Amaurys Fermin, a 6-2, 210 point guard from Hagerstown City College in Maryland and a former New York City prep standout, said Wednesday that he had committed to play basketball at Cal Poly next season.
Per NCAA rules, New Mustangs head coach Joe Callero could not comment beyond confirming that Fermin was going to be in town this weekend for an official visit, and he has said previously that the team only had one visit remaining.
There’s an in-depth story on Fermin in Thursday’s print edition of The Tribune, but I wanted to throw a couple tidbits on the blog for the insiders who come online to read my ramblings.
Talking to Amaurys (pronounced Uh-mar-ee; the “s” is silent) and his coach, Hagerstown’s Earl Redden, it sounds like Fermin can come in right away and contribute. He’s a pass-first guard who can penetrate and score when called upon.
Here are his statistics from the past season: 17.5 points per game, 8.2 assists per game (5th in NJCAA), 4.0 rebounds per game, 1.3 steals per game, 33.33 percent from 3-point range (31 of 93), 44 percent on field goals, 61.6 percent on free throws.
Redden had good things to say:
“There were so many times that I can remember this year where he stole the ball then went the length of the court and finished right a the iron with people hanging on him.
“He hit the game-winning shot against our big rival, Frederick Community College, on our floor. They had went down and scored with like 11 seconds to go, and I kind contemplated calling timeout.
“He saw a gap, and he just went off the dribble right down the lane. And then scored right on the right hand side of the basket just as the buzzer went off. It was a big win for us, and I think it did a lot for him. And the team really realized that, ‘Hey he was going to put us on his back and get the win.’
A Dominican Republic transplant to Bronx, N.Y., Fermin had an outstanding prep career at John F. Kennedy High, leading his team to a public school city title. He’s an exciting talent who would likely make a big impact in his first year.
Here’s the catch with Fermin. He’s never before been able to get eligible for his NCAA Division I suitors. He still needs to pass three summer classes before he can be eligible at Cal Poly. He graduated high school in 2005 and would be a 22-year old college junior.
I can only guess that Callero is hoping Fermin has righted his life and can handle the rigorous academic life of a student at Cal Poly. It’s a roll of the dice for both, but, according to Fermin, the Mustangs coach seems very committed to seeing Fermin succeed.
Callero’s attitude and approach are what won him over as he was getting attention from other schools.
“It was a lot of schools recruiting me throughout the year,” Fermin said. “I had a lot of Big East schools, a lot of schools talking and saying the same thing.
“He spoke a lot about my future after Cal Poly, and what he’s trying to do. He was being up front with me and being what kind of guy he really is.”
That makes four recruits for Callero and one from former coach Kevin Bromley committed to play next season. How do you feel about the latest Mustangs recruit to surface? And how do you like the job Callero has done so far?
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June 4th, 2009 at 7:44 am
I Am From the baltimore city area and I watched Fermin play against Baltimore City Community College this past year and I was really amazed on seeing that kid play. He cab score, pass, run the team, is vocal, he does the things a TOP division 1 PG would do. His Finnese and His New York Toughness is what impresses me. I am 43 years old and I been around Baltimore city for quite a while watching JC Basketball and I must say this Kid Is Special. I don’t really know much about the coach at Cal Poly but, he made a right choice by adding this kid to the program.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I think it is a great signing for Cal Poly. I also think that Callero has a better academic support system in place than the last staff which will help Fermin to stay on course academically. Way to go Joe.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Next year projected starting line up
Fermin PG
Keeler SG
Lewis Wing
Dipprey PF
Donahue C
June 4th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
FERMIN is the GUY Cal Poly Needs!!! Poly Should Roll The Red Carpet As Soon As He Lands. The Whole Thing About Him Getting Qualified, I’m From A Small Town In New Jersey And I’m Going To Say This Like This..If Poly Really Wants Him They Will Do Whatever It Takes For Him To Suit Up Next Year!!
