St. John’s pick up commitment from forward Drissa Traore

St. John’s has picked up a 2021 commitment from local forward Drissa Traore, a 6’7” small forward from Long Island. He had met with Mike Anderson and the St. John’s staff by Zoom recently and decided to “put on for the city”.

Traore is member of the PSA Cardinals AAU program (where he played with high-level forward Franck Kepnang), he also plays for Long Island Lutheran (where he played with one-time targets Zed Key — who will go to Ohio State this fall — and Andre Curbelo — who will go to Illinois this fall). He reportedly had solid interest from Illinois.

Traore on video and from those who have seen him — check out a couple of decent highlight clips — looks to have a bit of Julian Champagnie in him — good energy, runs the floor, makes the right plays. He is hoping to expand his skillset out to the three-point line, and his coaches have warm words for him and his skills.

Traore takes one of up to three scholarships for the 2021 class. The Johnnies have 12 scholarships accounted for in 2020-21, though there is always the chance for a late or mid-season transfer. Senior Rasheem Dunn and grad transfer Arnaldo Toro finish their eligibility after this season.