Shamorie Ponds to St. John's: Red Storm Land 4-Star Guard Prospect

Following months of deliberation, 4-star combo guard prospect Shamorie Ponds of Brooklyn, New York, decided Tuesday to play his collegiate ball at St. John's, per Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com.  

Ponds' list of prospective schools included St. John's, Creighton, Providence and Minnesota.

According to 247Sports, Ponds is the eighth-ranked combo guard in the 2016 class and the third-ranked combo guard in the state of New York. 

Although Ponds is listed at just 5'11'' and 160 pounds, he can play at both guard spots. Defensively, he may be restricted to guarding 1s because of his small stature, but a quick first step and a sweet left-handed jump shot make him a threat to keep bigger defenders off-balance—along with his dribble-drive and spot-up skills. 

Borzello noted that Ponds is the first commit in St. John's 2016 class and that the team is still targeting Rawle Alkins, Bashir Ahmed and Richard Freudenberg.

Prior to the start of his senior season at Thomas Jefferson High School, Ponds discussed how he's started preparing for competition against bigger, stronger collegiate players, per Made Hoops' Pat Lawless: "I worked on a lot of guard stuff such as ball handling, defending the ball and getting stronger. I just did everything I needed to do in order to be ready for the next level."

Ponds will face an adjustment upon arrival, but his ability to operate as both an on-ball creator and an off-ball scorer should help him earn playing time sooner rather than later.