St. John's Receives Commitment From Star Italian Shooting Guard Federico Mussini

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- They are going to have to wear name tags at St. John's for a little while.

The massive overhaul of the Red Storm program under first-year head coach Chris Mullin continued on Monday when dynamic shooting guard Federico Mussini of Italy decided to turn down an offer to play pro ball in Europe and commit to St. John's.

Mussini, a 6-footer who was also reportedly considering Gonzaga among American colleges, will give the Red Storm by all accounts a premier outside shooter.

"Really dynamic scorer for his size," ESPN analyst and former NCAA coach Fran Fraschilla said of the 19-year-old. "Big-game player for sure."

The news of Mussini's decision came a week after star defensive forward Chris Obekpa announced he would be transferring and a few weeks after former starting point guard Rysheed Jordan said he was taking his talents pro.

And with the departures of D'Angelo Harrison -- one of only three players in school history to score at least 2,000 points -- multi-talented Sir'Dominic Pointer, starter Phil Greene IV and role player Jamal Branch, St. John's will enter next season without its top six scorers from the 21-12 squad that lost in the first round of the 2015 NCAA tournament.

But what the Red Storm will have includes new arrivals Mussini, blue chip point guard Marcus '"Bright Lights" LoVett Jr., Malik Ellison, Yankuba Sima, junior college transfer Darien Williams and graduate transfers Durand Johnson and Ron M'Vouika.

According to the New York Post, St. John's still has two scholarships left for the 2015-16 season and could use them on 7-foot-1 center Georgios Papagiannis of Greece and small forward Maverick Rowan, the son of former St. John's star Ron Rowan, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Cardinal Gibbons High School.