Mike Anderson certainly has a type.

He likes character, high-effort, grinding types who have won. It’s why St. John’s is so high on this three-man recruiting class, even if it doesn’t include a top-100 prospect and it is ranked at the bottom of the Big East by 247Sports.com. In St. John’s release announcing the signings, Anderson played up their character and toughness — two traits he values above all else.

The 60th-ranked group in the country includes Long Island Lutheran duo Drissa Traore and Rafael Pinzon, and Missouri big man O’mar Stanley, a threesome that provides significant size — three players at least 6-foot-6 — a defense-first mentality and the high motors needed to play Anderson’s uptempo style. Interestingly, this is the second year in a row St. John’s will add a pair of high school teammates, significant since Anderson is so big on creating a family environment within his program.

Anderson has given St. John’s an identity in a short period of time, that of a lunch-pail program that looks to outwork the opposition. It is evident in the type of prospect the Johnnies have landed. There haven’t been any big stars, but players the staff believes are capable of developing into very good college players and fits their style. You saw it last year when unheralded recruit Julian Champagnie was arguably the third-best freshman in the Big East. Point guard Posh Alexander, the key to Anderson’s first full recruiting class, is expected to start this year and has drawn rave reviews in practice.

The player I’m most intrigued by is Pinzon, who picked St. John’s over Florida and New Mexico and is rated as the third-best prospect in New York State. He’s a 6-foot-6 guard who some believe would’ve been a top-100 player and may have seen his recruitment explode had there been an AAU season. Pinzon can play, and defend, multiple positions, is a threat from beyond the arc and is best known for his playmaking abilities.

“He should make an immediate impact in the Big East,” one coach familiar with him said.

Here are some other takeaways from the early signing period:

The biggest recent recruiting storyline — players opting for the G-League select team for a six-figure, one-year salary over college — has been quiet so far. The new G-League route is something that will likely have to wait until the spring, which was the case last year when five players opted for money over school. Eight of the top 23-ranked players in 247Sports.com’s rankings are uncommitted. The other big storyline, top prospects picking historically black colleges and universities, has seen some movement after five-star Makur Maker opted for Howard over the summer. Top-175 forward Kuluel Mading picked Howard on Saturday and top-150 forward Duncan Powell committed to North Carolina A&T this week. For this to really become a trend, though, Maker will have to be successful this year.

UConn’s rise, to a top-10 class, in its first year back in the Big East was somewhat predictable. DePaul and Georgetown securing top-20 classes, however, was not. Neither program is expected to be very good this year. Neither was good last year. And, yet, the two potentially set themselves up well for the future. At Georgetown, Patrick Ewing desperately needed a big class, with the Hoyas expected to be one of the worst power-conferences teams in the country this year, and he got it — led by four-star big man Ryan Mutombo, the son of former Hoya Dikembe Mutombo. DePaul’s success was an even bigger surprise, considering the uncertain status of coach Dave Leitao, now that the Blue Demons have a new athletic director in place, and their class a year was ranked 117th. Beating out Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska for Chicago guard Ahamad Bynum last November got the ball rolling.

Sean Miller and Will Wade have so far managed to keep their jobs despite their programs involvement in the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball. Though both of them may be on tenuous ground as the NCAA’s cases against their program move at a snail’s pace.

Arizona is facing five Level 1 violations, which are the most severe — it hasn’t seemed to hurt either too much in the eyes of prospects. Wade is expected to sign a strong four-man group at LSU, and Miller has inked a trio of four stars at Arizona.

Seton Hall would’ve received its highest seed in the NCAA Tournament in 27 years last March if not for the pandemic ending March Madness, and that team success was not based on elite recruits. Its three best players were a transfer (Quincy McKnight), unsung junior college transfer (Romaro Gill) and overlooked top-80 prospect (Myles Powell). That team’s success, and the overall emergence of the program over the past half-decade, has begun to translate on the recruiting front. The Pirates have a top-25 class — headed by four-star, top-70 Brooklyn native Brandon Weston, the biggest addition at Seton Hall since Isaiah Whitehead led the 2014 blockbuster class, and beat out Michigan, Maryland and Iowa State for Harvard grad transfer Bryce Aiken. Kevin Willard has been winning by developing talent and finding hidden gems. Now he’s starting to attract more ready-made prospects.

On Friday, Hofstra landed a commitment from three-star guard Jaquan Carlos — a Brooklyn native who had been recruited by the likes of Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. The 5-foot-10 Carlos is a skilled scorer, crafty and able to create his own shot. He’s the biggest-name high school recruit Hofstra has nabbed in the Joe Mihalich era, which dates back to 2013. The Pride earned this one, doggedly recruiting him over the summer. Interim coach Mike Farrelly — Mihalich is on temporary medical leave — put in a lot of the work and assistant coach Speedy Claxton closed, sources said — developing a strong bond with Carlos, who attends Thomas Jefferson High School. In Claxton, who also was a major factor in former star Justin Wright-Foreman going to the Long Island school, Hofstra has a former NBA player and alum who can attract quality talent.