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St. John's recruiting: Nick Faust on St. John's radar? Ryan Martin update; Cheick Diallo gets big-time offer

Short and sweet recruiting updates.

By Norman Rose
Is former Maryland guard on St. John's radar?
Is former Maryland guard on St. John's radar?
Streeter Lecka

With the 2013-14 season fading into a rear view of disjointed memory, the Red Storm staff has turned its eyes not only to the next season, but to recruiting superstars for the season afterwards.

The logic, of course, is that the team's most dynamic playmakers/ scorers - D`Angelo Harrison, Rysheed Jordan and Chris Obekpa - are likely to leave after another year (Harrison has to leave - he only gets four years of eligibility, after all). Jordan has mentioned on social media that he plans to stay one more year; Obekpa may have his eyes on the next level as well.

Reinforcements will be needed for St. John's.

But what about next season? A look at the status of 2014 recruiting targets and 2015 target news.

Ryan Martin, F (JuCo)

Zach Braziller reported yesterday that Junior College forward Ryan Martin will look elsewhere for his Division I college opportunity.

Martin looked to be intriguingly quick, but may only have one year of eligibility left; it makes sense for him to look for a landing spot with more available time. Next year's team will likely play Obekpa/ Christian Jones/ new recruit Keith Thomas/ Sir`Dominic Pointer at the forward spots, with Adonis Delarosa getting spot minutes, depending on his conditioning.

St. John's head coach Steve Lavin has played three-guard lineups in the past, preferring speed and at times pressure to a conventional two-forward setup.

Nick Faust, G/F (TR, Jr)

Nick Faust is transferring from Maryland with a year of eligibility left.

Actually, Faust transferred to Oregon State but with Craig Robinson's firing, will consider other schools.

He has played around 65% of the Terrapins available minutes in each of his three years, so he would come with experience - and he says St. John's has expressed interest. The 6'6" wing committed to Gary Williams but stuck around to play for Mark Turgeon. He is a decent ballhandler who could be more efficient, and blossomed into a shot blocker in his third collegiate season, while maintaining a solid steal rate.

Faust averaged nine points, four rebounds, two turnovers and two assists per game.

Faust would be eligible in 2015. With four to six players from next season's St. John's squad (currently at 10 scholarship players), he could bring a senior presence to what will then be a mostly-new roster.

Kamari Murphy, F (TR, So)

Also of possible interest (but with no rumors attached to St. John's): Kamari Murphy, a forward from NY's Lincoln High School, will transfer from Oklahoma State. He played at IMG Academy for a year to raise his recruiting profile.

At Oklahoma State, the 6'8", 220 pound forward averaged six points and six rebounds per game - a solid rebounder on both ends and an efficient if limited offensive player in the Ok. State Cowboys' attack.

Cheick Diallo, F (2015)

St. John's now has the stiffest of competition - Kentucky - for dynamic top-ten forward Diallo.

Barry "Slice" Rohrssen, the elite recruiter who used to mine the New York talent vein for Pittsburgh and was the head coach at Manhattan, and Kentucky head man John Calipari watched Diallo at the Sacramento EYBL sessions.

Isaiah Briscoe, G (2015)

Isaiah Briscoe, a 6'3" 2015 guard from New Jersey who looks to be the top target for Steve Lavin and St. John's, was named to the training camp roster for the USA Under-18 team, an elite collection of high school talent that will compete internationally. Congratulations to the Roselle Catholic guard - it's a high honor to be placed with the elites at that level.

The U18 side is coached by Florida's Billy Donovan with help from Providence's Ed Cooley and Arizona's Sean Miller.

The training camp will be held June 10-19 in Colorado Springs, CO, and the U18 championship will be held June 20-24.

Next Up In St. John's basketball recruiting