That makes two former CHSAA point guards gone in as many days.

“I will be going to St. Patrick’s for my senior year,” the 6-foot-3, 170-pound Lewis told SNY.tv. “I just wanted more competition this year.”

St. Patrick coach Chris Chavannes confirmed that Lewis was registered at the school, which is changing locations within Elizabeth and will be known as The Patrick School.

“Isaiah brings experience and poise to our program,” Chavannes said.

Christ the King coach Joe Arbitello, who suspended Lewis last year before the playoffs started for what he called a “coach’s decision,” said of Lewis, “I wish him the best.”

Sources said Lewis’s family wanted Isaiah to return to Christ the King, but the two sides ended up parting ways.

Lewis said he holds offers from Memphis, Louisville, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Villanova, Dayton, Florida State and College of Charleston and is receiving interest from USC and South Florida.

St. Patrick lost wing Jared Nickens to transfer, but returns 2013 wing DeAndre Bembry. Both Nickens and Bembry had strong summers with the Sports U AAU program, winning five events and reaching the final of the “Live in AC” event.

The 6-foot Rector, meantime, is headed to South Kent (Conn.), where he will join former St. Benedict’s Prep wing Kamall Richards, who also had a strong summer.

Rector follows former St. Ray’s players Kevin Parrom and Omari Lawrence, who both previously transferred to South Kent before going to college.

“Shane has made the difficult decision to leave a great school, program and staff at St. Ray’s,” his family said in a statement. “He is thankful and appreciative of all they have provided.

“He will be attending South Kent school this fall and is very excited. His decision was solely based on his goal of becoming the best student-athlete possible and preparing for college. WIth the support, staff, facilities and coaching [Kelvin] Jefferson, South Kent affords the best opportunity at this time. Shane’s decision is not related to the hiring of coach [Jorge] Lopez and he continues to support the new staff and wishes the best for them this season and in the future. He plans to work hard, improve and enjoy his senior season.

“Shane will focus on this transition in the near future.”

Rector currently holds offers from Providence, UMass, Hofstra and Dayton and said he’d received interest from N.C. State, Florida State, Stanford and Oklahoma.

“I’m trying to play hard out here so hopefully the college coaches see it and offer me a scholarship to their school,” he told SNY.tv at the Peach Jam in July.

Photos: Rivals.com

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Special to ZAGSBLOG

St. Joe’s-Metuchen couldn’t really re-load anymore than they already have but the Falcons have added another piece to what is shaping up to be a heck of a season in Metuchen.

After bringing in Wade Baldwin to go along with big man Karl Towns, the Falcons have added another star in former Cardinal McCarrick guard Marques Townes. The 6-foot-3 rising junior who averaged 19 points per game this past season recently announced he will be heading to Metuchen where he will join an already star studded line-up.

“My family and I talked it through and thought it was better for me to transfer,” he told SNY.tv. “I chose St. Joe’s because there are bigger and better opportunities there for me. Also playing with Wade and Karl can build up a powerhouse team and maybe be the best in the state.”

Townes, who helped lead the Eagles to a Non-Public B South sectional title his freshman season, has been playing for the highly touted Playaz Basketball Club on the AAU scene where he has enjoyed a fair amount of success this summer getting offered by St. Francis (PA) while drawing interest from Miami, Boston University, Boston College, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Virginia.

Townes played a big role for the Playaz at the “Live in AC” event in late July where he helped get them to the semifinals before falling to Sports U.

Unlike most transfers, Townes will be able to play immediately as he and his family are moving from his hometown of South Amboy to Metuchen, allowing him to play immediately.

Townes is no stranger to St. Joe’s and its ways because his cousin Darrel Carroll played for St. Joe’s, graduating in 2007 and proved to be a big help for him through the process.

“We always work out together and he always asks me about school and one day St. Joe’s found its way into a conversation and things just happened from there” the rising junior recalled.

While Baldwin has already said he expects the Falcons to give St. Anthony’s a run, Townes echoed his teammate saying, “I think we can be the top team in the state and maybe even nationally ranked.”

Townes joins a line-up that has made a ton of headlines this summer with Baldwin exploding on the AAU scene with offers from Seton Hall, UMass, Boston U. and other schools while Karl Towns has made headlines by playing with the Dominican Republic national team the past few months.

But for now, the other Towns chose to attend St. Joe’s…So there’s a new kid in Townes.

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By ALEX SCHIFFER

Special to ZAGSBLOG

After flip-flopping between St. Joe’s-Metuchen and Gill St. Bernard’s the past few months, Tyus Battle, one of the top incoming freshmen in the country, has decided to take his talents to Gill St. Bernard’s.

Battle, the son of Gary Battle, a 1,000 point scorer at Colonia high school in the 80’s and All-American at the University of New Haven, originally committed to Gill earlier in the year before switching to St. Joe’s Metuchen and then back again.

