Darrick Wood Joins 2012 Class

As first reported by Dan Martin of Johnny Jungle, 6’4” guard Darrick Wood announced his verbal commitment to the Johnnies via his Twitter account on Saturday afternoon.  The aptly capitalized words “JUST COMMITTED TO ST JOHNS UNIVERSITY. #stjbb” mark Wood’s excitement and initial publication that he will join Ricardo Gathers as a member of Steve Lavin’s second recruiting class in Queens.

Wood, a native of our nation’s capital, is heralded for his keen ability to find various ways to score – most notably using both his mid-range and long-range jump shot.  It is well documented by recruiting reviews that the guard lacks muscle and may even struggle to gain weight in the future, which may warrant a “work in progress” label.  But Wood’s lack of strength certainly doesn’t necessarily mean he cannot be an effective contributor for the Johnnies in the future.

Darrick Wood verbally committed to the Red Storm Saturday. (Photo courtesy of ScoutHoops.com)

St. John’s has brought in a number of recruits regarded highly for long-range shooting ability in recent years – many of whom have not panned out.  With the likes of Ricky Torres, Avery Patterson, Larry Wright, and Quincy Roberts, the Red Storm has struggled to find their go-to man to erase any three-point deficit.  Even Dwight Hardy, whose season last year can arguably be deemed the most impressive by an individual Red Storm player this decade, often faced inconsistencies with his shot.  The hope is that Darrick Wood, along with Moe Harkless, Amir Garrett, and D’Angelo Harrison from this year’s freshman class, will help expunge the memories of the past.

Lavin’s newest recruit is a member of the New Jersey Playaz AAU squad and is a current teammate of Kyle Anderson – the chairman of the target board as of today.  Wood’s commitment today makes one wonder if he could possibly be just a stepping stone for the Johnnies to get Anderson to come aboard as well, a tactic that seemed to have worked when Dwight Meikle joined along with Sir’Dominic Pointer from Quality Education Academy (NC).  Maybe Wood’s commitment will, contrarily to Meikle’s, last longer than the average family vacation.

Above all, I would like to welcome Darrick Wood to the St. John’s Red Storm family.  We hope he has a strong year developing both his game and his body so he can be ready to become a contributor right away in November of 2012.  Maybe he’ll even take Kyle out to lunch.

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