From Gus Alfieri to Mark Jackson to Erick Barkley, St. John’s glory years were rife with electric New York City born-and-bred point guards. In the Red Storm’s recent downturn, the area’s best floor generals, be it Kemba Walker or Darryl Bryant, opted to go elsewhere.
New coach Steve Lavin has turned that page, adding several top 100 prospects, and now he has a Queens point guard to reconnect with the program’s past decision makers.
Meet Jevon Thomas, a speedy and skilled 6-foot point guard who verbally committed to St. John’s on Wednesday morning, picking the Red Storm over Villanova, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Florida.
“The buzz is coming back and I wanted to be a part of that,” said Thomas, the 13th-ranked point guard in the Class of 2012 according to Scout.com. “It’s my dream school.”
“Dream school,” is not a phrase city standouts have used to describe St. John’s in recent years. Before coaching a game, Lavin has changed the perception surrounding the Red Storm.
They were picked to finish sixth in a preseason poll of Big East coaches and Lavin has already attracted forward Dwayne Polee, the top California prospect for the Class of 2010; Harkless, the city’s top prospect for the Class of 2011; and Jakarr Sampson, the top Class of 2011 prospect from Ohio.
“I guess they are hot,” one Division I assistant coach familiar with St. John’s said. “It’s all about momentum and right now they have momentum going in the right direction.”
Thomas, from Rosedale, Queens, attended Midnight Madness at St. John’s each of the past two years and the experiences were hardly comparable.
“There were so many people that came out to show support,” he said of this year’s event. “A lot more than last year.”
Thomas, who spent his first year at Thomas Edison before transferring to Our Savior New American (L.I.), wanted to be part of that atmosphere as an insider, not a visitor. So he committed to Lavin, becoming the second city prospect, following 2011 wing Maurice Harkless, another Jamaica, Queens native.
“He’s very explosive, very quick,” talent evaluator Tom Konchalski said of Thomas. “He has another gear.”
A speedy playmaker with an improved jump shot, Thomas will be surrounded by athletic forwards, which drew him to the program. He was ultimately drawn to the Queens school by the coaching staff: Lavin, the former UCLA coach and ESPN broadcaster; expert city recruiter Tony Childs; and assistant coaches, Rico Hines and Mike Dunlap, who have NBA experience.
“They know what I need to do to succeed,” Thomas said. “They’ve been around a long time.”
The assistant coach who is familiar with Thomas said he should make an immediate impact for the Red Storm.
“He plays really hard, he’s got a change of pace that is hard to defense,” the coach said. “He’ll be a guy that can get in the lane and make plays for himself and makes plays for his teammates. He’ll bring some excitement to the Garden.”
Thomas opted to commit now because, like he said, St. John’s was his “dream school.” He could have waited and added more offers. But St. John’s had everything he wanted.
“It feels good, it’s just a relief for me and my family,” he said. “Now I can focus on school and just work out.”