St. John's basketball in Amari Williams' Top-3 but Kentucky and Mark Pope lurking

Things have been fun between St. John's basketball head coach Rick Pitino and Mark Pope since he was named as the next Kentucky's coach but now things are getting serious.

Both the Red Storm and Wildcats were named to Amari Williams' Top-3 finalists, along with Mississippi State, according to multiple reports on Thursday night.

The Drexel transfer had plans to visit Indiana, Creighton, and Florida but all three of those visits were canceled.

Williams has already taken official visits to Mississippi State and St. John's while his visit to Kentucky begins on Saturday. Pope completed an in-home visit with the 3-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday afternoon.

After Rick Pitino gave a glowing endorsement to Mark Pope, his team captain on the 1996 Wildcat National Championship team, via social media, Pope asked Kentucky fans during his introductory press conference how they would feel about a game against the Red Storm. The soldout crowd in Rupp Arena roared.

The next day, Pitino "accepted" the challenged and created a home-and-home series for the next two seasons between the schools on social media.

Amari Williams, a 6-foot-10 center, averaged 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game this season after posting 13.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 1.4 steals per contest a season ago.

Williams would immediately slide into the role vacated by Joel Soriano if he chose the Red Storm, but Kentucky is considered the favorite at this stage in his recruitment.

St. John's recently hosted USC's Vincent Iwuchukwu on an official visit while remaining in the running for Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi, who has not yet scheduled a visit to Queens.

There is no timeline for a decision from Amari Williams but it should not be very long after his visit in Lexington concludes on Sunday night.