“I’m dumb-founded,” Naclerio told SNY.tv, confirming earlier reports by the New York papers.

Cardozo is set to play Saturday and Monday in the Big Apple Invitational at Baruch College and in the SNY Invitational Jan. 27-28, but will now do so without their star player.

Lawrence is averaging 17 points and 15 boards and is being actively recruited by Rutgers, St. John’s, Xavier and Virginia Tech, among others.

“I think moves were made without looking at the short-term and the long-term,” Naclerio said, adding that Lawrence’s mother, Marcia, met Friday with Cardozo principal Sheila Clark. “The long term is getting him qualified NCAA for college, which we were going out of our way to do.”

Naclerio said Lawrence was working hard academically and confirmed that he scored an 1100 recently on two parts of the SAT.

Instead of going to a basketball powerhouse like St. Anthony or St. Benedict’s — or a prep school like South Kent (Conn.) or Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) — as some recent New York players have done, Lawrence landed at Pope John, a 950-member school that is not a hoops powerhouse.

Pope John coach Jason Hasson, a former assistant at St. Anthony under Bob Hurley, was not immediately available for comment.

Mia Gavan, the Pope John AD, confirmed to the Daily News that Lawrence was at the New Jersey school.

“He’s here,” Gavan told the paper. “To my knowledge, he came here for academics, though I’m sure there are family reasons why he came here. To me, he’s just a student, not a basketball player. He seems like a wonderful young man. To be honest, I have not seen him play. I don’t know too much about him.”

Naclerio said he had been working hard to help Lawrence handle his academics.

“Monday nights I’m driving to a friend’s house in Long Island to get tutoring for Spanish,” the coach said. “I had two people tutoring him in Math and Spanish during the day.”

He added: “If you play for Cardozo and you’re under my umbrella, I give you everything I can…

“I feel like a failure.”

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After spending last season at Lincoln High School, the 5-foot-9 guard said he will likely land at either Trinity (Conn.) Catholic or Northwest (Conn.) Catholic, where he would play with Long Island Lightning teammate Kuran Iverson.

“I’m definitely transferring out of Lincoln,” Telfair told SNY.tv by phone. “I’m looking at some schools in Connecticut and New Jersey. I’m leaning toward Trinity Catholic and Northwest Catholic.”

Telfair also said he plans to reclassify into the Class of 2014 from 2013.

“When school starts I’ll be Class of 2014,” he said.

In June, Telfair put up 19 points, 10 assists and five rebounds to help the  Long Island Lightning 16U team beat Grassroots Canada in the Hall of Fame National Invitational championship game in Springfield, Mass.

Telfair was arrested in May on charges of carrying guns and trying to bribe a police officer. According to the Daily News, he had three loaded guns on him when he was picked up at the O’Dwyer Gardens houses in Coney Island.

“I was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Telfair told the New York Post in June. “[Lightning coach]  Shandue McNeil says 30 seconds can change your life and he’s right.”

Sean Adams, Telfair’s coach with the Metrohawks said, “That’s over with. I want him to have a second chance.”

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Chris Thomas

Thomas, a Denver native, is a 6-foot-5 point guard ranked No. 3 in the Class of 2013 by ESPN.com and No. 4 by Rivals.

“We’re extremely excited to have Chris join our basketball family and look forward to him taking Westwind Prep to even bigger and better things in the future,” Trousdale said by phone.

After a freshman year at Denver Montbello, Thomas transferred to Maryland’s Princeton Day Academy.

According to MaxPreps.com, Thomas averaged 34.9 through his first 10 games this season, including one 50-point game against Southside Christian (TN) and three games of 40+ points. MaxPreps had no stats for Thomas past Dec. 28.

Westwind on Saturday won the Arizona 2A state title and Trousdale has proclaimed it his goal to make the program into “Oak Hill West.”

Westwind Prep also features 6-foot-5, 190-pound junior wing Demarquise Johnson, who holds offers from Minnesota, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, San Diego State, New Mexico, Oregon State, Providence and Louisville.

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Five months after enrolling at Life Center Academy in Burlington, N.J., Andre Horne has decided to take his talents elsewhere.

“Andre is no longer with the team,” Life Center assistant David Boudwin said by phone on Wednesday morning. “Life Center was not the best setup or situation for Andre’s future as a player and student. We appreciated his hard work on the court while he was here and will do all we can to help him find a better fit.”

