Prosper finds himself as player, person

Lester Prosper has attained stardom in college basketball and balance in his life. The 6-10 SUNY Old Westbury senior became a regular college student. That was as much a challenge as dominating the sport was.

Prosper was sent from his Caribbean home in Montserrat when he was 12 to live with his father in Yonkers. That did not work out, beginning an odyssey that eventually landed Prosper in a group home for his teenage years.

Day-to-day living took all his time; there was no room or desire for basketball. He was on the high school team as a junior at Mepham but did not play the game seriously until the summer after his senior year. That is when Old Westbury coach Bernard Tomlin discovered him.

Four years later, Prosper is one of the top players in Division III, finishing his final season with averages of 20.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots. He had a 39-point game against Purchase and a 28-point, 24-rebound game against Franklin & Marshall. In 106 career games, Prosper has 1,469 points (13.9 per game), 1,101 rebounds (10.4) and 249 blocked shots (2.3).

Prosper's future as a player and individual is a lot brighter than his past would have suggested. "I became a better athlete all around, but most of all a better person,'' he said. "That person four years ago didn't know where he was going, didn't think about basketball too much.''

Prosper, 22, left the group home for the campus dorms after his freshman season. "He's made a complete transition,'' Tomlin said. "He lives like a traditional college student. He lived in the dorm and in the summer stays with an aunt. I'm impressed with him. He has a lot of friends.''

Prosper wants to play at the next level and will try to find a pro team in Europe. "I'm going to France. We'll see what goes on,'' he said. "My expectations are to definitely take it to the next level to make everybody who stuck by me proud. And make myself proud and look back to where I came from and just say, 'Wow.' ''

Asked to describe Prosper's development during the last four years, Tomlin said of the 230-pounder, "The most significant change is he's gotten much stronger. When he was a freshman, he was a typical beanpole, getting shoved out of position in the post. He's put on some good upper-body strength. He can hold his position in the block. He needs game experience. The AAU kids played three, four games a day. He missed that IQ part, being able to react to situations without thinking about it. If he could get an opportunity to continue playing at any level, it would be interesting to see how he turns out.''

The elevation from Division III to pro ball would be a big jump for Prosper. If it does not happen, he will have a significant fallback option - his degree in criminology.

"If I make it or not, I have a degree and I can see myself being in the criminology field,'' he said. "I can't be in a cubicle. I want to train to be in a SWAT team. I like exciting jobs. I'm an outgoing guy. My figure is very big; my heart is very big. If basketball doesn't work out, I can always get into the SWAT team game.''

Big Saturday at Stony Brook, Hofstra

Stony Brook's men's lacrosse team, ranked fifth nationally in the preseason poll, opens its season Saturday by hosting No. 1 Virginia at noon. Virginia is off to a 2-0 start. Last May, Virginia beat Stony Brook, 10-9, in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal at Stony Brook.

In Hempstead, No. 7 Hofstra (2-0) plays No. 8 Princeton (0-0) at 11:30 a.m.

Hofstra also has a huge event in men's basketball. It will retire the uniform number (22) of star guard Charles Jenkins, who will play his last CAA game as Hofstra completes the regular season against Delaware.

Jenkins wears the number in tribute to his late brother, Kareem Albritton, who died at age 22 in 2001.

With at least two games remaining, Jenkins, who owns the Hofstra scoring record of 2,442 points and is averaging 23.3 points per game, has a shot at 2,500 career points. He broke the record of 2,276 set three years ago by former teammate Antoine Agudio.

It also is senior day, and the pregame ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 1:40 p.m. Hofstra (19-10) will be trying for a 20-win regular season under first-year coach Mo Cassara. If Hofstra does not reach the NCAA Tournament by capturing the CAA Tournament title, it is possible the Pride will look to host a game in one of the alternative postseason tournaments. That would give Jenkins an encore appearance on his home court.

Women's lacrosse coach named

Bob Vlahakis has been named coach of the inaugural women's lacrosse team at St. Joseph's.

Vlahakis led the girls team at Shoreham-Wading River High School to four state championships (2007-10), five Long Island titles and seven county championships. St. Joseph's expects to field the team in the spring of 2012.