“St. Joseph is a great school, but I feel very comfortable at Gill St. Bernard’s, so that’s where I will be going,” Battle told John Haley of the Star Ledger.

“I feel the combination of the academic and athletic experience will be better for me. I really think it’s the best place for me to develop as a student and as a basketball player.”

Battle joins Jaren Sina, the Northwestern-bound point guard, on a program that finished in the USA Top 25 poll last season.

If Austin Colbert, Sina’s AAU teammate with Team Final, comes to Gill as well, the Knights will have a trio that can make a lot of noise in the Garden State as well as the national scene.

The 6-foot-4 Battle can play both guard positions but it’s his all-around skills that have really caught coaches’ eyes.

While in eighth grade, Battle played in the U17 division at certain showcases and backed up the hype averaging double-digits multiple times. Despite having never played a game of high school basketball Battle has already drawn interest from Rutgers, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Baylor, Villanova and Ohio State.

Battle started playing for Team Final on the AAU scene this year but switched to the NJ Roadrunners due to the commute from Jersey to Philly.

Nevertheless, Battle’s father has said Battle will play for Team Final next summer and through his high school career. Battle was recently named the top prospect in the 2016 class at the Hoop Scoop All-American camp in Louisville.

Despite all the hype and attention, Battle feels no pressure right now, telling Haley, “I don’t look at it as pressure because I’m used to the attention.”

“The way I look at it is that getting used to it now will help me in the long run,” he added. “It will get me prepared for the future.”

Photo: Bballspotlight.com

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St. Joseph-Metuchen High School just got a whole lot more dangerous on the basketball court.

Wade Baldwin, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard in the Class of 2014, decided to transfer to the school from Immaculata after averaging 17.6 points per game last season.

St. Joe’s-Metuchen is the reigning New Jersey Non-Public A state champ.

“Basically, I chose them for a better academic school that’s going to prepare me for college,” Baldwin told SNY.tv by phone. “My main focus is on going to an academic school that will set me up for after college basketball. St. Joe’s provides that very well along with the great team that they have.

“Immaculata wasn’t the best fit for me. As good of a coach as coach [Mike] Frauenheim was [St. Joe's] was just better environment for academics and athletics also.”

Baldwin, who runs with the Sports U 16U team, holds offers Seton Hall, UMass, Boston University, Northwestern and St. Joe’s. He may visit West Virginia this summer, too.

St. Joe’s-Metuchen lost 6-5 wing Quenton DeCosey (Temple) and 6-3 wing Danny Brix (Stonehill) but will feature Baldwin and 6-10 rising sophomore Karl Towns on a team that also features senior point guard Jimbo Long and senior power forward James Ziemba, as well as incoming 6-4 freshman Tyus Battle.

Towns, 16, just returned from winning a gold medal with the John Calipari-coached Dominican Republic National Team at the Centrobasket championship in San Juan, P.R.

“It was a great feeling knowing that I have a gold medal and now I can put it next to my state championship ring,” Towns told Jerry Carino of MyCentralJersey.com. “Knowing all the success that God’s given me, it’s really a blessing. I just want to keep succeeding.”

Towns and the DR will now compete in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament July 2-8 in Caracas, Venezuela. Former St. Anthony star Mike Rosario will also be there with Puerto Rico.

“We’re super fired up,” Towns told Carino. “We just got one gold medal, and we’re taking all the great feelings over to Venezuela. I think we’re going to qualify for (London), and maybe not only qualify but win gold.”

Battle, who once committed to Gill St. Bernard’s, decided to turn down the opportunity of playing with Jaren Sina, and head to St. Joe’s to play alongside Towns.

Battle, who has lit it up on the AAU scene this year with the NJ Roadrunners, is the son of Gary Battle, a 1,000 point scorer from Colonia High School back in the 80s and a college All-American at the University of New Haven.

Battle can play both guard positions as well as small  forward, which will help the Falcons replace the scoring threat they lost in DeCosey. Battle’s game has been compared to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s and he has received early college looks from Rutgers, Seton Hall and Cincinnati.

“This team could be giving St. Anthony’s a run,” Baldwin said of the two-time defending New Jersey Tournament of Champions winners who will take a 65-game winning streak into the 2012-13 season.

“I see us winning a state championship again with all the talent that we have.”

He added: “With that size and the height of myself and Tyus and Karl and James, I think we’re going to be a pretty dominant force in the state and maybe compete with teams out of the state as well.”

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The 2015 guard from The Bronx will join a loaded team that finished 35-3 a year ago and already features 2013 point guard Tyler Ennis and 2015 guard Isaiah Briscoe in the backcourt.

Assuming they both stay at the Newark school for the next three years, Briscoe and Love — two of the most highly touted guards in their class — would be teammates through 2015.

