Lamont “MoMo” Jones has a problem.
There is no question he is a smart, tough, savvy New York point guard. There also appears to be little doubt he has trouble finding a basketball home.
He began his prep career at Rice, made a stop at American Christian School in Pennsylvania, and finished at national power Oak Hill in Virginia.
He gave verbal and/or written commitments to Louisville, Virginia Tech, USC, Arizona and possibly Xavier before ending up in Tucson, where last year he helped the Wildcats get to the NCAA West Region finals.
Last week, the Harlem native decided to transfer back East, he told confidants, to be closer to his maternal grandmother, who has taken ill.
Is this just MoMo being MoMo?
“Whatever he’s looking for, I hope he can find it,” said Arizona assistant Book Richardson of Queens. “I love him.”
As first reported by The Post, two sources said St. John’s was Jones’ first choice because — if granted a hardship waiver because of his grandmother’s illness by the NCAA — he could come in and immediately compete for the starting point guard job.
Sophomore Shabazz Napier established himself at UConn, helping the Huskies win the NCAA championship, and Seton Hall has mercurial senior Jordan Theodore. Those schools remain options, as does Hofstra.
But there’s a hitch in Jones’ St. John’s plan. One year ago, Red Storm coach Steve Lavin hired former Rice coach Moe Hicks as the school’s director of basketball operations. According to a 2010 rule, 11.4.2, a college that employs an individual associated with a prospective student-athlete in any athletics department non-coaching staff position can’t recruit that player for two years.
It has become a controversial rule, because if St. John’s had hired Hicks as an assistant coach, it could recruit Jones. Even if Hicks accepts a job at another school, the two-year clause remains in effect.
Dermon Player, the former St. John’s and Seton Hall assistant coach who has been instrumental in helping match city players with colleges, has been advising Jones. Player did not return several calls and texts from The Post.
Jones is a valuable commodity. There aren’t many point guards with his skill and college experience that have two years of eligibility remaining. But any school that recruits Jones must question if he’ll honor his commitment.
“No one’s going to give him the benefit of the doubt,” said one college assistant who recruited Jones in the past. “How many high schools did he attend? How many colleges did he commit to?”
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The Post has learned that Hofstra coach Mo Cassera is about to hire former Connecticut assistant coach Pat Sellers.
Sellers was one of two assistants that resigned in the wake of the NCAA’s investigation of the Huskies’ program. He was a charged by the NCAA with providing false and misleading information to investigators, and was exonerated in February.
Sellers, who spent the last season coaching in China, is known as a tireless worker and was UConn’s lead recruiter for Kemba Walker. He can help Cassera get more of the city players Hofstra needs.
“It would be a great hire for Hofstra and a great hire for Pat, who is a terrific young coach and a terrific person,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun told The Post. “He’s great with kids and we need more of those coaches in the game.”