Monday night, highly regarded point guard Posh Alexander from Brooklyn signed a National Letter of Intent with St. John’s, becoming the latest big-name prospect from the city to stay home. The Johnnies haven’t attracted a ton of blue-chip talent from the area in recent years, but they have secured some.
Below is how they have fared:
Shamorie Ponds: Ponds was the face of the Chris Mullin era, by far the best recruit he landed. He was a four-star, top-50 guard from Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, a breathtaking talent when on. But after Ponds went off to the professional ranks following his junior year and went undrafted, there was a sense he should’ve accomplished more. Sure, the 6-foot-1 lead guard averaged 19.5 points and 4.3 assists across three seasons and won the Haggerty Award, given to the area’s best player, as a sophomore. But his teams had just one winning season — and limped to the finish line that year, failing to advance past the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
Bashir Ahmed: Ahmed came to St. John’s in 2016 as a coveted junior college recruit, an All-American who passed on several Big 12 programs to come home. The 6-7 Bronx native had some shining moments — his biggest one was a 19-point performance in an upset of No. 4 Duke at the Garden — but he never lived up to expectations, his shot selection and turnover problems major shortcomings in a pair of losing seasons under Mullin.
Maurice Harkless: The Queens native spent just one year at St. John’s, but it was a memorable one. Leading a team of freshmen, Harkless, a one-time UConn commit and top-40 prospect who flipped to the Johnnies, averaged 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game and was selected as the Big East’s Rookie of the Year in 2011-12. The highlight of that season was Harkless putting up 30 points and 13 rebounds against Duke, which would land a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It helped the former Forest Hills High School star get drafted in the first round (15th overall) by the 76ers, who later that summer traded him to the Magic. He was the first St. John’s first-round pick since Erick Barkley (28th overall) in 2000.
Dwight Hardy: Like Ahmed, Hardy took the junior college route, and like Ahmed, hailed from The Bronx. Hardy’s first season was nondescript and his second (2010-11) brilliant, leading St. John’s back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years. The skilled combo guard averaged 18.3 points on 44 percent shooting and 1.3 steals. His layup with 1.2 seconds left to beat No. 4 Pittsburgh at a packed Garden remains a game fans reminisce about, the moment when it became clear the Johnnies would be going dancing after close to a decade hiatus.