It’s been anything but a quiet spring in Queens. That was reinforced on Tuesday.
Sophomore guard Federico Mussini has decided to return home to Italy to play professionally for club team Reggio Emilia, the school announced. But it may not take too long to replace the Italian sharpshooter, who averaged 7.9 points and shot 42 percent from 3-point range last year.
High school senior guard Bryan Trimble, a three-star recruit who was recently let out of his National Letter of Intent by Florida State, began an official visit to the Queens schools on Monday night.
A source said the Johnnies are “exploring potential options” in the 6-foot-3 Trimble, who was released from his NLI on Thursday. Trimble comes from the same Kansas City-based AAU program, Mokan Elite, as Red Storm forward Marvin Clark Jr., the Michigan State transfer who will be eligible next season. St. John’s assistant Matt Abdelmassih has known Trimble for years, dating back to his days as an assistant at Iowa State.
Since the season ended, St. John’s has seen Malik Ellison, Darien Williams, Richard Freudenberg and now Mussini leave, while adding four-star Bronx wing Sidney Wilson and transfers Mikey Dixon (Quinnipiac) and Sedee Keita (South Carolina). Mussini and Freudenberg went back overseas to play professionally, Ellison transferred to Pittsburgh and Williams remains uncommitted. Transfers Clark (Michigan State) and Justin Simon (Arizona) also will be eligible after sitting out last season.
The Mussini news didn’t come as a surprise to the coaching staff, sources said. He communicated with coach Chris Mullin and Co. throughout the process. Reggio Emilia has been pushing hard for Mussini for quite some time.
The high-character Mussini was universally liked by those in and around the program. After playing out of position as a freshman at point guard, he accepted a role off the bench as a sophomore and improved as the season went on.
“It was a pleasure to coach Federico for the last two years,” Mullin said in a statement. “He represented our program well both on and off the court. Federico is a terrific person and a model teammate with a bright future ahead.”
St. John’s is prepared to enter the season with three scholarship guards in Marcus LoVett Jr., Shamorie Ponds and Simon. The coaching staff is confident it can play big at times, using wings Bashir Ahmed and Wilson, the incoming freshman, at shooting guard.
Mussini’s absence opens up a second scholarship for the coming season. It is unclear if St. John’s will fill either of them.
Also on Tuesday, St. John’s announced it has signed the South Carolina transfer Keita, a 6-foot-10 forward who will have three years of eligibility remaining after sitting out this coming season.
St. John’s will host four-star guard Luther Muhammad of Hudson Catholic (N.J.) on June 23-25, a source said. Notre Dame and Butler are also in the mix, among others.