St. John's recruiting: Contact period is on

Today is August 1st, the first day the colleges can contact their prospective recruits. Obviously, through a mix of early contacts, mail, appearances at a players' summer league "Evaluation Period" games, and the recruiting websites, the players already know who is after them. And players have let the coaches know when they are a strong lean.

Already, there's action in St. John's prospective recruits - Derrick Randall of the NJ Playaz and now South Kent School in Connecticut has committed to Rutgers and Mike Rice. A good get for them. But another big off the board for St. John's in a very thin year for forwards and centers. Randall had indicated that he liked Rutgers before; but seeing him off the board makes it (nearly) final.

The Red Storm have identified a number of impact guards to play, and possibly a guard-oriented style of play for their 7-9 open scholarships in 2011. But they will need strong interior players to compete in general and in the Big East. A number of players from the West Coast have been identified, as have some other top talents.

Now it's time to see who comes to Queens for official visits, and who will become the cornerstones for the new Red Storm. I'm excited, cautiously.