“We’ve got great guards on this team, probably the best backcourt in the country in Ennis and Briscoe,” St. Benedict’s Prep coach Mark Taylor told SNY.tv. “And Jerron is just going to add depth to that and bring a little bit of a different look than what Tyler and Isaiah bring.”

Said Jerry Love, Jerron’s father: ”We chose St Ben’s because it’s near Jerron’s mother, who lives in New York. Jerron is also close friends with Isaiah Briscoe. We hope Jerron has one of the greatest high school experiences of his life.”

The 5-foot-10 Love is transferring from Fresno (Calif.) Clovis West, but his father said he will remain in California.

“I’ll reside in California and travel often to visit Jerron,” he told SNY.tv.

Taylor believes Love will make the St. Benedict’s backcourt deeper as it pursues a national championship next year.

“Isaiah’s a very strong, physical guard,” Taylor said. “Isaiah can do so many different things and score from so many places on the floor. Tyler Ennis is more of a heady, good shooter. Quick, long, gets to the rim. Understands how to make everyone around him get involved.

“Then you add Jerron Love, it gives them depth. And Jerron is a little smaller, a little bit quicker. He’s a pass-first guy which is going to be very important for us with the five seniors we have next year. And it gives the ability for Briscoe and Ennis to move off into the wing position at times to give us a little bit more versatility in whether we go big or small.”

Love and his father have not been shy about promoting the player since he was a young boy.

Jerron’s Twitter page identifies him as, “Im the youngin girls tryna make a baby with, cause itll make em rich *Grab Some Popcorn and Enjoy the Show* Top PG in class of 2015″

It also directs readers to Jerron’s Website, JerronLoveStudentAthlete.com, which features articles and videos hyping Love as a “future NBA star.”

Videos on the site include Jerron performing at the Apollo Theatre and playing against older players in streetball games.

“I’m the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain,” Jerry Love told The Wall Street Journal last year for an in-depth piece on his son and the effort to promote him.

Love is the latest player Taylor has added to a loaded St. Benedict’s Prep roster that also includes former Hudson Catholic power forward Mike Young; 6-10 freshman Rodney Miller, whom Taylor says has the potential to be a “future pro”; and 6-7 2014 Canadian forward Tyrell Bellot-Green, whom Taylor described as a “strong, active wing who gets to the rim.”

If Taylor can make all the pieces mesh successfully, St. Benedict’s, which was nationally ranked for many years under former coach Dan Hurley, could challenge for a mythical national title and the coveted ESPN National High School Invitational crown.

If not, the second-year coach may have his hands full.

“I think Jerron adds a lot to what we’re doing,” Taylor said. “Our guys, Briscoe and Ennis, are the face of St. Benedict’s right now and our goal next year is to have this team accomplish things that the school has never done before and to do it together.”

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Troy Williams of Phoebus (Va.) High will spend his senior season at vaunted powerhouse Oak Hill Academy, while fellow 2013 star Allerik Freeman with play for Findlay Prep.

“He’s a combo forward, he can play the three/four,” Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said of Williams in confirming the news. “His deficiency, if he has one, is his outside shot. He thinks he needs to make a few changes on his shot.

“He plays extremely hard, defends, offensive rebounds like crazy. Scores inside, scores mid-range. He just needs to work on his outside shot to become a little more consistent. I like the fact that he plays so hard.”

As first reported by SNY.tv, Williams, the Rivals No. 4 small forward in 2013, recently opted to expand his list and wait on his college decision.

He added Florida, Louisville, South Carolina and Georgetown to Kentucky and North Carolina, saying both his uncle, Boo Williams, and the latter two schools supported the decision to wait.

Williams will join Sindarius Thornwell, a 6-5 shooting guard from Lancaster (S.C.) ranked No. 10 at that position by Rivals, in Oak Hill’s new class.

The Warriors also return wing R.J. Currington and combo guard Ike Iroegbu.

Multiple reports say North Carolina-bound guard Nate Britt Jr. will also attend Oak Hill, but Smith said “I’m not sure on the point guard yet.”

Oak Hill will play next year in the Iolani Classic in Hawaii, an event that will also feature Findlay Prep, the reigning ESPN NHSI champions.

Smith said the Warriors will also face Jabari Parker and Chicago Simeon in the Hall of Fame Classic, and will compete in a doubleheader in Las Vegas in which Findlay is also involved.

As for Freeman, he Tweeted that he would leave Charlotte (N.C.) Olympic to spend his final year at Findlay, and Findlay assistant Todd Simon confirmed the news.

Freeman, a 6-3 shooting guard ranked No. 11 at that position in 2013 by Rivals, will be the first North Carolina native to play at Findlay Prep.

Freeman averaged 17.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals at Olympic last season, helping the Trojans to a 28-2 record and a second straight appearance in the N.C. 4A Western regional tournament.

As reported by SNY.tv, Freeman recently added Duke, UCLA and Ohio State to a list that featured Kansas and Villanova.

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“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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