Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine of the Tinton Falls (N.J.) Ranney School and Team Rio have a long recruiting road in front of them.
But at this early stage two Big East schools — Georgetown and St. John’s — have been working especially hard in their pursuit of the Class of 2019 stars.
“Georgetown and St. John’s have been relentless,” Team Rio director Brian Klatsky told SNY.tv on Wednesday.
Lewis, Antoine and their teammates Jalen Gaffney and Alex Klatsky also are in the midst of a string of unofficial visits to campuses. After seeing UCLA and USC last week while in Los Angeles for the Under Armour circuit, the four players will visit Florida’s Elite Camp this weekend. After that they will trip to elite camps at St. John’s next Wednesday, Maryland the following weekend and Villanova at the end of June.
“We’ll see basically Florida, Maryland, St. John’s and Villanova,” Brian Klatsky said.
Seton Hall, Rutgers, St. John’s, Villanova, Florida, VCU, Colgate, Temple and UConn have all offered Lewis and Antoine. And Kansas has interest.
Meantime, Georgetown’s hiring of former Notre Dame assistant Anthony Solomon seems to be paying immediate dividends.
“Solomon went over to Georgetown and he was in real early with these guys,” Klatsky said. “What he said back in December was that the fact that you guys are here at Ranney School proves that you’re going to develop the right habits to be successful at Notre Dame. And that’s the kind of kid we need to recruit. And obviously him going over to Georgetown, he has the same feelings for them whether it’s Notre Dame or Georgetown.
“So they had developed an early relationship with Notre Dame and now both Notre Dame and Georgetown are interested with him moving.”
Meantime, St. John’s has offered not only Antoine and Lewis but the 6-foot Gaffney as well.
“Gaffney’s a high-major kid,” Klatsky said of the Pennington (N.J.) School point guard.
As for Antoine and Lewis, assistant Matt Abdelmassih is leading the recruiting.
“Matt checks in all the time,” Klatsky said. “They’ve been to a bunch of Ranney games. Those guys are touching base every couple days. They’re very interested in five or six kids from the team, similar to the Sports U group.
“Matt’s very vocal and they’re pumped up to get these kids there next week.”
ST. JOHN’S ELITE CAMP INVITES
Here’s the full list of players invited to St. John’s Elite Camp on Wednesday:
2017 Class: Sidney Wilson, Isaiah Washington, Keith Williams, C.J. Kelly
2018 Class: Zekiah Lovett, Moses Brown, Isaih Mucius, Aundre Hyatt, Luther Muhammad, Louis King, Boubacar Diakite, Mamadou Doucoure, Samba Diallo, Omar Silverio, Dallas Watson
2019 Class: Bryce Wills, Scottie Lewis, Brian Antoine, Jalen Gaffney, Precious Achiuwa, Tyson Walker, Aiden Igeihon, Jalen Nesmith, Hassan Drame, Fousseyni Drame, Maxwell Lorca, Ishamel Massod, Jalen williams
2020 Class: Femi Odukale, Isaiah Richards, Corey Patterson, Neo Erving, Che Evans, Justin Lewis, Posh Alexander, Isaiah Muhammed
2021 Class: Drissa Torres
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