St. John’s got an early commitment in June 2016 from 2018 Boubacar Diakite who attends Our Savior New American in Centereach, NY. Andrew Slater of 247Sports.com was the first to report that Diakite enrolled at St. John’s a year early.
Zach Braziller of the NY Post followed that report by tweeting that Diakite will spend the 2017-18 season with the Red Storm as a redshirt as he recovers from “major knee surgery”. The 6’7 wing player is a 4-star prospect and billed as “a talented small forward that is a skilled shooter out to the three point line” by ESPN.