St. John’s coach Steve Lavin spent the second weekend of July in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, rather than at one of this country’s many AAU tournaments. On Wednesday, the outside-the-box recruiting trip paid off, as 6-foot-9 Bosnian forward Amar Alibegovic opted to join St. John’s rather than go pro.
Alibegovic, a stretch-four who should complement big men Keith Thomas, Chris Obekpa and Christian Jones, committed to Lavin’s program following an official visit to Queens in which he was given a tour of the Garden by Lavin alongside Malik Beasley Jr., a recruit from Georgia. Alibegovic joins Thomas and Christ the King big man Adonis Delarosa in Lavin’s 2014 recruiting class.
“We are pleased that Amar has chosen to join our St. John’s basketball family,” Lavin said in a statement. “Amar has the skill, size and basketball intellect to help fuel our purposes as we continue to build our program into a sustainable winner.”
Ranked as the No. 41 prospect his age in Europe, the 19-year-old Alibegovic helped Bosnia and Herzegovina post an 8-0 mark to sweep the field and win the U20 European Championship Division B in mid-July. The forward had three double-figure scoring games and averaged 5.1 points to go with 2.8 rebounds in the tournament. Alibegovic also shot 54.8 percent from the floor, and better than 35 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Earlier in July, Alibegovic was named to the preliminary 23-man roster for his country’s senior national team.
The forward was born in Oregon, also played in Italy with the Stella Azzurra junior squad. He averaged 6.0 points and 3.3 boards, while shooting 56.3 percent from the floor. His father, Teo, played with Gary Payton in the 1980s at Oregon State.
Manhattan forward Jermaine Lawrence will be eligible this season after receiving a hardship waiver, according to Jaspers coach Steve Masiello. A 6-foot-9 forward from Queens, Lawrence transferred from Cincinnati following one season to be closer to his father, Bobby Lawrence, who has been battling cancer for the past year. Lawrence was a five-star recruit entering college and averaged 2.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 26 games for Cincinnati after a toe injury set him back.