Jerron Love, who has his own Website and has been hyped as a future NBA star from a young age by his father, is coming to St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark.
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.”
