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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Jackson, Johnson leaving Rider

Two Rider players -- sophomore forward Jermaine Jackson and freshman point guard Carl Johnson -- have decided to leave the program, coach Tommy Dempsey said Wednesday. Dempsey said both players wanted to move to schools where they could get more playing time.

Jackson, highly regarded as a high school prospect in Reading, Pa., had a disappointing and at times troubling career at Rider. In 50 games, he averaged 1.8 points and 11.8 minutes, going from an occasional starter to a seldom-used reserve. In Rider's last six games, he played only once -- for two minutes in a blowout loss to Siena on Feb. 26.

After the game, Jackson criticized Rider's coaches on his Facebook page. A day later, backup center Robbie Myers was also critical of Dempsey, but Jackson and Myers dressed for the Broncs' MAAC tournament games against Saint Peter's and Siena.

Johnson, from Philadelphia via St. Thomas Moore Prep in Connecticut, signed with Rider after Matt Griffin opted to transfer to Boston University. He played in 22 games, averaging 1.3 points.

The departures leave Rider with two additional scholarships to fill. The Broncs have signed 6-foot-7 forward Danny Stewart to a letter of intent and secured a verbal commitment from 6-4 shooting guard Anthony Myles. DeShawn Mitchell, a 6-5 guard who sat out this season after transferring from UNLV, will also be eligible next year.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love it, two more 'ships for Dempsey who can finally rid himself of at least one recruiting mistake and probably two. Dempsey has a monster class coming in and they could be very good if he learns how to develop and motivate his team. He needs to can his assistants too. Tell him to call me if he needs pointers.

GO RIDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

March 17, 2010 4:07 PM 
Anonymous rider2 said...

Great chance for the program to turn this situation from a negative into a positive!

March 17, 2010 4:52 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

great news

March 17, 2010 8:18 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rider will probably be a .500 team for the next few years, similar to this year. Losing RT is a lot to overcome.

March 18, 2010 10:43 PM 

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