Horne, a 6-3 junior shooting guard from Wilmington, Del., was not in attendance for Saturday’s win over Westtown School at the Primetime Shootout in Plymouth because he was looking for a school.

“I’m going to Newark High School in Delaware,” Andre said by phone Wednesday afternoon.

Although there were no reasons specified for the parting, Horne is a very talented shooter. He is hearing from Virginia Tech, Florida, Siena, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Temple, Rider, Iona, Northeastern and Detroit.

Also, former St. Benedict’s Prep point guard Jaylen Beckham is on the move again.

After leaving St. Ben’s and Lexington (Ky.) Catholic, Beckham has now been dismissed from that school for “disciplinary reasons,” according to Huntington coach Rob Fulford.

“He’s back home in Lexington (Ky.),” Fulford said.

RECRUITING RUNDOWN

On Tuesday night, Pittsburgh assistant Pat Skerry and Georgetown assistant Kenya Hunter watched DeMatha junior guard James Robinson and sophomore center BeeJay Anya play.

Arizona State took in St. Benedict’s practice a few days back to watch junior Jamel Artis, along with sophomores Jaylen Reid and Tyler Ennis.

Daiquan Walker, a junior guard from Constitution High School in Philadelphia, is scheduled to take an unofficial visit to UConn for Wednesday’s Syracuse game.

Villanova recently offered Daniel Ochefu, a 6-10 junior power forward from Westtown School in Pa

(Photo courtesy PremoHoops.com)

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Now neither one will.

The Villanova-bound Johnson earlier transferred to Montrose Christian, and now Davis has moved to Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep.

“Yes, I’m here now,” the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Davis said Sunday by text.

Davis’ father, Sam, said Notre Dame Prep was the best option for his son.

“We chose Notre Dame for the competitive schedule and continued exposure,” he said by text. “Myles will also focus on being a better point guard being around better talent.”

It remains unclear if Davis, who runs with the Playaz Basketball Club, will remain in the Class of 2011 or reclassify to 2012.

“We will decide later on 2011 or 12 because he is just 16 now,” Sam said.

He joins a loaded roster that includes Khem Birch, Angel Nunez, Todd Mayo, the younger brother of NBA guard O.J. Mayo, and Sam Cassell Jr., the son of the former NBA star.

Davis averaged 20.1 points last season at St. Peter’s Prep and helped the team win the North Non-Public A and Hudson County titles. He poured in 33 points, including a tournament-tying record eight 3-pointers, in an 84-81 victory over nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy at the PrimeTime Shootout in Trenton.

Davis said he’s considering numerous colleges, including Xavier, Cincinnati and Boston College

Notre Dame Prep coach Ryan Hurd declined comment until the players officially begin workouts Monday.

FREE THROWS

Jordan Arthur is also leaving St. Peter’s Prep, per Alex Kline. Arthur, a 6-7 top 100 wing in 2013, will attend Newark Tech…Brewster Academy PG Naadir Tharpe visited friends St. John’s Saturday night. He is no longer considering Rutgers after the Myles Mack commitment.

(Photo courtesy The Star-Ledger)

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Tyler Harris

After spending last year at Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, the 6-foot-8 Harris will spend his senior year at St. Benedict’s in Newark.

“It was a decision based on St. Benedict’s being a national powerhouse school, having an excellent basketball schedule, nationally televised games on ESPN and a coach who played in the NBA and in college at Duke,” Tyler said in a statement.

“[Coach Roshown McLeod] will continue to help me be consistent in my development as a basketball player as well as a person and preparing me to be ready for college.”

Said McLeod: “Tyler  is a player that gives us versatility on our front line. He has a high ceiling being 16 going into his senior year. The school that gets him is getting a jewel.”

The No. 17 small forward in the Class of 2011, Harris is considering N.C. State, UConn, USF, Washington, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Duquesne, URI, Iowa & Wake Forest, per his father, Torrel.

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There had been reports that the 6-foot-8, 192-pound Daniels would reclassify to 2010 from 2011, but instead he will remain in 2011 and spend a year on the post-grad team at IMG after transferring from Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft.

“We are excited to work with Deandre toward his goals this coming year,” said Andy Borman, director of IMG Basketball Academy.  “He has made tremendous strides to this point, and now at the IMG Basketball Academy, our consistent training environment will help him take the next big jump in his career.”

“He is an elite small forward with tremendous ball skills and finishing ability.  It is obvious that he has been well-coached. The additional strength and nutritional gains he will make will evolve his game and enable him to become a more dominant college basketball player.”

