being Johnnies,” head coach Mike Anderson said. “They are high character individuals who bring a mentality of toughness to the court.”

Anderson landed freshmen Posh Alexander and Dylan Wusu in his first season as the head coach of the Red Storm in addition to junior college standouts Vince Cole and Isaih Moore as all four players get set to embark on their collegiate careers on November 25.

As for the next class of Johnnies, all three players will hope to play their senior seasons in 2020-21 but that’s far from a certainty, especially for the Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) standouts Traore and Pinzon.

Drissa Traore, the first player to commit to Anderson and St. John’s in the Class of 2021, is ranked as a three-year recruit and the No. 263 player in the country, No. 48 power forward, and No. 7 player in the state of New York, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings.

ALSO READ: O’mar Stanley commits to St. John’s basketball, adding to Class of 2021

“Drissa is a tough, physical forward that will only get better as he matures and his game continues to develop. He’s been an important part of winning teams his entire life and understands what it takes to be a winner. We expect big things out of Drissa at St. John’s,” Anderson said.

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Rafael Pinzon, the second player to commit to the Red Storm, is also ranked as a three-star prospect by the same outlet and comes in as the No. 182 player in the senior class, No. 40 shooting guard, and No. 3 player in the state of New York.

“We’re very excited to add Rafael to our roster. He’s been a proven scorer at every level, whether that’s at an elite high school level, high-level AAU or in international play.  He’s really the total package in terms of talent and ability,” Anderson said in a release talking about his newest guard.

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O’mar Stanley is the most recent St. John’s pledge and he only committed to the program last week, but the forward is yet another three-star Anderson landed and is ranked as the No. 290 player in the Class of 2021, No. 40 center, and No. 9 player in the state of Missouri.

“Recruiting is a lot about fit and O’mar is a perfect fit for what we’re looking to build here at St. John’s,” said Anderson.  “He can score, play defense, rebound and, most importantly, he has a relentless motor.  I think O’mar can become a special basketball player.”

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Will St. John’s basketball add to its recruiting class?

Given the strange circumstances surrounding college basketball and scholarship limits, it’s tough to see the Red Storm adding to its 2021 recruiting class at the moment, but that could change.

ALSO READ: St. John’s expecting big things from JUCO All-American

A true center would still be a priority for this staff but as of the moment, the school has no more scholarships to hand out for next season, pending things go according to plan.

However, St. John’s feels very confident about the three players that will be stepping on campus in the Summer of 2021.

Stay tuned to Storm The Paint for more St. John’s basketball recruiting news and views.