St. Johns lands high-upside USC center Vince Iwuchukwu in transfer portal

Rick Pitino and St.John’s are on the board.After weeks of visits, Zoom calls and recruiting the transfer portal, the Johnnies have landed a verbal commitment from high-upside center Vince Iwuchukwu of USC.The 7-foot-1 big man visited Queens last week and tripped to SMU over the weekend.

New USC coach Eric Musselman attempted to bring him back, but the former top–30 recruit has opted for the Red Storm.During his visit, Iwuchukwu wowed the coaching staff with his skill-set as a rim-running shot-blocker.Iwuchukwu suffered a cardiac incident the summer before his freshman year at USC.

He also had a back injury that season which in part limited him to 14 games.But last year, he appeared in 31 games, making 11 starts, and averaged 5.5 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Trojans.The plan is to use him and returning big man Zuby Ejiofor as a two-headed monster at center, according to sources.

However, St.John’s is still recruiting Rutgers transfer Cliff Omoruyi.

Pitino has said he believes Ejiofor can play power forward.This, of course, is all fluid.St.

John’s now has four open scholarships left, although it is waiting on an NCAA ruling on Jordan Dingle and Chris Ledlum, who have put in waivers for an extra year of eligibility.The Johnnies are firmly in the mix with a number of transfers, namely North Texas wing Aaron Scott, Texas forward Dillon Mitchell and Utah point guard Deivon Smith.

The 6-foot-7 Scott has visited St.John’s, Memphis and Oklahoma and a decision could be coming this week....