Lavin Lands 4 Big Recruits For St. John's

NEW YORK (AP) — First-year St. John's coach Steve Lavin has gotten his recruiting off to a good start with four highly rated signings.

Six-foot-8 swingman Maurice Harkless of South Kent (Conn.), 6-3 guard D'Angelo Harrison of Sugar Land, Texas, 6-7 forward Jakarr Sampson of Brewster Academy (N.H.) and point guard Nurideen Lindsey of Redlands C.C. (Okla.) all committed to the Red Storm on Wednesday.

Lavin took over the program in April and his recruiting has been high-profiled since and he started by signing four players all rated in the consensus top 100 of the national recruiting services.

"We're pleased with the progress in recruiting," Lavin said. "One of the advantages of the seven months being played out at such a ridiculous pace is that you haven't had time to look at things on a large scale."

The Red Storm open the season at Saint Mary's next Monday.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.