Recruiting is about relationships. For all the talk of playing time, being able to win immediately and the importance of location, a bond between a prospect and a coach often trumps other factors.
St. John’s hopes that is the case with Mustapha Heron. Nobody is closer to the five-star, 6-foot-5 wing from Sacred Heart in Waterbury, Conn., and his father, Bryan, than new Red Storm assistant Barry “Slice” Rohrssen.
“I’ve known him since I was a little kid,” Heron said. “He and my dad played together overseas.
“It definitely has an impact.”
When Heron verbally committed to Pittsburgh as a sophomore, Rohrssen received most of the credit. Bryan Heron said Rohrssen’s presence there “made it very easy” to choose the school. And when he decommitted from Pitt in April — Rohrssen was an assistant at Kentucky last year before joining Chris Mullin in Queens in June — St. John’s immediately was installed as the favorite in the recruiting world.
While Heron said he is still open, and schools such as SMU, Alabama, Maryland, Marquette, Auburn and Mississippi State are firmly in the mix, he wasn’t shy to detail the bond he has with Rohrssen, and how that may help St. John’s. Heron recently took an unofficial visit to the Queens school and likes the idea of playing relatively close to home, though he doesn’t plan to make a decision until November after taking all of his official visits.
The Red Storm have made Heron a priority for what they hope will be a blockbuster 2016 class, attending every one of his games during the July live recruiting period, with Rohrssen front and center.
“Our relationship is strong, they’re definitely one of our front-runners,” Bryan Heron said. “A lot of it is on the relationship.”
Landing Heron would be a major coup for Mullin, a versatile and physically imposing wing one college coach said reminded him of NBA wings Tony Allen and Andre Iguodola because of his strong frame, defensive tenacity and gifted athletic ability.
“He will be a great bully guard at the next level,” the coach said. “He’s a wing that would be able to contribute right away.”
It would also help with Rawle Alkins, his AAU teammate. The five-star guard from Brooklyn, hovering around the top 10 in recruiting rankings, has been heavily courted by Mullin and his staff since they took over. Both Alkins and Heron said they have talked about playing together in college, with Heron saying he thinks “it’s realistic” it could happen. The only school actively recruiting both of them is St. John’s.
Again, relationships. It’s all connected in recruiting. And it could lead to a huge 2016 class for St. John’s.
Archbishop Stepinac rising junior forward Jordan Tucker picked up a scholarship offer from North Carolina State on Friday.
Jose Alvarado, a point guard from Christ the King, has landed scholarship offers from Miami, Indiana and SMU.