Ron Naclerio could tell immediately that James Southerland was not a post player. Regardless of how tall Southerland was when he and his father, Jim, walked into Naclerio’s office on a late June day toward the end of Southerland’s eighth-grade year, just the way he moved told Naclerio something different. Jim Southerland told Naclerio his son could shoot the ball.

They walked upstairs to the gym and watched Southerland shoot. He had the form. The confidence. And what made him truly unique for a knockdown shooter, the height.

Through the arduous workouts and practices with Naclerio at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens, N.Y., the competition against elite players in his class and his ability to excel academically despite a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the sixth grade, Southerland opened the eyes of major Division-I programs, including Syracuse.

After three years in the background with the Orange, Southerland opened the eyes of the rest of the country in his senior season, which was interrupted for six games because of an academic-related eligibility issue.

“I really felt like I could take it this far. Luckily, I was blessed to have a lot of good people around me,” Southerland said. “It’s just a blessing and I’m glad I got this far.”

Basketball provided Southerland with an outlet. A place where focus was never an issue.

Jim Southerland said James struggled in a classroom setting as a child, but tested well, which raised red flags. James was tested for learning disabilities, and that’s when he was diagnosed with ADHD.

Southerland said it’s not something that bothers him. With ADHD, Southerland said if he misses five shots, he’s probably not thinking about them when he takes his sixth.

“So you’ve got to take the good with the bad,” Southerland said. “It doesn’t stop me from doing anything.”

Certainly not on the court.

Naclerio knew Southerland was a special player from the first time he saw him shoot. He decided to put Southerland on the varsity roster, where he could push him every day in practice.

As a freshman, he was practicing with players headed to Division-I teams, including Gonzaga-bound Theo Davis.

Southerland showed flashes of brilliance in practice, Naclerio said.

“Put it this way, if he did well in practice, he was doing it against really good players,” Naclerio said.

Southerland stepped into a starting role his sophomore year and continued to improve. That’s when he started getting the recognition that lasted for the rest of his high school years.

During Southerland’s junior season, Cardozo scrimmaged Brooklyn’s Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. The day before the scrimmage, Naclerio received a call from Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who expressed interest in coming to watch then-Bishop Loughlin star Devin Ebanks. Ebanks ended up going to West Virginia and now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Naclerio told him he had a stud who could shoot.

The day of the scrimmage, Naclerio and Southerland were walking toward the gym when they ran into Pitino. Naclerio said Southerland became so nervous, he struggled to introduce himself.

Pitino already knew who he was.

Southerland didn’t take an outside shot the entire first quarter, but Pitino saw all he needed to see during warm-ups.

“After the first quarter,” Naclerio said, “I went by Pitino, he goes, ‘Ron, you’re right, he can shoot the s*** out of the ball.’”

The calls from Big East schools started rolling in. St. John’s expressed interest. Southerland said the instability within the coaching staff limited his interest in playing for the Red Storm. Then-head coach Norm Roberts, who grew up with Jim Southerland, was fired from SJU in 2010.

Southerland only wanted to go to Syracuse.

“I knew from ninth or 10th grade. It was early. I feel like it had a lot to do with where I came from. Basketball was big in that area,” Southerland said. “My high school drew a lot of crowds. I thought like, 2,000 people are at our games, so imagine 35,000.”

The interest between Southerland and Syracuse was mutual. Southerland impressed SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins immediately at an open workout.

Southerland committed to Syracuse early in his junior season. But he still wasn’t ready for college, physically or emotionally. He enrolled at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., and stayed for two years.

Everything Naclerio taught Southerland about working hard at Cardozo carried over to Notre Dame Prep.

Head coach Ryan Hurd said Southerland would wake up at 5:30 a.m. to go on a two-mile run, come back to the gym to shoot, then take a quick nap before breakfast and his first class.

It was an incredible routine Southerland never even told the coaches about. Hurd said they only found out about it once the coaches saw him running one morning.

By the time Southerland arrived at Syracuse, he had a remarkable shooting form combined with an ability to dribble and drive to the basket. He could make jaw-dropping dunks and athletic shots at the rim.

But for his first couple of seasons, his playing time for the Orange was limited. Southerland began to grow concerned he wouldn’t crack Syracuse’s lineup. Other college coaches began calling Naclerio, telling him they’d be glad to take Southerland if he wasn’t happy at Syracuse.

Last year, he started seeing more playing time. He played in all 37 games and drained 37 3-pointers. But Dion Waiters, an eventual-No. 4 pick in last June’s NBA Draft, held the role of the Orange’s sixth man. Southerland waited patiently behind him.

“Last year, we had a bunch of guys, but at the end of the year, James was big for us,” SU assistant coach Adrian Autry said. “James was, if you really looked at it, he was right there, but we had so many names, so I think this year, when that came out, it was like, ‘We didn’t know he was that good.’”

Southerland had a brilliant start to his senior season, including Syracuse’s game at Arkansas, where he hit nine 3-pointers and scored 35 points. In the following two months, he had three games with at least three 3s. He was a spark off of the bench.

But everything grinded to a halt on Jan. 12. The NCAA announced Southerland was ineligible. Eventually, it became clear it was academically related.

For everyone around Southerland, it was a shock. He had gotten a 3.3 GPA. Jim Southerland said his son had done so well during summer school, professors were giving him recommendations and praising him for his hard work.

The suspension contradicted all of that.

“I was upset, a little frustrated,” Southerland said. “There was nothing I could really do about it, that’s what frustrated me. They don’t know why.”

Southerland ended up missing six games. During that time, he worked on the scout team during practice. He worked harder than ever, not only to keep fresh, but to also keep his mind off everything off of the court.

When the team traveled, though, Southerland couldn’t be there. His Syracuse teammates were without the player whose outgoing personality could lift them all up. Southerland said it was painful watching television while his team lost on the road at Villanova and Pittsburgh.

“A basketball team is a close-knit group,” Autry said. “So it’s like one of your brothers not being there and you know they want to be there and they can’t be there and also, he’s paid his dues. He’s a senior.”

On Feb. 8, Southerland appealed to a Syracuse University academic hearing panel and won. He returned to the court and started knocking down shots immediately. In each of his first seven games after the suspension, he hit at least three 3-pointers.

He turned Madison Square Garden into his personal showcase, hitting a Big East tournament record with 19 3-pointers in Syracuse’s four games, leaving everyone in the building in awe.

He opened up even more eyes. With his performance, Southerland put himself in good position for the NBA Draft in June. His ability to hit big shots off of the bench could make him a valuable commodity among professional teams.

“Whether it’s in the NBA or overseas,” Southerland said, “I just want to continue playing basketball and doing something I love.”

He’ll have that chance.

Southerland is closing his collegiate career with the same type of performances he burst onto the New York City scene with back at Cardozo with Naclerio. His picture hangs throughout his old high school, in the locker room filled with orange and blue lockers, and on the walls of Naclerio’s office.

Southerland’s skill has only increased through the years as the work he puts in on and off of the court becomes more intense.

He starred in high school. He starred in college. Another level awaits.

“I think you always need someone that can shoot the ball, and he’s athletic,” Autry said. “There’s always a place for people like that.”

Published on March 19, 2013 at 12:35 am

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