“Deandre has great competitive character which makes him the perfect fit for our campus.  We look forward to him being the next in a long line of IMG Division I players.”

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Tyrone Johnson’s decision to leave Plainfield for Montrose Christian was just the latest in a flurry of high-profile point guards opting to either move from one New Jersey school to another or, in Johnson’s case, leave the state altogether.

Consider that:

**In May, St. Benedict’s point guard Myck Kabongo announced he was leaving for Findlay Prep, the two-time National High School Invitational champ.

**After it was announced that Paterson Catholic would close its doors, highly touted floor generals Kyle Anderson (a rising junior)and Myles Mack (rising senior) both opted to play for Hall of Famer Bob Hurley at St. Anthony.

**Their rising sophomore teammates, point guard Kavon Stewart and wing Reggie Cameron, both chose to play for Nick Mariniello at Hudson Catholic.

**Vaughn Gray, a wing from Don Bosco, later said he would transfer to St.  Benedict’s to play a national schedule.

**Jevon Thomas, a rising sophomore considered arguably the most talented guard in New York City, then said he would also come to St. Ben’s to fill in for Kabongo.

**Da’Shawn Suber, Thomas’ Gauchos’ teammate and fellow sophomore, will also play in the Garden State, moving to St. Patrick from Rice.

**And now Johnson, a Top 50 player in the Class of 2011, is leaving the state altogether before heading off to Villanova.

“Point guards are leaders to the team,” the 5-foot-10 Suber said. “If you have a good point guard, you really don’t need a lot of good players around you. If you’re point guard’s good, you can make your team good.”

With the exception of the Paterson Catholic situation, most of these moves were made so players could compete in a higher-profile environment on a national stage against elite competition, while also being able to focus on their academics.

“I wanted to try something new and get in a better environment and it was a family decision that we made,” Suber, who has interest from  West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Arizona and South Carolina, said last week at the Peach Jam.

Paul Suber, Da’Shawn’s father, said the decision was motivated in part by former Rice coach Moe Hicks’ move to St. John’s to become Director of Basketball Operations.

“Now with Moe taking the job, I said that I wanted him to get taught by a real good guard coach,” Paul said. “And me and [St. Patrick coach] Kevin [Boyle] worked at Five Star for years. I knew Kevin always had success with the New York City guards. You’re talking about Shaheen Holloway from Queens, Corey Fisher from the Bronx.”

He added: “Kevin Boyle’s an animal. He loves coaching. He loves getting the kids better…And I knew the educational part was going to be great. Hands on. Seventeen, 18 people in a class, that’s what you want.”

Suber, a Mount Vernon, N.Y. native, will replace incoming Duke freshman Kyrie Irving, a McDonald’s All-American who is projected as the No. 2 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

But he’s not daunted.

“We got a lot of big tournaments this year,” Suber said. “We got the No. 1 player in the country [Michael Gilchrist]. They’re expecting me to do big things and lead the team to a national championship.”

Suber said Irving has already shown him a few pointers.

“He comes to workouts and shows me things that he did in high school and he showed me things that will lead the team to a national championship,” Suber said.

Thomas, meantime, is taking over for the Texas-bound Kabongo, who opted to leave St. Ben’s after former coach Dan Hurley took the Wagner College job.

“I’m not trying to go in there and try to follow his footsteps,” the 5-10 Thomas said of Kabongo. “But I’m trying to keep the same thing going. I’m trying to go there and keep the winning going, keep the legacy going, do that with a new coach and a new program. So I’m basically the first generation of the new coach.”

St. Patrick and St. Benedict’s traditionally play one another annually and the Gauchos teammates have already begun talking some smack.

“We’re gonna beat St. Benedict’s,” Suber said.

“We’re gonna beat them [St. Patrick],” Thomas said. “We’re gonna be the No. 1 team in the country.”

St. Anthony and St. Benedict’s never squared off while Dan Hurley was at the Newark school because Chris Hurley, Bob’s wife and Dan’s mother, wasn’t down with it.

But now that Roshown McLeod has succeeded Dan Hurley, the two schools could face off for charity in the coming years, meaning Thomas and Gray could square off against Anderson and Mack.

“We’re looking to schedule the game,” Thomas said. “We might set the game up for our senior year.”

The Paterson Catholic situation is somewhat different.

St.  Anthony and Hudson Catholic will benefit from the closing of the school that produced NBA forward Tim Thomas.

