St. John’s takes step forward in local recruiting

Hoping to further their relationship with 17 of the top high school programs in the tri-state area, St. John’s University’s basketball team hosted Team Camp, a two-day A.A.U.-style format of games. The event, that included borough powers Christ the King, Holy Cross, Campus Magnet and Cardozo, was held at the Taffner Field House, the new multi-use four-basketball court practice facility at St. John’s built for their men’s and women’s basketball teams.
It also includes new offices and meeting rooms for men’s and women’s basketball; audio/visual rooms and a press conference area for the varsity basketball teams; dedicated locker rooms for men’s and women’s basketball; team areas and meeting rooms for Red Storm players and coaches; and exclusive weight training and medical training rooms.
“Most of these kids have been on campus before and I think it’s great that now they get to play here,” said St. John’s Coach Norm Roberts.
Christ the King Coach Bob Oliva had taken his teams to several of these camps during the summer, but they were always at schools like Villanova or Hofstra. St. John’s lacked a facility conducive to a multi-team event until the Taffner Field House opened in the fall of 2005.
“I think it’s great,” he said of the Taffner Field House. “It’s 20 years overdue. It’s about time. It’s gonna help St. John’s.”
“When we first got there, we didn’t have the facilities,” said Roberts, who took over in April of 2004. “We felt this kind of event would be a positive.”
Others agreed that this could only be a step in the right direction to bringing the Red Storm back to prominence. “It’s going to help a lot,” said Oliva, “showing that they care.”
“You never know what gets a kid [to commit],” said Cardozo Coach Ron Naclerio. “Will it help them? It certainly doesn’t hurt them. If you look in the past, Hofstra had to find a way to move up, and so did Villanova. Now St. John’s is looking to move back up [in city recruiting]. … Hopefully, for their sake, this is a way.”
Several possible targets for the Red Storm were on hand, and they, too, felt it was an encouraging sign. “St. John’s, I love it here,” said Campus Magnet’s 6-foot-9 center Keith McAllister. “A day like this can help them a lot. This is the only college that I know that is doing something like this. It lets us know they care.”
Christ the King point guard Malik Boothe wasn’t sure the two-day event will significantly sway local prospects, but he still marveled at the facility. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said.