St. John’s basketball recruiting target Carl Cherenfant picks Memphis

The St. John’s basketball program lost one of its key recruits to the Memphis Tigers. 

The positive recruiting vibes within the St. John’s basketball program have come to a screeching halt.

After the Johnnies landed Class of 2023 four-star forward Brandon Gardner this summer it looked like Mike Anderson was gearing up for his biggest and most prolific recruiting class in his tenure at St. John’s.

Instead, four-star forward Brandon Williams of Christ the King (NY) spurred the Johnnies for UCLA.

Elijah Gertrude of Hudson Catholic (NJ) opted for Virginia over the trio of high-major local schools.

Aaron Clark, a Brewster Academy (NH) product, picked Wake Forest after St. John’s tried to get heavily involved in his recruitment late in the process.

Now, Carl Cherenfant has committed to the Memphis Tigers over St. John’s and UCF.

Cherenfant made his decision on Sunday night after it looked like the Knights and Red Storm were leaders in his recruitment before Penny Hardaway and his coaching staff became involved.

The 6-foot-5 small forward is listed as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 126 player in the 247Sports Composite Rankings as well as the No. 24 small forward in his class and No. 12 player in the state of Florida.

St. John’s basketball still looking to add to recruiting class

After Carl Cherenfant officially picked Memphis the Johnnies quickly pivoted to junior college player Yaxel Lendeborg, who visited Queens last week.

Lendeborg played for Pennsauken High School (NJ) and now is at Arizona Western College after landing offers from St. John’s, Xavier, New Mexico, and others.

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The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 12.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest last season while being named as an NJCAA Third Team All-American, ACCAC Player of the Year, and ACCAC Freshman of the Year.

Lendeborg was also named as a First Team All-ACCAC member and First Team All-Region DI pick.

Yaxel Lendeborg will announce his college decision on Wednesday night at 6:30p.m.