Barclays Center lost some juice when Lincoln High, with McDonald’s All-American Isaiah Whitehead, was eliminated from the city playoffs on Wednesday.
But the Brooklyn arena may have the next best thing for Saturday’s PSAL Class AA championship game: Cardozo sophomore guard Rashond Salnave, considered by some as the next great city player in the making.
“Whatever you need to be a very big-time guard, he has a little or a lot of it in him,” said Cardozo coach Ron Naclerio, who has produced a handful of NBA players.
Naclerio praised Salnave’s limitless range and shooting touch, his slick handle, the ability to get to the basket and finish over bigger defenders, his advanced court vision.
The 6-foot-2 guard from Queens is leading Cardozo in scoring, averaging a shade over 18 points per game, and though he scored nine points in the semifinal victory over Brooklyn Collegiate on Wednesday at LIU Brooklyn — after pouring in 31 points in a quarterfinal win over South Shore — he was able to control the game by setting up his teammates with six assists.
He currently has two scholarship offers, from Manhattan and Fordham, but a number of top Division I schools have begun to take notice. Naclerio said Minnesota, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Connecticut are all looking to get into the mix.
Salnave said: “Of course I love it. At the stage I’m in now, being a sophomore, it’s good. It tells me I’m capable of getting more.”
“He’s going to be the best guard in the city as a junior,” one coach familiar with Salnave said. “He’s got great height, elite speed, handles the ball, creates in tight spaces. When he’s on, he’s really unstoppable.”
Salnave came to Cardozo with the most fanfare of any guard since Rafer Alston, Naclerio said, but he still played him on the junior varsity at his mother’s advice, and Salnave led the JV to the city final. Cardozo has produced a number of top guards, such as NBA players Royal Ivey and Alston, and Naclerio said at this point in his career, Salnave is as good as any of them.
“That’s pretty esteemed company,” the coach said.
Salnave has had to be this team’s best player from the get-go, and he has thrived in that role. It began last summer, when Cardozo entered a number of local high school leagues, and Salnave displayed his vast potential to his new teammates.
Salnave admitted he is surprised at how fast it all has come for him, the on-court success, the recruiting interest and the offers, the high praise. However, recognition doesn’t drive him.
Confident yet not cocky, he’s more concerned with wins and losses. Of the utmost importance is bringing home a title to Queens, which would be the school’s first in 15 years.
“Coming into Cardozo, I told Naclerio at least one of my four years I was going to take him to a championship,” Salnave said. “That would mean everything. It would be great to win it, and win it for Naclerio.”
Christ the King center Adonis Delarosa, the top unsigned senior in the city, will announce his college decision April 18. The 6-foot-11 wide body is being recruited by St. John’s, Rutgers, Hofstra, Fordham and South Carolina, among others. St. John’s coach Steve Lavin and assistants Tony Chiles and Jim Whitesell were on hand Friday night at Fordham to see Delarosa lead Christ the King to the Catholic city championship game on Sunday, where it will meet Bishop Loughlin.
Highly regarded junior point guard Isaiah Briscoe of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic attended the St. John’s victory over DePaul at the Garden last Sunday as a visitor of the Johnnies.
St. Peter’s senior point guard Glenn Sanabria took an official visit to Division II Southern New Hampshire on Monday and Division I schools Loyola, NJIT and Central Connecticut State have expressed interest. He is going to visit Central Connecticut after the season.
Sanabria and Xaverian junior wing Sayon Charles attended the Central Connecticut-Wagner NEC quarterfinal game on Thursday.
Junior college point guard Trey Dickerson of Queens is visiting Iowa this weekend. The Williston State College standout also is considering Nebraska, Saint Louis, Arizona State, Washington and Marquette, in addition to others.