2022 guard Nick Smith Jr. receives an offer from St. John’s

With the immediate future looking almost all set and done for the St. John’s Red Storm, new head coach Mike Anderson is looking to play the long game with his offer to Class of 2022 guard Nick Smith Jr. (Sherwood, Ark./Sylvan Hills).

Anderson and his staff offered Smith on Tuesday afternoon. It is his fourth Class of 2022 scholarship offer since taking over the head coaching position.

The Red Storm appeared to be set with its roster for the upcoming season, using transfers Nick Rutherford and Rasheem Dunn to fill in some gaps combined with the commitments of Julian Champagnie (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) and Jonathan McGriff (Bowie, Md./Huntington Prep) to fill the others. The recent decision by Eli Wright to transfer out of the program dropped about a week ago, leaving Anderson with a vacant roster spot, but he’s continuing to make his mark with high school underclassmen on the recruiting front.

Since July 1, he’s also offered other Class of 2022 prospects in Ibine Ayo Sadiku (Our Saviour Lutheran), Jaquan Sanders (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran), and Zion Cruz (Princeton, N.J./Hudson Catholic).

Smith would be the first 2022 recruit he’s offered that’s outside of the New York-New Jersey area. At young age, Smith has shown he’s a talented scorer with the ability to do it in almost anyway he wants. He’s confident enough to take-and-make shots from anywhere on the court, and he has the ability to make the tough shots drop or create space off the dribble to shoot it. Aside from scoring, he’s got a solid feel for the floor and can also set up his teammates. It will be interesting to see how he develops moving forward.

Smith currently holds offers from Texas, Arkansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Southern Mississippi, and Oral Roberts.

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