St. John's recruiting update: the next steps, Marcus LoVett Jr. offer, and more

Last Thursday, Steve Lavin experienced the bitter disappointment that comes with recruiting.

Isaiah Briscoe, a target of St. John's since his sophomore season and the main target for 2015 who could have kickstarted the 2015 recruiting cycle for St. John's, decided to attend the University of Kentucky.

Now Coach Lavin must bounce back and attempt to piece together a recruiting class for 2015, with as many as nine scholarships possibly open in the program, and only Felix Balamou, Christian Jones, Amar Alibegovic, Adonis Delarosa, and walk-ons Myles Stewart and Jay Henderson likely to be available next season.

Samir Doughty (G, 2015)

Doughty, a guard from Philadelphia, visited St. John's on Friday.

Doughty  also visited St. John's in October which is obviously a positive sign. The guard has also has received interest from Penn St., Bowling Green, Seton Hall, and James Madison. There is no timetable on when he will decide.

Marcus LoVett Jr. (G, 2015)

LoVett is a 6'0 guard who plays at Morgan Park High School. The guard played his first three years of high school ball in California, but will play his senior year in Chicago. LoVett is known for his scoring ability, but still needs to get stronger.

Many people believe that LoVett is better than his ranking and playing in Chicago will get him more exposure. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, LoVett's new coach at Morgan Park, Nick Irvin, raved about LoVett's ability. "When you talk about Marcus LoVett you talk about Derrick Rose, Tim Hardaway, Isiah Thomas, the best guards to come out of Chicago. He's right there with them."

LoVett became an internet sensation this summer when he played at Jamal Crawford's summer league.

However, in the article linked above, there is discussion about the number of schools LoVett has played at - two in California and now one in Chicago - and a debunking of rumors (by his coach) that LoVett will have issues qualifying for college.

Still, he has a recent offer from Kansas to go along with offers from St. John's, Illinois, San Diego State and DePaul. That level of involvement likely means that other coaches are comfortable with his chances of qualifying.

Marcus LoVett Jr. highlights

Nicola Akele (F, 2015)

Steve Lavin has recruited international players in the past so it should come as no surprise that he is going after Akele.

Akele is a 6'7 wing from Italy who last played for Umana Reyner Venezia, but chose to leave. He will spend the 2014-2015 season at IMG Academy in Florida. He has interest from Oregon, St. John's, Miami, and Florida St.