Rider Will Seek Waiver for Nurideen Lindsey

Rider will seek an NCAA waiver for St. John’s transfer Nurideen Lindsey in hopes of getting him eligible for the first semester of next season.

“We will apply for a waiver so that he doesn’t need to sit any games next season,” Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey told SNY.tv. “Nuri has been through a lot and he is happy to be getting closer to home. Being at Rider will give him a chance to play Division 1 college basketball while being close to the family.”

As reported last week, the Philly native opted to transfer to Rider instead of Arkansas.

Under NCAA rules he would have to sit until December 2012 without a waiver.

“Nuri is a big-time guard and we are excited to have him in our program,” Dempsey said. “If you are going to compete for the MAAC championship you have to have a couple guys who can play with anyone in the country.

“We expect him to be that type of player for us for the next two years.”

The 6-foot-3 Lindsey averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in nine games this season for the Red Storm.

Lindsey joins another Philly schoolboy star, Derrick Stewart, a senior at Neumann-Goretti, as well as Shawn Valentine of Atco, N.J., and Khalil Alford of Durham, N.C., in next year’s class.

“We expect that Nuri, Derrick, Shawn and Khalil will help us move this program forward for years to come,” Dempsey said.