By Joseph Staszewski
It was an opportunity Amanni Fernandez couldn’t pass up.
The 5-foot-6 rising senior basketball point guard had intentions on returning to Christ the King next season. Interest from Dartmouth in late July ended up making her reassess her situation.
She and her mother Jezebel looked for an institution with superb academics and found one in The Lawrenceville School (N.J.), which she will attend this fall and reclassify into the class of 2014.
“It was one of the top academic schools in the country,” Fernandez said. “I couldn’t turn it down. My goal is to go to the Ivy League.”
Fernandez found out she was accepted and would receive financial aid from the New Jersey private school Aug. 24. Fernandez, who said her family could no longer afford the Christ the King tuition, decided a move would be best. She informed Royals Coach Bob Mackey and is already at Lawrenceville in preparation of the upcoming school year.
“She’s a great kid, good player, good student,” Mackey said. “I wish her the best. If that’s something that the family feels, I’m not going to tell anybody how to raise their child. She’s been a great asset to Christ the King and she will be missed.”
Her departure leaves CK without its two veteran point guards. Last year’s starter, Alyssa Gatti, is recovering from a torn ACL and is hopeful she could return in January. Fernandez talked in late July of possibly seizing an opportunity for increased playing time after a rocky junior campaign that did not see her meet expectations.
Mackey said the team has won without a point guard before and it’s something they will deal with come November.
“It was just the biggest heartbreak for me,” Fernandez said of leaving CK. “If I could have chose not to leave, I definitely wouldn’t have left if it was any other school. I had to pick out what was best for me. I still love everybody at Christ the King.”
She’s excited to get the next chapter of her life started. Fernandez’s team is in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League, which is brimming with local products. Former Molloy guard Janelle Mullen is at the Hun School and former Nazareth standout Sadie Edwards transferred to Blair Academy. Katcia Perryman, a Poughkeepsie native who plays her travel ball at New Heights, is at the Peddie School.
“I’m up for the challenge,” Fernandez said. “If it’s what I want to do. I have to put my all into it and I am definitely going to do that.”
