Jon Severe had the luxury of a myriad of choices, and with it came the overwhelming weight of having so many options.
It was late March in Albany and the Christ the King star had yet to decide where he would go to college.
That week, Severe led his team to a state championship, earning MVP honors after scoring a Class AA State Federation-record 68 points in the final two games, but almost all anyone wanted to know was where the recently named New York State Mr. Basketball would go next.
There were the ACC, the Big East and the Big 12, among others, but it was in Albany, playing more than 150 miles from home, clarity came for Severe — and an unlikely frontrunner emerged.
Severe knew places such as Pittsburgh, Boston College, Kansas State and West Virginia just wouldn’t work.
Bigger did not mean better. Closer did.
“The day I started to think about Fordham, I was upstate and I was just thinking about the distance, thinking of all the times I’d went on a visit that I just got homesick and I wanted to come home,” Severe said. “That was one of the reasons. I was thinking I don’t want to go to a school and then want to come home all the time. I wanted to go to a school that was going to let me play and I’d be home.”
After seeing so many of New York’s best players leave the city for so many years, Fordham coach Tom Pecora said he wasn’t surprised the Brooklyn native stayed home. He’s just continually surprised he doesn’t see more players do the same.
“I always say to them in recruiting, ‘I see you playing in the summer leagues and AAU.’ And they’re always popping their shirts saying, ‘New York, New York, New York,’ and then it’s time to go to college and a lot of them leave,” Pecora said. “It just seems crazy to me that they would do that.
“I think he made a very mature decision. I give all of these young guys credit who make those kinds of decisions. It’s great experience, and you have your family and friends involved as you grow.”
If Severe’s game keeps growing, tiny Rose Hill Gym will need to expand.
The freshman phenom has led the long-struggling Rams to a 3-2 start this season, scoring a team-high 23.2 points — ranking 17th in the nation entering Friday night — with a 30-point effort in Tuesday’s upset win at rival Manhattan and a Fordham freshman-record 28 points in his debut.
“I knew he would have an immediate impact on us, just with his ability to score the basketball,” said Pecora, who is playing Severe 38.8 minutes a game. “The bottom line is he has a skill set that is exceptional.”
A small shooting guard at 6-foot-2, Severe is a natural scorer who contributes in a variety of ways. He’s patient on drives, possesses a power dribble that doesn’t favor either hand and can smoothly transition from drive to jumper with a quick pull-up.
Without the ball, he waits for the ball. He lives on the perimeter, hugging the 3-point line.
Without the ball, he’ll call for the ball. His teammates usually oblige, with the respect and confidence given to players who have played more than five college games.
Nearly as soon as the ball touches his hands, it’s out of his hands. Severe, who attempts 9.8 3-pointers a game and shoots 38.8 percent from outside the arc, is ready to shoot at every opportunity, even when there appears to be no opportunity. He sees his green light as yellow, quickly acting before opportunity is lost.
“Jon is just like pure energy,” Pecora said. “He’s like a Super Ball with all this energy compressed together. He’s explosive.”
Pecora compares him to “gym rats” he coached at Hofstra such as Speedy Claxton and Charles Jenkins, while describing Severe as “humble” and “level-headed.”
Senior Branden Frazier has been impressed by Severe’s selflessness and talent, the latter making him feel he no longer has to carry a team Atlas couldn’t have held up the past few years.
“He just wants to win,” Frazier said. “Just knowing him, just talking to him, he just wants to go out and play his hardest. That’s what it comes down to.”
Games of the Week
St. Francis Brooklyn at Stony Brook, Sunday, 2 p.m.
The Seawolves won last year’s game in Brooklyn and will once again be the favorite, coming off a triple-overtime win at Detroit in which Jameel Warney put up 32 points and 21 rebounds. The Terriers, who opened the season with a win at Miami, could prove to be Northeast Conference contenders.
Iona at Florida Gulf Coast, Sunday, 2 p.m.
Senior Sean Armand led Iona to a win over previously unbeaten George Mason last weekend, but now the Gaels must head south to “Dunk City” for a date with everyone’s favorite underdog. The Eagles are 4-2 without former coach Andy Enfield (now at USC).
LIU Brooklyn at Seton Hall, Thursday, 7 p.m.
The three-time defending NEC champion Blackbirds are desperate for a win, having been blown out three straight times since their one-point loss at Indiana. The Pirates, who routed LIU last season at Barclays Center, could repeat that feat with transfer guard Sterling Gibbs’ stellar all-around play.
Local Power Poll
1. St. John’s
Record: 4-2
Sat. (2 p.m.) vs. Georgia Tech
2. Stony Brook
Record: 5-2
Up next: Sunday (2 p.m.) vs. St. Francis Brooklyn
3. Seton Hall
Record: 4-2
Up next: Sunday (2 p.m.) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
4. Manhattan
Record: 3-2
Up next: Saturday (4 p.m.) at Hofstra
5. Iona
Record: 2-2
Up next: Sunday (2 p.m.) at Florida Gulf Coast
6. Fordham
Record: 3-2
Up next: Wednesday (7 p.m.) vs. Furman
7. Wagner
Record: 4-4
Up next: Tuesday (7 p.m.) vs. Lafayette
8. St. Francis Brooklyn
Record: 4-3
Up next: Sunday (2 p.m.) at Stony Brook
9. Columbia
Record: 4-3
Up next: Sunday (2 p.m.) at Elon
10. Rutgers
Record: 4-4
Up next: Wednesday (7 p.m.) at George Washington