by Alex Schwartz

I caught up with Omari Lawrence '09 of South Kent (CT) today to discuss some topics related to himself and his future college, St. John's. Lawrence, who attended St. Raymond's (NY) for three years prior to transferring to South Kent and runs with the NY Panthers for AAU ball, is a New Yorker through and through. Thus, I asked the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game selection if he had any idea of what Lance Stephenson '09 of Lincoln (NY) will be doing next year, whether it's through talking to "Born Ready" himself or to others. Omari responded, "I don't know what Lance is going to do. I think it would be a good look for the both of us if we played together [at St. John's]." Stephenson, one of the best players in America, is down to Kansas and Maryland along with St. John's as his possible college destinations. Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog has reported that the talented wing will take an official visit to St. John's this weekend. "We became cool after he started taking SJU into consideration. I mean, on the court anyone is friends, but we text sometimes and see each other at events," said Lawrence when I asked him what his relationship with Lance was like. Another player with Big Apple ties who I asked Omari about is his high school and AAU teammate Kevin Parrom '09. The duo were at St. Ray's together, and Omari chose to follow Parrom to South Kent for their senior year. Parrom has signed with Xavier, but the Sean Miller left his spot as head coach of the A-10 power to take the same post at Arizona. Does Lawrence have any idea what his good friend will do now, and could he end up as Johnnies together? "It's a very tough situation I think. I really don't know if he wants to travel to Arizona [to follow Miller], or how serious he is in SJU, but I think it would be great to have him jump on board with me [at St. John's]." If Norm Roberts could somehow lure either Parrom or Stephenson to the Big East school, it would do a lot not only for his job security, but for the team's chances of winning right away.

I received word today from a source close to the situation that Hayk Gyokchyan '09 of Lawrenceville (NJ) has committed to Franklin & Marshall, which made the Division III Final Four this year. A native Armenian, Gyokchyan was doing a post-grad year at Lawrenceville, a traditional New Jersey prep power, this year. Hayk is the second member of the Big Red to commit in the past few weeks, as Lenny Hayes '09 recently picked Stony Brook. Once again, in news being first reported by Northstar Basketball, Hayk Gyokchyan has pledged to Franklin & Marshall, a DIII school in Pennsylvania.