St. John’s might have landed the shooter it sorely needed, and it didn’t even need a scholarship to do so.
Los Angeles shooting guard Myles Stewart of powerhouse Westchester High School has committed to St. John’s as a walk-on.
Rated by Scout.com as a three-star recruit, the 6-foot-4 Stewart said he was going to attend St. John’s either way after he was admitted into the school. He spoke with Johnnies coach Steve Lavin this week after St. John’s saw him play last weekend and said he was told there will be a spot for him on the team.
“I’m going to be fighting for a scholarship, coach [Lavin] told me already,” Stewart said. “I applied to a lot of schools back east. I’m looking to get out of L.A.”
Stewart’s lack of scholarship offers perplexed Westchester assistant coach DeWitt Cotton. He didn’t receive a lot of playing time last summer on the AAU circuit with top program Cali Supreme, but averaged 13 points, five rebounds and four assists per game this year for Westchester. Division I schools liked him, but offers never came.
Cotton said he even felt Stewart was on par with top 40 prospect Elijah Stewart (no relation) in some ways, pointing to his fearlessness and toughness.
“Lavin is going to be happy to have the kid,” Cotton said.
Stewart said he was drawn to St. John’s because of friends he knows who attend the school and former St. John’s player and Westchester alum Dwayne Polee II, who transferred following his freshman year, had only positive things to say about the University and the program under Lavin.
Stewart has perfect timing. St. John’s lost two of its best shooters when Max Hooper transferred to Oakland and Marco Bourgault graduated.
Scout.com recruiting analyst Josh Gershon said Stewart is a quality long-distance shooter who can get hot quickly. He’s streaky and college coaches wanted to see more consistency out of him.
“I would say he’s a mid-major prospect,” Gershon said.
Gershon said a deep shooting guard class out west worked against Stewart. So did a nagging knee injury that limited him late in the high school season. Basically, he fell through the cracks.
“For St. John’s to be able to get him as a walk-on, that’s huge because he really was a legit mid-major prospect after last summer,” Gershon said.
Stewart is one of many moving parts at the moment for St. John’s. The Johnnies are awaiting Westchester Community College JUCO forward Keith Thomas’ decision. The No. 1 junior college rebounder in the country, Thomas will pick between St. John’s, Loyola of Chicago, South Florida and Fordham on Monday.
Lavin and Company also will be playing host to South Plains College JUCO forward Ryan Martin on an official visit starting Saturday.
A two-year starter, Martin averaged 9.8 points and 8.6 rebounds this season for the junior college powerhouse. He’s unsigned, South Plains assistant coach Hank Plona said, because of concern that he only could have a year of eligibility. Pittsburgh and Arizona State were involved during the season, while Houston and Towson recently have expressed interest. An product of London, England, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound went home for a year following a stint at prep school Bridgton (Maine) Academy, and is 22 years old.
“If there wasn’t this [eligibility issue] going on, he would be signed somewhere at the [high-major] level,” Plona said. “He’s a four-man that can certainly help that level. He rebounds the ball well, he runs the floor, he can step out and shoot the ball from 15-to-17 feet.”
- Iona Prep and New Heights sophomore point guard Ty Jerome added a scholarship offer from Rhode Island on Tuesday, joining the likes of Fordham, Hofstra, Manhattan and Stony Brook, among others.
- Wings Academy junior center Jessie Govan added scholarship offers from South Florida and Syracuse this week, and visited Georgetown unofficially on Friday.
- St. John’s extended scholarship offers to top-ranked junior guards Brandon Sampson and Malik Beasley , but missed on Josh Cunningham. The top 100 Chicago forward picked Bradley on Tuesday.
- Former Thomas Edison star Cavon Baker of Lee College JUCO signed with Houston on Thursday.
- David Duke accepted the position as the head coach at Division II Adelphi, leaving his post as associate head coach at Fordham.
- Former St. Anthony of Jersey City star guard Hallice Cooke, an Oregon State transfer, is visiting Iowa State this weekend.
- Christ the King sophomore Rawle Alkins landed a scholarship offer from South Florida on Thursday. Villanova, Cincinnati, Seton Hall and Minnesota are actively recruiting the shooting guard.
- Old Dominion offered Wings Academy junior point guard Desure Buie on Wednesday.