Brandon Sampson commits to LSU over St. John's

After reopening his recruitment after the dismissal of former head coach Steve Lavin, Brandon Sampson has chosen to play for the LSU Tigers as opposed to the St. John's Red Storm.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound shooting guard from Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a four-star recruit in the Class of 2015 based on 247Sports' Composite Recruiting Rankings. He's ranked No. 14 amongst his shooting guard peers in the nation, and is the top recruit in The Pelican State.

The move does not come to too much surprise. LSU had gained serious traction after Sampson decided to reenter the process. They had a 67 percent on 247Sports' Crystal Ball Predictions, with the next closest being California at 17 percent, and UCLA at 12 percent.

It cannot be understated that this is a ginormous haul for Johnny Jones. The Tigers now have Sampson to go along with five-star commits Antonio Blakeney (Oak Ridge; Orlando, FL) and Ben Simmons (Montverde Academy; Montverde, FL) who was recently named the Gatorade Boys Basketball National Player of the Year.

The big fish in the pond that the St. John's Red Storm will now continue to pursue is No. 1 power forward Cheick Diallo, who is favored to go to Jamaica, Queens. We'll see how that plays itself out, as Mullin & Co. have hit the recruiting trail hard since taking over.

Best of luck to Sampson, who is staying home and should have a pretty good time with what should be a very talented Tigers team next season.