June 4th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Softball coach…
Quality line up, but rather have Hanson in rather than Dipprey
Yes Dipprey gets plenty of boards, but the 2ppg turns us into a 4 on 5 offensive team
June 7th, 2009 at 8:54 am
What happend to Cal Poly’s accademic standards? I would love to see this kids transcrips. I’ll bet there are a lot of grades posted on there from on line courses. Five schools in five years? This kid will never last at Cal Poly. The academics are just too tough.
June 9th, 2009 at 6:13 am
I do not know Dan, maybe he is a smart kid that had no direction or guidance in high school. It looks like he made some bad choices. He may have grown up an got some direction from a coach or teacher and really changed his focus. Let’s at least give him a chance.
June 9th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Something tells me he may never make it to SLO. Is it possible to take two years of PE classes, complete your playing eligibility, and then drop out? This guy seems more fit for Cal State Northridge (8% basketball graduation rate) than SLO. How do you pass 3 classes over the summer, when you can’t pass 5 class during a whole semester? This is an embarrassment for SLO.
June 9th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Scholastic ability aside, he sounds like a good pick for Poly.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:22 am
I coached Amaurys this past year on and off and i recently spoke to him about his decision making process.. as of today 6/10/08 Amaurys is done with 2 of those classes that he is taking in the summer. the last class class he is still taking is a college algebra class which speaking to his teacher he is doing pretty good and the class ends in the first week of july. Not only because i was coaching him, i would say Amaurys is a special kid. He went on an took 19 credit hours the first semester and 19 the second semester winding up passing all of them with a 3.1 gpa. Basketball wise this is a steal for Cal Poly basketball program and academically he is holding his own ground. I personally think some of you guys should keep them negative comments to yourselves and appreciate him even deciding to go there.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:32 am
I watched this kid play when he came up on his vist this past weekend.. man o man Cal Poly is going to be winning games this year. This is young impression of Jason Kidd but scores better. Congratulations to Joe Callero and his coaching staff for snatching this kid. Doing some research on him, the kid was being recruited by Memphis, UCF,Boise state, kent state, marshall, Depaul, seton hall, Cincinatti,Duquesne and many other programs. My question is how in the world did Cal Poly Snag him from these schools? Good Steal Callero. O Yea I defenitly agree with you former coach.. stop the hating!!
June 10th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Its not even July and he’s almost done with “summer school” interesting system they got going on back in Maryland.
Sounds like he’ll be a REC major at Cal Poly, given that he wants to do Sports Management, unless he wants to be on the Business side. If he goes REC, he’ll have no problem getting through school at CP, unless he pulls a Chaz Thomas and never shows up.
Still think CP is behind the ball on the LBSU, CSUNs, and UCSBs in the BW however, should be fun to watch
June 10th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Thanks for the insight Former Coach. I am very excited that he decided to continue his education at Cal Poly and looking forward to watching him play. I also agree that Cal Poly is lucky to have a player of his ability playing basketball here. I am sure he will do well both in the school and basketball.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I hope someone in addmissions takes a hard look at his transcripts. Good Lord!
June 11th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Hey Dan unless you have seen the transcipts you do not know what you are talking about so STFU. And yes, I am sure the addmissions office will take a close look, but thanks for your concern.
June 11th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I Go to school here in hagerstown CC and I know Amaury.. The reason he is done with his other two classes is because they were 5 week courses..Here at HCC they have 5 weeks, 7 weeks, and 15 week summer courses available. The two classes he just finished were 5 weeks..to be realistic I think dan is just a hater.. Might be a CP player or just a hater period. Is Cool how Amaury is getting all this publicity and he is not even up there yet. He will be the Man at Cal Poly.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Did’nt Callero used to coach at USC? hmmmmmm
June 15th, 2009 at 11:25 am
So did Bob Cantu, the coach everyone on here was pimping. hmmmmmm
June 18th, 2009 at 12:15 am
i like all these cal poly nerds saying “look at his transcripts!” who cares about his transcripts up til now. Sounds like he’s doing good in school here right now, so itll probably carry over. just give him a chance he sounds like a great kid and a kid we need badly.