Scottie Lewis was experiencing frustration with his team’s play on Wednesday at the St. John’s Elite Camp when he got some calming words of wisdom from a former player.
That former player happened to be Chris Mullin, the Naismith Hall of Famer and St. John’s coach.
“With the team that I was on, they weren’t playing the way they were supposed to play and [Mullin] pulled me aside and told me to keep my head and that they’ve been keeping a good eye on me, and that I play the game correctly,” Lewis, a 6-foot-5 Class of 2019 shooting guard from the Ranney (N.J.) School, told SNY.tv. “He basically calmed me down and told me to be a captain and take leadership.”
If St. John’s is going to turn it around under Mullin going forward, the program will need young, talented players like Lewis and his running buddy, Bryan Antoine, who was unable to make the camp due to final exams.
Mullin held his first Elite Camp as a coach on Wednesday and invited many of the top players from New York and New Jersey. Among the top players on hand were Nick Richards, the 6-foot-11 2017 center from St. Patrick’s, ranked No. 8 in the 2017 ESPN 100 and Naz Reid, the 6-8 2018 forward from Roselle (N.J.) Catholic ranked No. 4 in the 2018 ESPN 60 rankings. (Reid leaves Thursday for USA Basketball and appeared briefly but did not participate in the camp.)
Class of 2017 standouts Nate Pierre-Louis (Roselle Catholic), Isaiah Washington and Sid Wilson (St. Raymond’s) and 2018 standouts Luther Muhammad (Hudson Catholic), Isaiah Mucius (St. James School) and Mamadou Doucoure (Our Savior New American) were also on hand, as well as players from the Classes of 2019, ’20 and ’21.
“I was surprised at the competition they brought in,” Lewis said. “They brought in the best of New York’s top players. Everyone that you associate New York basketball with was here [on Wednesday].”
Brian Klatsky, who runs the Team Rio AAU program Lewis plays for, was also impressed. He recently told SNY.tv that St. John’s and Georgetown were “relentless” in their recruitment of Lewis and Antoine.
“Every AAU program from the tri-state area was represented and they all had their best players,” Klatsky said. “I would say the St. John’s coaching staff is doing a great job reaching out into the community and connecting the local programs with the University. Every top program was in the gym there.”
Said Wilson: “This was their first Elite Camp so [Mullin] was just trying to see the NYC talent from eighth grade all the way up to rising seniors and how we play against each other and how we compete.”
On the St. John’s front, Mullin’s entire coaching staff was on hand with the exception of associate head coach Barry “Slice” Rohrssen. As first reported by SNY.tv on Tuesday, Mullin is parting ways with his old friend from Brooklyn and Rohrssen is now no longer involved in the day-to-day activities of the program.
“They didn’t say anything [about Rohrssen],” one high school coach said. “Nobody talked about it, nobody mentioned it. It’s like mum’s the word. The coaching staff was busy working.”
Still, Mullin reiterated the message that he would like to attract the top talent from the area to the Queens school.
“They talked a lot about St. John’s basketball, what the future held for the city and for the school and trying to get the kids aquainted with the program,” St. Raymond’s coach Jorge Lopez told SNY.tv.
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Sid Wilson said Indiana, Santa Clara, Temple and Rhode Island were among the schools working hardest for him. He plans to visit Rhode Island and Temple later in June but has no dates set….Following visits to Florida and St. John’s, Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine will visit Maryland’s Elite Camp this coming weekend and then Villanova June 24.
NScottie Lewis was experiencing frustration with his team’s play on Wednesday at the St. John’s Elite Camp when he got some calming words of wisdom from a former player.
