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St. John's recruiting update: following Isaiah Briscoe, widening the field

Steve Lavin extends offer to Temple Gibbs and watches other prospects.

By Kenneth Garner
Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Since he announced that he was opening up his recruiting, Isaiah Briscoe has been one of the more buzzworthy 2015 prospects. Right now St. John’s appears to be high on Briscoe’s list, but Steve Lavin has spent the past month making an effort to meet with players and scout other possible prospects - trying not to keep their eggs in one guard's basket.

Isaiah Briscoe (G, 2015)

It is difficult to write a St. John's recruiting update without mentioning Briscoe.

This past weekend Briscoe visited Kentucky and UConn. In a recent interview with NJ.com, Briscoe spoke highly of Kentucky and John Calipari. Briscoe has his sights set on the NBA and knows that Coach Calipari is successful in helping players achieve this goal. Judging by some of the comments Briscoe’s father made, it appears the visit went well.


Briscoe plans to visit Missouri on October 10th where they might try to pitch to him the idea of playing with Bishop Kearny forward Thomas Bryant, a top-25 prospect. For what appears to be one of his final visits, Briscoe will visit St. John’s on October 17th.

Coach Lavin will also meet with highly ranked guard, Antonio Blakeney - for a partnership or to see what other players are out there?

Temple Gibbs (G, 2016)

Isaiah Briscoe is not the only talented guard in New Jersey. This past weekend at Dribble for the Cure, Steve Lavin extended an offer to Temple Gibbs, a highly ranked guard in the 2016 class.

You may remember Temple’s older brother Ashton who used to give St. John’s problems when he played at Pitt.

Last year at Seton Hall Prep, Temple Gibbs averaged 18 points and 4 assists while leading  his team to an impressive 18-6 record. Gibbs has a good shooting touch, but is also able to attack the basket because of his strength. Two years might seem like a long time, but Gibbs is still a player worth keeping an eye on.

Gibbs has also received offers from Miami, Temple, Georgia Tech, South Florida, and Oklahoma.

Tanksley Efianayi (G/F, 2015 - JUCO)

The junior college wing from Florida says he might not make his decision until the Spring. He has already visited with St. John’s and Arizona State, but there appear to be more teams in the running, despite early indications that those schools were his final two.

Luis Montero (G/F, 2015 - JUCO)

St. John’s visited the wing, who plays at Westchester Community College, last week. Last year he averaged 15 points and 6 rebounds.

Lavin has recruited players from the school in the past, including rebounding specialist Keith Thomas, who will suit up for the Red Storm this year.

Dominic Artis (G, 2015 - JUCO)

In July it appeared that St. John’s was out of the running for Artis.

Artis is a talented player who was part of some unsavory off-the-court issues at Oregon and was eventually dismissed from the program. He now attends Diablo Valley College where he will practice, but won’t play. Artis will be eligible to transfer to a division one school after this season.

According to Brad Winton of JucoRecruiting.com, Steve Lavin watched Artis practice this past week. San Francisco and St. Mary’s are also keeping an eye on the guard.

Brandon Sampson (G, 2015)

Baton Rouge guard Sampson recently visited California and it appears that the visit went well.

Sampson along with Cheick Diallo and Isaiah Briscoe is set to visit St. John's during the weekend of Midnight Madness.

Which of these players do you think will end up suiting up for the Red Storm next year?

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