St. John’s basketball makes Top-5 finalists for three-star wing

The St. John’s basketball program made the Top-5 finalists for a three-star wing.

St. John’s basketball target and Class of 2021 shooting guard Alden Applewhite took the next step in his recruitment process, narrowing down his list of schools to five finalists on Sunday evening.

He announced his Top-5 via his Twitter page.

St. John’s was included in Applewhite’s Top-5, but will have quite the battle on their hands in order to get the 6-foot-7 wing as the rest of the list includes Clemson, Iowa State, Wake Forest, and Mississippi State.

Applewhite also received offers from Ole Miss, TCU, Xavier, Texas A&M, and Washington State prior to cutting down his list.

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The Compass Prep high school star is rated as a three-star prospect and ranked as the No. 160 recruit in the Class of 2021, No. 38 small forward, and No. 7 player in the state of Arizona, according to 247 Sports Composite Rankings.

St. John’s offered the Chandler, Arizona native back on May 4 and were in constant contact with him over the summer.

“Coach [TJ] Cleveland and Coach [Mike] Anderson have been recruiting my family hard and they talk about playing in a good conference, playing in special arenas and developing my game,” Applewhite said to 336Edits following the cutdown of his list.

St. John’s basketball has stiff competition for the three-star wing

It seems to have paid off for now with the Red Storm’s inclusion in Applewhite’s Top-5 list, but programs like Iowa State and Mississippi State have been actively recruiting him all the way back to his freshmen year.

The 247 Sports Crystal Ball has the senior landing in Starkville at Mississippi State, although there is only one prediction on the site from Bulldogs insider Paul Jones and has a six-of-ten confidence ranking.

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Alden Applewhite hasn’t set a date for when he will make his commitment yet, but has told multiple outlets that he is targeting February for a potential announcement.

The Red Storm have signed three players in their 2021 recruiting class including Long Island Lutheran High School teammates Rafael Pinzon and Drissa Traore, as well as 6-foot-8 forward O’mar Stanley.

St. John’s also brought in 6-foot-10 junior college transfer Esahia Nyiwe and is set to begin his Red Storm career next season, unless he receives a waiver from the NCAA.