St. John’s coach Steve Lavin received a late Easter “Gift” yesterday.
As reported exclusively Wednesday night on nypost.com, God’s Gift Achiuwa, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound JUCO All-American, has signed with the Red Storm, giving Lavin the power-post player he needs to complement one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.
Now the Red Storm are seeking additional depth in the frontcourt. Lavin and his staff this weekend will play host to power forward Daouda Soumaoru, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward from Our Savior New American School.
Soumaoru is being recruited by Colorado, Utah and Washington (which was in the hunt for Achiuwa). The relationship Lavin and his staff built with Achiuwa, who averaged 22.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks at Erie Community College in Buffalo, was the difference as he passed up Washington and Cincinnati.
“Steve Lavin started recruiting me from the day he got his job at St. John’s,” Achiuwa said on a telephone conference call yesterday. “That was my first day at Erie. I had been talking to him for a long time and that really made me feel like he really wanted me.”
AÂ tenacious, relentless player in the paint, Achiuwa has a tremendous work ethic. His father, Donatus, is a minister and does work in his native Nigeria. His mother, Eunice, also is very religious.
Achiuwa, 20, is the third of six children. He has one older brother, Promise, and two younger brothers, God’s Will and Precious. He has one older sister, Grace, and one younger sister, Peace.
“He is an ideal fit for our baseline-to-baseline attacking style of play,” Lavin said in a statement released by the university. “The maturity Gift gained from two years of junior college basketball with a combined 55-6 record will make him a nice complement to what will be the youngest team in the country next season.”
St. John’s might have an edge with Soumaoru, who is teammates with stellar point guard Jevon Thomas, who has given the Red Storm a verbal commitment.
St. John’s also hopes to land power forward Jamari Traylor, who is being heavily recruited by Kansas, which lost twins Marcus and Markief Morris to early entry for the NBA Draft.