Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Five-star forward Jermaine Lawrence commits to Cincinnati

Mick Cronin

Cincinnati’s head coach Mick Cronin laughs during basketball practice in Boston, Wednesday, March 21, 2012. Cincinnati is scheduled to play Ohio State in an NCAA tournament East Regional semifinal college basketball game on Thursday. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

AP

Jermaine Lawrence, a 6-9, 190-pound native of Queens, N.Y., has committed to coach Mick Cronin and the Cincinnati Bearcats, he announced via a series of pictures on his Tumblr page Sunday.

Lawrence chose Cincinnati over St. John’s and UNLV. He becomes the fifth commit in Cincinnati’s 2013 class, joining Kevin Johnson, Troy Caupain, DeShaun Morman, and Jaramee Strickland.

Over the past year, Lawrence has expanded his game out toward the perimeter and become a legitimate threat out to the three-point line. He is long and athletic, which allows him to get to the basket, rebound, and be an active defender. His performance on the spring AAU circuit turned heads and showed the expansion of his offensive game.

The last Top 100 recruit from New York City that Cronin was able to pull to Cincinnati was Lance Stephenson, who played one year with the Bearcats before jumping to the NBA.

Both St. John’s and UNLV had bothed keyed in on Lawrence, who was to be the centerpiece of each’s programs transition-style offense. UNLV has three commits in the Class of 2013, while St. John’s has still yet to secure any commitments.

To see video highlights of Lawrence, click here.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_