Along with conference alignment, the big question on St. John's fans minds is "where will Kyle Anderson end up"? The lanky point guard/ forward from New Jersey has been the subject of rumors for months, with Seton Hall fans hustling to make his games in New Jersey, St. John's fans confident in their strong recruiting class, and UCLA confident because they're UCLA and that's what they do.
Tomorrow, September 20th, is his big decision day. As NJ.com's Brendan Prunty put it, "The notion that realignment has swayed Anderson's decision is silly. He spent weekend at Florida. Don't think he was glued to BE detections. [sic]. Additionally, Anderson is a future professional; he'll probably leave school before the realignments take place in a 27-month timetable for Big East schools.
Throughout the process, the Andersons have done an excellent job keeping the whisperers of Twitter - the recruitniks who report players' leans and decisions - off balance. Information is fed saying one thing, saying another, and no one can make a strong, clear guess as to where Kyle Anderson's head is with respect to his decision.
All of the uncertainty is brilliant for Kyle Anderson.
His name is in the media constantly. He and his family drop oblique hints and fans lap it up; that kind of marketing that is hard to earn. But all that uncertainty is less brilliant for fans, deeply invested in where the player will go.
The current scuttlebutt on Twitter seems to center around UCLA as the leader for Kyle's services; but different "connected" people are saying different things. Hell, last night, someone was convinced that he was going to Florida. Seton Hall might still be the leader. St. John's has less buzz around Kyle's commitment; and Georgetown has the buzzing that one sees around a carcass.
There is hope in the simple fact that the Andersons have been ironclad and leak-free in their information flow; and St. John's is still in the running. For all we know, the Johnnies could be a choice 1 or 1a.
Additionally, St. John's probably has the best combination of skill development and media exposure for Kyle - the Red Storm has an experienced training coach in Rico Hines, has never been charged with stifling of players' games like Howland's UCLA has been, isn't in a football obsessed swamp like Florida, and isn't Georgetown.
Tonight, Kyle has an in-home visit with Kevin Willard, who hopes the lanky forward/ point guard can single-handedly change the fortunes of the Pirates program.
Tomorrow, we find out where Kyle Anderson has chosen. St. John's, with more young developing talent than any of the other schools, could be the landing place. Fingers are crossed. In the meantime, watch Kenny Smith break down Kyle Anderson's game, with Kyle:
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