Forty-eight hours before Isaiah Briscoe is due to announce his college choice, St. John’s has taken another huge frontcourt hit.
Adonis De La Rosa , a 6-foot-11, 256-pound center from Christ the King in Queens, has been deemed a non-qualifier by the NCAA Eligibility Center, the school announced. De La Rosa remains enrolled at St. John’s University, but he is not eligible for participation with the men’s basketball team until his academic progress meets NCAA standards.
A source close to De La Rosa told SNY.tv Monday night that his SAT scores were disputed by a third party, and that led to his being deemed a non-qualifier. The source added that De La Rosa still hopes to become eligible this season.
“The St. John’s Athletic Department was recently informed by the NCAA Eligibility Center of the change in certification status for Adonis De La Rosa after new information revealed the student-athlete does not meet eligibility requirements,” said St. John’s Director of Athletics Chris Monasch. “The University will continue to review the options available in this particular case.”
“Adonis is currently attending his classes and working with the institution to gain clarity on his eligibility status,” said St. John’s Head Coach Steve Lavin. “We are hopeful that he will be able to rejoin the team at some point in the future.”
The news comes two weeks after junior college forward Keith Thomas was ruled ineligible in the wake of the Westchester Community College transcript scandal.
St. John’s, which has NCAA aspirations despite already losing forwards Orlando Sanchez to graduation and JaKarr Sampson to the NBA, is now extremely thin up front, with junior Chris Obekpa the only proven big man.
De La Rosa was a First Team All-City performer at Christ the King high school in Queens. He helped lead Christ the King to consecutive city and state federation championships in 2013 and 2014. Rated a three-star recruit and the No. 14 player in New York according to ESPN, De La Rosa was named the 2013-14 New York Daily News Queens Player of the Year and participated in the 2014 Jordan Brand Classic regional all-star game.
Meantime, the 6-3 Briscoe is due to announce Thursday on ESPNU between St. John’s, Kentucky and UConn.
