The No. 1 junior prep basketball player in NC is transferring out of state

Rocky River High boys’ basketball star Jaden Springer, the No. 1 ranked rising junior in North Carolina, is transferring out of state, his mother told the Observer.

Barbarita Springer confirmed that her son will be transferring to IMG Academy, a boarding school in Brandenton, Fla. The school was founded in 1978 by legendary tennis coach Nick Bolletieri. Tuition there is nearly $79,000 annually for boarding school students.

Former Duke point guard Trevon Duval played for IMG, which annually has a team full of nationally ranked talent.

Springer, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds as a sophomore. He led Rocky River to its first N.C. 4A Western Regional championship game last March and was named Southwestern 4A Player of the Year and to the Observer’s All-Mecklenburg team.

Springer is a consensus top 25 player nationally. 247Sports, a recruiting site that follows recruiting, ranks him No. 15 nationally and No. 5 at his position. In North Carolina, Phenom Hoop Report ranks Springer at a tie for No. 1 in the N.C. Class of 2020, alongside 6-10 Raleigh Trinity Academy junior Isaiah Todd, who won a state championship at John Marshall (Va.) High last season before moving to North Carolina.

Springer is the second Mecklenburg County top 100 national recruit to transfer out of state.

Earlier this month, former North Mecklenburg all-conference star Jae’Lyn Withers, a 6-foot-10 rising senior, transferred to Cleveland (Ohio) Heights High School.

▪ One top 100 player is transferring to town: West Charlotte will add 6-6 forward Juwan Gary, a top 75 national recruit who is transferring from Gray Collegiate in Columbia.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 11:23 AM.