St. John’s recruiting profile: Zed Key

A few months ago, Zed Key was a local prospect with rising interest from St. John’s who was nowhere near a decision, though he had an official visit set for Florida for the September 6th weekend.

Now? This weekend, he travels to Ohio State on an official visit instead of Florida.

The 6’9” energetic Long Island big man from Long Island Lutheran played summer ball with the NY Jayhawks this summer. Despite some inexplicable rankings based on the level of interest in Key’s services, has consistently had interest from the St. John’s Red Storm and other high major programs.

After a season where he was a major cog in LI Lutheran’s Class AA Federation state title, Key showed out well in the NBPA Top-100 camp this summer. Per Jay David, the NY Jayhawks director and LI Lutheran assistant, via the Eleven Warriors site:

“He was a top-150 kid most of his high school career,” [Jay] David [said]. “Took a little bit of a step back last year. He’s continued to be uber-talented and will probably stay that way. It’s just that he’s continued to work really, really hard and show his work ethic, and people are now seeing it.”

Here is what he showed at the NBPA Camp.

And at the NCAA Basketball Academy in Connecticut.

The camp settings may have benefited Key, who came off the bench for LI Lutheran, and played with another high-level Division I player in Andre Curbelo. In the camps, Key had a chance to show what he could do when more of the focus was on his game vs the team concept.

Key has been around St. John’s for years, taking unofficial visits and attending games with teammate Curbelo while Chris Mullin was head coach. He met with Mike Anderson’s staff in June and knows that the Red Storm have interest.

But fall has come, and schools are making their moves. With respect to the Ohio State visit, note that OSU has only one scholarship available, and are hosting five different players, including another forward, Lance Ware.

Key would be a crucial piece in the build of the program. Currently, the team could use athletic size to go with Josh Roberts and Ian Steere and Damien Sears. Key’s ability to step out and hit shots along with providing energy and rebounding inside would help power the attack.

The Red Storm have at least two scholarships for next season with Mustapha Heron and Nick Rutherford finishing their eligibility after this year, and others could choose to try the professional route.