Sports

Going where he’s wanted, Canty verbals to Marshall

Kareem Canty’s recruitment was like a roller coaster – going from up to down to up again. As schools came in and left, one was a mainstay.

That one – Marshall – was the final one standing. The 6-foot-1 Harlem guard verbally committed to the Thundering Herd and head coach Tom Herrion during an official visit to West Virginia on Saturday afternoon.

“I felt I was needed here and I wasn’t a second option,” he told The Post. “I’m happy to have this done with and I feel confident with my decision. … The town, the people, the team, I fell in love with everything.”

Canty, who spent his first three years of high school at Bishop Loughlin, was at Bridgton Academy (Maine) last year and is currently doing a postgraduate year at Westwind Prep (Ariz.), picked Marshall over Seton Hall. During his recruitment, he nearly committed to Xavier and had offers from Big East, Pac-12 and ACC schools.

Herrion and Marshall remained involved. They were at every game during the July live recruiting period and it was Herrion, along with assistant Dino Presley, doing the recruiting.

“He told me he needed me, not that he wanted me,” Canty said. “He was recruiting me hard. It wasn’t a tough decision.”

Darryl Washington, Canty’s AAU coach with the Long Island Lightning, said the courtship began to heat up a few weeks ago with an in-home visit. Canty’s mother, Nicole Coles, and grandmother, Rosa Canty, warmed to Herrion and liked everything Marshall had to offer.

“After that, it was really a done deal,” Washington said. “He said he wanted to go to Marshall.”

Marshall is getting one of the top remaining point guards in the Class of 2012, a pass-first floor general ranked 21st at his position by Scout.com. He could start as a freshman as senior point guard Damier Pitts graduates.

“He didn’t have the best summer, so his stock dropped, but if he can get focused, he can be a very, very good player,” one Division I coach familiar with Canty said. “He’s a strong, break-you-down player. He uses his body very well. He’s not ultra quick, but he gets in the lane and he’s a smart basketball player.”

The only questions marks regarding Canty some have raised – such as questionable grades and attitude problems – Washington said are non-issues. Canty is set to qualify, Washington said, and he’s never noticed off-the-court problems.

“He’s received a lot of press from stuff he didn’t do,” the coach said. “I’ve known him since he was 10 years old and I’ve never had one problem with him. To me, he’s a top point guard in the 2012 class and I think time will show that. He’s gonna surprise a lot of people.”

Canty is just happy to have his Division I scholarship with a coach and team he felt wanted by.

“I got a lot off my chest,” he said. “Now I can just focus on my last season of high school. I feel we have a good team here. Marshall is on the come up and I want to help turn the program around.”

zbraziller@nypost.com