One of the elite guards in Arizona for the 2015 class, Sammy Barnes-Thompkins on Saturday afternoon, reportedly announced his commitment Steve Lavin and the St. John’s Red Storm of the Big East Conference. He took a visit out to New York last weekend it did not take to long after to make the decision on his future.
Barnes-Thompkins transferred from Sunnyslope in the middle of December to Planet Athlete which is an International Sports Company that provides training, skill development, competition, health care and fitness to athletes from around the world based in Phoenix.
The 6-2, 185 pound combo-guard has seen his recruitment pick up considerably over the last month or so receiving elevated interest from USC, Cal, Iowa State and St. John’s. He also had reported offers from Cal Poly, Oregon State, Rice, San Jose State and UC Davis.
“Thompkins is best scorer in-state from his class,” says Gregg Rosenberg, Arizona high school scout for AZProspects.net and ArizonaVarsity.com. “He has deep range on his jumper and can separate from his defender almost at will. He has a thick, strong body to get into the lane and score through contact. He does, at times, take poor shots and become a volume shooter, but he has the ability to make his teammates better. He is a very good passer and knows how to set up his man. He has big strong hands to rip defenders on defense and has improved every year for the last 3 years to be the player he is today.”
While the Red Storm roster is made up mostly of young men from New York and the east coast Steve Lavin, formerly Head Coach of the UCLA Bruins, has still recruited out west and you still find players west of the Mississippi sprinkled in to his roster every year since taking over in New York. Barnes-Thompkins becomes the latest addition.
Iowa State coming in late with interest was thought to be a late favorite because his father Gary Thompkins played for the Cyclones in the 1980s during a time were current Head Coach Fred Hoiberg was supposedly a ball boy. But in the end, it was Red Storm for one of AZ’s elite in 2015.
