Four-star Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum commits to St. John’s as Rick Pitino lands another big recruit
One particular program intrigued the former Harvard star.
nypost.com
By Zach Braziller
Once Chris Ledlum re-entered the transfer portal last Thursday, his phone predictably blew up.
The phone calls and text messages wouldn’t stop.
It was expected, a gifted player of his caliber all of a sudden on the open market in mid-July.
Schools from every power conference in the country were interested in the 6-foot-6 graduate transfer after he parted ways with Tennessee.
One particular program, however, intrigued the former Harvard star.
“I didn’t know what the situation was at St. John’s, but I mean, obviously, it was definitely something that I had thought about a little bit being recruited by them first time around,” Ledlum told The Post in an exclusive interview on Wednesday shortly after committing to spend his final year of college basketball playing for coach Rick Pitino and the Red Storm.
The Brooklyn native nearly picked St. John’s initially.
It was one of three schools he visited, along with Tennessee and Indiana.
So when the Big East program in his backyard expressed interest in him again, it was like picking up where they had left off.
Pitino didn’t hold Ledlum’s initial decision against him.
He was excited about getting another shot at the skilled forward.
They spoke over the weekend and again early this week.
St. John’s had a major need at power forward and coming home to play for a legendary coach still appealed to the 22-year-old Ledlum – a first-team All-Ivy League selection last season who immediately raises the Johnnies’ ceiling.
“To be honest, coach and I have a pretty good relationship. There was an understanding, at the end of the day, [that] I’m ending up where I’m supposed to be,” said Ledlum, who also considered Gonzaga, Xavier, West Virginia and Miami. “That’s pretty much all that matters.”
He later added: “Coach Pitino is probably the best coach in the country, and there’s no place like home. I feel like we can do something really great here at home.”
Ledlum was adamant that his feelings didn’t shift regarding St. John’s.
He liked the idea of going there back in April, too.
The beefed-up roster – St. John’s added several key pieces after Ledlum initially passed on the Johnnies – didn’t necessarily make the school more attractive to him.
He knew back then Pitino would bring in quality players.
“At the end of the day, things happen for a reason and coach Pitino is who he is, and I believe that with him, I can achieve my goals of making it to the next level,” said Ledlum, who underwent a minor right knee operation on July 9, but is expected to be ready for workouts by mid-August. “That was a big piece to it. I wouldn’t consider a place if I didn’t think they could get me to where I wanted to go.”
Ledlum feels like the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae, the final piece to a massive 13-man recruiting class.
A four-star recruit coming out of high school, he averaged 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks this past season for the Crimson.
He shot a career-best 47.3 percent from the field last year.
An Ivy League coach familiar with Ledlum raved about the commitment, calling him a “home run” addition for the Johnnies.
“He’s too big and strong to put a small guy on, too fast to put a big guy on,” the coach said. “He rebounds everything, he’s aggressive, he’s tough. … He finished second in scoring and first in rebounding in the Ivy League, and every team’s game plan was to stop Chris Ledlum.”
At St. John’s, he joins fellow Ivy League star Jordan Dingle, a graduate transfer from Penn who was second in the nation in scoring last year, high-major transfers Nahiem Alleyne (Connecticut) and Glenn Taylor Jr. (Oregon State), top-35 high school recruit Simeon Wilcher and standout holdover Joel Soriano, among other significant newcomers.
The transfer class is ranked sixth by 247Sports.com, and that doesn’t even include Ledlum.
Experts believe the collection of talent that Pitino assembled is not only an NCAA Tournament-caliber group, but could make history before the Johnnies even tip off this exciting new era.
St. John’s will likely be nationally ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1999.
“St. John’s is a consensus top-25 team and a team that should be in position to finish in one of the top spots in the Big East standings,” CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein said. “Rick Pitino has proven that he doesn’t always need the best players to win at a high level, but you’re looking at a team right now that has its starting center back who averaged 15 and 12. You’re also adding two of the best players in the Ivy League, one of which [in Dingle] was the nation’s second-leading scorer last year, and several transfers who played major roles at other programs. Plus a guard in Simeon Wilcher who was committed to North Carolina.
“It’s an NCAA Tournament [team] and St. John’s fans should feel there is a legitimate chance to go to the NCAA Tournament and win a game for the first time since 2000.”
There are bound to be adjustments for Ledlum in the Big East.
He’s on a new team with a new coach in a new league.
Teams won’t game plan specifically for him.
He may not be St. John’s No. 1 option.
He will most likely be one of them, alongside Dingle and Soriano.
Ledlum is eager to show what he can do in what may be the best conference in the country, and to do so where he grew up.
“I just feel like I’m blessed to be in this position to be a part of getting St. John’s back to what it once was,” he said. “Obviously, this year is going to be very important. We’re in New York City, so a lot of eyes are going to be on us. This year is going to be the year that St. John’s gets thought of as how it used to be.”
