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CBT’s Recruiting Roundup: Brandon Sampson to St. John’s, four-star could reclassify, New Zealand native visits three

Steve Lavin

St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin watches from the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Butler, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, in Indianapolis. St. John’s won 69-52. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

AP

sampson

(Under Armour)

Each week, College Basketball Talk’s Scott Phillips goes over some important news and notes in the world of college basketball recruiting. This week, four-star 2015 guard Brandon Sampson commits to St. John’s, 2016 four-star guard could reclassify and New Zealand big man Tai Wynyard takes three visits this week.

Brandon Sampson is huge for St. John’s

When Louisiana native Brandon Sampson gave his pledge to head coach Steve Lavin and St. John’s this week it signified a major grab for a program that has recently struggled to win big recruiting battles. As the No. 40 overall prospect and a talented 6-foot-4 shooting guard, Sampson is the kind of guard who can come in and play with Rysheed Jordan once D’Angelo Harrison, Jamal Branch and Phil Greene run out of eligibility after this season.

It also signifies that Lavin can still win major recruiting battles. Since landing junior Chris Obekpa, only sophomore Rysheed Jordan has been an impact the last two classes, with the Red Storm really struggling for depth right now.

Now with Sampson and three-star guard Samir Doughty, St. John’s is off to a nice start in 2015 and they can still add some more pieces in the next few months that will see the floor next season.

Four-star 2016 guard Bruce Brown could reclassify

Adding intrigue to recruiting this spring could be the reclassification of 2016 guard Bruce Brown to the 2015 class. One of the better scoring guards in the country, Brown can get rolling getting baskets with only a few touches and would make for another good guard, along with Kobie Eubanks, who have reclassified to 2015.

The news of Brown potentially reclassifying was first reported by Scout.com‘s Evan Daniels and UConn could be in the picture right away. The No. 58 guard in the 2016 class is 6-foot-3 and also has offers from Boston College, UMass, Miami, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and Indiana.

If Brown changes over to 2015, he would might not be the only member of his class to do so. There are rumors of others from the 2016 class looking to do the same like center Thon Maker or guard Jamal Murray. If some of those guys jump up a class, it would add a lot of high-end talent to college basketball next season.

International big man visits three schools

There’s been a lot of buzz about New Zealand native Tai Wynyard in the international basketball community the last 12 months and the Class of 2016 big man visited three schools within the last week. According to Scout.com‘s Evan Daniels, Wynyard visited Kentucky, Villanova and Texas this week.

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound big man is supposed to be rapidly improving and very physically mature for a junior. It will be interesting to see how this recruitment plays out and if Wynyard plays in the United States at all this spring or summer before his senior season.

Along with La Lumiere big man Isaac Humphries, Wynyard is another intriguing international big man looking to play college basketball in America.

Follow @phillipshoops