St. John’s basketball: Mackenzie Mgbako cuts Red Storm from Top-2

St. John’s basketball recruiting target Mackenzie Mgbako has narrowed his list to two. 

The St. John’s basketball program was one of four schools in the running to land the services of Mackenzie Mgbako but the former Duke pledge will not be taking his talents to Queens.

Andrew Slater of Cerebro Sports reported that the 5-star wing has narrowed his choices between Kansas and Indiana and will announce his decision on Friday.

Mgbako completed an in home visit with Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino and visited St. John’s first before embarking on trips to Kansas and Indiana.

The 6-foot-8 forward canceled his final scheduled visit to Louisville, the initial favorite to land the McDonald’s All-American after he reopened his recruitment because of his relationship with Cardinals assistant coach Nolan Smith.

https://twitter.com/Andrew__Slater/status/1656332191767330818

Smith was a leading recruiting of Mgbako for Duke when he was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski with the Blue Devils.

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The Roselle Catholic (NJ) standout ranks as the No. 8 recruit in the Class of 2023 and No. 3 player in the state of New Jersey, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

St. John’s basketball looking to add major piece to roster

Adding Mackenzie Mgbako would have been one of the perfect final pieces for St. John’s as the program is still looking for a major difference maker to play alongside returning All-Big East center Joel Soriano.

The Johnnies have added Iona transfers Daniss Jenkins, Cruz Davis, Quinn Slazinski, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo while also landing pledges from VMI’s Sean Conway, UConn’s Nahiem Alleyne, Oregon State’s Glenn Taylor Jr., and UMass’ RJ Luis.

ALSO READ: St. John’s adds fourth Iona transfer in Sadiku Ibine Ayo

Brady Dunlap, a 4-star wing originally committed to Notre Dame, is the only current high school recruit slated to join St. John’s next season.

The Red Storm have two remaining scholarships after nine players entered the transfer portal this offseason and remain in deep connection with Penn transfer Jordan Dingle, Kentucky forward Lance Ware, and Kansas Zuby Ejiofor.