“Because of Paterson Catholic closing we had the opportunity to have two of the better players in the state come to play for us and they fit in very, very well,” Mariniello said.

Mariniello did extremely well at Bloomfield Tech with multiple point guards in the backcourt and hopes to continue that trend at his current stop with Stewart and fellow sophomore Travis Flagg.

Hudson Catholic also features Rakwan Kelly, who scored more than 400 points off the wing last year. He and the 6-6 Cameron will now provide multiple scoring options off the wing.

“We’re going to be a guard-oriented team,” Mariniello said.

That about sums things up in the Garden State.

(Photo courtesy Kelly Kline/Nike)

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“We enjoyed a lot of success at Plainfield and I am really appreciative of the support from my coaches and the community. The decision to leave was very difficult. I chose Montrose to help take my game to the next level and better prepare me for college,” Johnson said.

Current Villanova sophomores Mouphtaou Yarou and Isaiah Armwood both played for Montrose Christian coach Stu Vetter and graduated from the school.

Johnson averaged 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals last season. He made 31 of 86 3-pointers (36 percent) and 154 of 218 free throws (71 percent). He led Plainfield to a 26-4 record and appearances in the Union County Tournament and Group 4 state title games.

Montrose Christian counts three NBA first round picks – Linas Klieza, Kevin Durant, and Greivis Vasquez — among its alumni since 2003.

The 6-foot-3, 189-pound Johnson recently announced his decision to attend Villanova exclusively on SNY.tv. He chose the Wildcats over Georgetown and Rutgers.

(Photo courtesy Rivals)

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By ALEX KLINE

Jevon Thomas is one of the best point guards in New York City. The rising sophomore has some big plans for next year that include a change in school and in grade.

The 6-foot Thomas has decided to leave Our Savior New American in New York for St. Benedict’s in New Jersey.

“I’m going to St. Benedict’s,” said Thomas, the No. 14 point guard in the Class of 2012, according to Rivals. He will play the point there and replace Myck Kabongo — who departed for Findlay Prep – as the school’s starting point guard. “I chose to transfer to St. Benedict’s because they have a much better schedule so I can get more exposure,” he said.

“Along with that, my family wanted me to go to an all-boys school so I wouldn’t have any distractions.”

A huge factor in Jevon heading to the Garden State is St. Ben’s coach Roshown McLeod.

“I am very close with Coach Ro,” stated Jevon. “we have known each other for a while” referring to the former Indiana assistant and head coach at the New Jersey powerhouse.

Said McLeod: “JT is going to be a great asset to St. Benedict’s. St. Benedict’s will also be a place to help him focus on the things that are most important to him.”

Along with the transfer comes a reclassification. Thomas, who is in the class of 2013, was not originally in this. He was a part of the class of 2012 but something tragic set him back.

Chris Ramsey, Jevon’s brother, was murdered a few years back. This led Jevon to pure sadness for a while and he could not focus on his academics and school. Through that, Jevon decided to reclassify to 2013.

This year, after a solid freshman year at Our Savior New American, the standout point guard picked up his grades and has decided to reclassify back to 2012. The rising junior said, “I am reclassifying because I want better competition. I like a challenge.” This will certainly be a challenge as the guard is starting a whole new path and will work with a rebuilding team.

However, Jevon does not believe that is the case.

“My goal is to win a national championship,” he stated.

The young team lost several key seniors and players to graduation and transfers including Kabongo, Sidiki Johnson, Gil Biruta and Aaron Brown.

One great pickup was Jaylen Beckham from Kentucky. The two know each other and are very close.

“I have a good relationship with Jaylen even though he is so far away,” said Jevon. “He is a great player and I think we can do a lot at Benedicts.” The transfers certainly help the squad that needed an extra boost at point after the departure of Gray Bees Head Coach Dan Hurley.

This summer he will play with the New York Gauchos U16 squad and excited to see his recruitment take off.

Although his coach keeps tabs of most of his recruiting info. Jevon has looks from “Washington, St. John’s, Villanova, Syracuse, Wake Forest and West Virginia,” among others.

RELATED CONTENT:

**Vaughn Gray to St. Benedict’s

**Kabongo to Findlay Prep

**Cory Joseph to Texas

**Roshown McLeod takes over at St. Benedict’s

**Hurley departs St. Benedict’s for Wagner College

**Findlay tops Monteverde in NHSI final

**School closing leaves Findlay’s future cloudy

**St. Ben’s has “Good” reason to turn down ESPN

**Kabongo to Texas

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