St. John’s basketball looking to remain hot, lands in recruit’s Top-5

The St. John’s basketball program is looking for another coveted recruit in 2023.

It has been a great summer thus far for the St. John’s basketball program on the recruiting trail and the Johnnies are hoping to keep things rolling in Queens.

The Red Storm have hosted many top prospects on visits but the biggest news to trickle out of New York was the commitment of four-star forward Brandon Gardner.

Gardner is the highest ranked recruit to commit to St. John’s since Mike Anderson took over as the head coach of the program, listed as the No. 71 player in the Class of 2023 and No. 1 player in the state of North Carolina, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

ALSO READ: St. John’s lands commitment from Brandon Gardner

However, the Johnnies are looking to add another coveted forward to its recruiting crop in Christ the King (NY) power forward Brandon Williams.

Williams recently released his Top-5 finalists of UConn, Illinois, Oklahoma State, UCLA, and St. John’s.

The St. John’s key target is ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 136 player in the country and No. 2 player in the state of New York, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

St. John’s basketball to battle blue blood program for recruit

It seems like it is only a two team race for Brandon Williams, UCLA and St. John’s, as the Huskies have not even extended an offer to the 6-foot-7 forward.

Williams has already visited St. John’s this summer and will be taking a trip to Los Angeles in early August with a commitment likely to follow shortly after the visit.

ALSO READ: St. John’s lands underwhelming non-conference matchup

“With St. John’s, just being around the coaching staff and the NYC guys that are like me, it of course felt like home and felt like automatic family,” Williams told Joe Tipton of On3Sports.

“With them recruiting me heavily, I’ve just been very thankful for the whole process.”

Brandon Gardner currently gives St. John’s the No. 23 recruiting class in the country for 2023, according to 247Sports, and the second best class in the Big East Conference.