Jermaine Lawrence’s Manhattan College career appears to be over.
The talented 6-foot-10 forward from Queens, a one-time top 20 recruit, has withdrawn from classes for the fall semester, the school confirmed on Monday, likely capping a disappointing tenure at the MAAC school.
The news comes on the heels of the school suspending Lawrence for half the season following a failed drug test. However, it only came two months after the junior was initially told by school officials he would only be forced to sit out one exhibition games, sources told The Post.
His mother, Marcia Lawrence, told ESPN he would either transfer to a Division II or III school, or explore professional options overseas.
Manhattan, the two-time defending MAAC champion, opened its season Monday night on the road against St. Mary’s (Calif.).
Lawrence left Cincinnati following one underwhelming season, but didn’t play much for Manhattan last year, averaging 4.8 points in 13.1 minutes per game. He was expected to help fill the frontcourt void left by the departures of Emmy Andujar and Ashton Pankey.
He didn’t play in the final six games last year, including the entire MAAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament, because he was suspended for a “violation of team rules.” Marcia Lawrence told ESPN that she believes he was being punished for refusing to take a drug test then, which is being considered one of the offenses. She also said multiple attempts to contact the school were unsuccessful.
Lawrence received a letter from the school on Sept. 4 with the initial discipline after testing positive for marijuana, but this month the school doled out the additional punishment — which includes losing half of his scholarship — after saying he had failed two tests, according to multiple sources, who claim Lawrence never failed a second test.
Lawrence was scheduled to attend an appeal Thursday and had agreed to participate in a drug counseling and treatment program, but his mother said he was not allowed to appeal the basketball suspension.