The Red Storm's 6-man team should all return next year, but the squad badly needs to recruit reinforcements.
With this year's decommits and transfers, the Red Storm have much more room on the "Ark" for players. So Steve Lavin has been traversing the country with assistant Tony Chiles, looking to bring in four or five more prospects to the program. The pair have been in California, watching prospects Brandon Parga and Winston Shepard, along with possibly Zena Edosomwan, who has strong interest in Harvard.
On an afternoon where St. John's got the bad news that Winston Shepard chose to stay close to home and join former St. John's forward Dwayne Polee II at San Diego State, the Red Storm staff also prepares for a visit from Our Savior New American guard Felix Balamou, per Adam Zagoria's tweet.
More, and links to video, after the jump.
Balamou is 6'3, known to be an athletic off-guard, and is a teammate of coveted shot-blocking forward Chris Obekpa. He may not step right in and drop buckets, but the Red Storm badly need depth to help them increase their pressure defense. There is a chance he won't be eligible for 2012 and will have to reclassify, but he is an intriguing talent.
From Brian Bosworth at the HoopHall classic:
Balamou is a 6’3" wing from Guinea, West Africa with some serious athleticism.... Balamou’s overall ball skills and perimeter shot are still a work in progress but he is still very new to the game and by all accounts a great kid and a hard worker.
Or you can scout him yourself. A pair of full length game videos of Our Savior New American, from the Basketball Diary's archives of game video (also, follow the Basketball Diary on Twitter). Both links open in a new window.
St. Joseph's (Metuchen, NJ) vs Our Savior New American - Felix Balamou is #10, Chris Obekpa is #12.
St. Raymond's (NY) vs Our Savior New American - Felix Balamou is #23, Chris Obekpa is #32
More St. John's basketball recruiting on RITG
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