Cheick Diallo commits to Kansas over St. John's

Cheick Diallo has finalized his recruitment process by committing to the Kansas Jayhawks.

Diallo, listed at 6-foot-9, 218 lbs., is a native of Centereach, New York and attends Our Savior New American School. He is a five-star recruit, per 247sports Composite Rankings, and is not only the top power forward in The Empire State, but the entire country as well. By composite rankings, he is the No. 6 recruit in America.

Speculation was running amok after St. John's hired away assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih from Fred Hoiberg and the Iowa State Cyclones that the Red Storm was landing him. Why was this significant? ISU had been trending for Diallo recently via the 247sports Crystal Ball. As Kevin Flaherty explains, the move generated a stir:

Iowa State had been trending recently for the five-star prospect, landing eight of the last nine predictions in his 247Sports Crystal Ball. But in the short period of time since Abdelmassih's announcement, three predictions have predicted Diallo to St. John's. One of those predictions that shifted — from a recent Iowa State pick to St. John's — was that of 247Sports director of basketball scouting Jerry Meyer.

The Kansas Jayhawks were in the mix as well for Diallo but, as Flaherty also mentioned, that may have been a false indicator of things to come at the time:

Kansas still leads in the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions for Diallo, collecting 41 percent of his 32 predictions. But the last Kansas selection came way back on Nov. 13, with Iowa State, and now St. John's, trending for Diallo.

Evidently, the surge that St. John's got was the real false indicator as they miss out on nabbing this highly touted power forward.

Diallo joins the coveted Carlton Bragg (Cleveland, OH) as commits for Bill Self in the Class of 2015. Much like his New York teammate, Bragg is a five-star recruit via 247sports' Composite Rankings and is the No. 6 power forward in his class. The move certainly gives KU a big boost as they, along with the Cyclones, will likely be duking it out this coming season for Big 12 bragging rights.

With the decommitting of both Brandon Sampson (now at LSU) and Samir Doughty, who was released from his NLI a few days ago, the Red Storm's recruiting class now only has Sammy Barnes-Thompkins, Yakumba Sima and Darien Williams, a four-star power forward in the Class of 2015. Mullin and Co. swung mightily for the biggest fish in the pond and, unfortunately, come away empty-handed.