Collier to St. Anthony

The St. Anthony basketball team has picked up another talented New York City player for the 2008-09 season.

Devon Collier, a 6-foot-7, 212-pound swingman, has transferred to the Jersey City school from All Hallows.

"He's in school, he began school (Monday)," legendary St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said.

Collier joins New Heights teammate Ashton Pankey, a 6-8 forward who recently transferred to St. Anthony from Archbishop Molloy.

"(Collier) was looking to learn under coach Hurley, to take his game to the next level and he has all the potential in the world to do that," said Jeff Rivera of New Heights.

The Daily News reported that Collier was suspended for eight games when he got into an altercation with former teammate Shane Southwell after a loss in January. Southwell later transferred to Rice HS.

Hurley said he new little about Collier other than that "he's out of the New Heights program and they don't think he's been monitored enough academically and there are some issues with how hard he's worked in the classroom. He's supposed to be a nice kid, but he needs to work much harder in a lot of areas.

"When the guys leave us, nobody's wondering (what might have happened) if only we had worked harder."

Led by six future Division I players, including Rutgers-bound McDonald's All-American Mike  Rosario, St. Anthony went a perfect 32-0 to win the Tournament of Champions last season.

Still, that team is losing a slew of talented guards and will now rely on junior wing Dominic Cheek, along with returning guards Willie Vaughn of Paterson and Devon McLeod, as well as forward Jamee Jackson, to complement Pankey and Collier.

Collier reportedly has interest St. John's, Seton Hall, Hofstra, Rutgers, Manhattan, Fordham, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, and St. Francis.

"He has drawn major, major interest," Rivera said. "He's a high-major Division I player. He can be one of Coach Hurley's better players that will come through his program after it's all said and done. I believe he can be that good if he develops the right work ethic under Coach Hurley.

"Devon can hurt you in a number of ways. He can post you up. He can put it on the floor and take it to the basket. He can put in offensive rebounds. He needs a little work extending his jump shot. but if he does that, Oh my God, scary, scary good."

New Heights will be playing at the Boo Williams Nike Invitational event this weekend.

(Photos courtesy NYChoops.net and Rivals)