By ADAM ZAGORIA
Alabama assistant coach Bryan Hodgson will meet this weekend in New Jersey with Villanova transfer Jahvon Quinerly, sources confirmed.
The news was first reported by Andrew Slater.
Hodgson also met Friday night in New Jersey with Howard transfer and former St. Anthony’s star R.J. Cole, who averaged 21.4 points, 6.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
UConn’s Dan Hurley and Kimani Young will also meet Saturday in New Jersey with Cole’s parents, and on Tuesday with Cole. If he landed at UConn, Cole would be the second former St. Anthony’s star to play for Bob Hurley Sr. and then Dan Hurley. Tarin Smith was the first. Cole announced his transfer after the coaching change at Howard.
Quinerly, a highly touted prospect coming out of Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City, struggled to adjust to Villanova’s system, especially defensively. He saw mostly limited playing time, and after a loss to Big 5-rival Penn earlier this year, he posted on Instagram that Villanova was his second choice “for a reason.” Quinerly had initially committed to Arizona.
Quinerly later apologized for the Instagram post and said he had learned from it.
“Even after the Instagram post it was a big mistake on my end,” Quinerly said. “Just keep getting better day by day. Even with what’s going on just keep grinding at it.”
A 2018 McDonald’s All-American at Hudson Catholic, Quinerly appeared in 25 games for the Wildcats in 2018-19. He averaged 9.1 minutes and 3.2 points per game for a Villanova team that posted a 26-10 record on its way to the Big East regular season and tournament championships. In an 81-58 victory over Connecticut on Dec. 22, he registered a season high 10 points along with four assists in 25 minutes of action.
Alabama this week added three-star center Raymond Hawkins and West Virginia point guard transfer James “Beetle” Bolden” and now has a five-man incoming class.
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