Former St. Benedict’s Prep star and Bronx native Melvin Johnson has asked and received his release from his National Letter of Intent with Miami, The Post has learned.
One the nation’s top shooters, the 6-foot-2 Johnson parted ways with Miami, “for mutual reasons,” his mother Kizzy Gladden said.
“It was because of circumstances beyond our control,” she told The Post, declining to elaborate. He has been cleared by the NCAA’s Clearinghouse, Gladden said.
Johnson, she said, has two remaining official visits left, which he plans to take. In September, the former Rice standout picked Miami over Virginia Tech, Georgetown, South Florida, Dayton and the College of Charleston. A four-star recruit by Scout.com ranked as the No. 14 shooting guard in the Class of 2013, he led St. Benedict’s to a 35-3 season and it finished 15th in the USA Today national rankings.
“We want it [done] as soon as possible,” Gladden said. “Classes start in a month. I’m hoping the next week, week and a half. We don’t want to make a circus out of it.”
“I didn’t want to go through the process again,” she added. “It’s rough. It’s hard for me and him. But I see everything happens for a reason.”