Another bit of bar recruitment news for St. John's comes from Darrick Wood, the athletic 6'4 slashing guard currently at Bridgton Academy. From Five-Star Basketball:
"I wasn't feeling like I was all the way locked in," Wood said. "I hope to still hear from St. John's ... Me de-committing doesn't mean that I won't sign with them in the springtime."
An academic issue with Wood's grades at NIA Prep - and whether he could get through the NCAA Clearinghouse - may be at issue.
With the decommitment of Wood, St. John's is left with no players signed for 2012. Steve Lavin and the program continue to pursue Ricardo Gathers (who decommitted in November) and JaKarr Sampson (who decommitted after being declared ineligible by the NCAA) for 2012, as well as forward Chris Obekpa.
Per Zagsblog, the staff is looking at Obekpa's teammate Felix Balamou, a raw guard, and Monroe Junior College forward Orlando Sanchez from the Dominican Republic.
Darrick Wood wasn't mentioned in the Zagsblog update from yesterday. Wood was committed in the summer, but his Letter of Intent never made it to St. John's, despite Wood remaining committed to the program. It is possible that there are other issues - a mutual parting of ways, or academic issues from previous high school stops - at play.
Still, this leaves the Red Storm with no commits for 2012, and a need for guards to give Phil Greene and D`Angelo Harrison a breather; the team could use strong defense from the backcourt positions as well. The recruiting class has 5-6 open slots, depending on whether Jamal White continues to be a scholarship player or returns to walk-on status.
See also: a look at Darrick Wood's stats from Nike EYBL
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