Lance Stephenson had an in-home visit last Thursday with St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts and assistant Fred Quartlebaum.
“Yes,” said Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton.
According to sources, the visit with Lance and his parents went very well, St. John’s feels good about it and the Red Storm believe they have a realistic shot at landing the 6-foot-5 Stephenson in the spring.
“He’s always had St. John’s on his list,” Morton said.
“I think they’re going to have a very good shot at him,” said recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski, who is close to the Stephenson family.
Only a handful of schools are recruiting Stephenson — Kansas and USC and Lance has also mentioned Memphis and Texas — perhaps in part because they think Stephenson will be a one-and-done or that he might go overseas, a la Brandon Jennings.
Lance has said on several occasions that he won’t sign until the late signing period in April.
“Right now, I’m just worrying about basketball and at the end I’ll do all that college stuff,” Stephenson, a senior at Brooklyn Lincoln ranked No. 4 among shooting guards in the Class of 2009, told me recently. “I’m going to do my high school season and after that I look forward to telling everybody what school I should go to.”
Lance Stephenson Sr. did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
“We’re just not talking about it really,” he said previously. “We’re just going to keep it private. That’s the way it is.”
St. John’s also had an in-home visit Monday with 6-7 power forward James Padgett. Padgett took an official visit last weekend to Maryland, which he described as “fair.” He will visit Pittsburgh this weekend.
HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS TONIGHT
Kenny Anderson, Rod Strickland, and Sam Perkins headline tonight’s inductions into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame at the New York Athletic Club.
Eddie “The Eel” Younger, who played at Long Island University and with the New York Rens, coach Pete Gillen, and Rucker Pro League contributor Bob McCullough will also be inducted, as will former Columbia star Lou Bender.
The event is sold out.
(Photo courtesy Daily News)
