By Matt Norlander

The decision for Jakarr Sampson to leave St. Vincent-St. Mary and go to Brewster Academy was on Dawnett Epps and Dawnett Epps alone.

I just spoke with Epps, Jakarr’s mother, and she was adamant in letting me know, despite St. Vincent-St. Mary coach Dru Joyce II implying otherwise, Xavier was not involved whatsoever with Jakarr making the move from his public Akron high school to the elite basketball prep school in Wolfeboro, N.H.

“Xavier had nothing to do with my son,” she said. “This year, when he really started doing well, I noticed all the coaches asking for his transcript. I love my son and I didn’t want to put him in a position for failure. This was all my doing, regardless of what anyone says. This was a mother looking out for her son.”

So why is Xavier’s name being tossed around? Because, at one point, the Musketeers were involved. Sampson and his mother took two unofficial visits to the school a year ago, and the school was scouting him, but it soon became clear his grades were not good enough.

“As a matter of fact, they were instrumental, very instrumental, in letting me know his grades were below par with the school he was at,” Epps said. “Coach (Pat) Kelsey has been tremendous; he didn’t do anything to persuade me. This was my decision and mine alone.”

Epps remained transparent — if it was a perfect world, Xavier would be the place for Sampson.

 “Coach Kelsey, coach (Chris) Mack, they were my top school,” Epps said. “What had happened was, at the recruitment start, other colleges were coming into the school and looking at his grades situation. The most important person who was there was coach Kelsey. He wasn’t suggesting any prep school.”

The core classes and the grades in those classes became the issue. Epps said “90 percent” of the coaches she and her son met with suggested he make a move to a prep school after they saw his transcript.

“Now, they didn’t suggest any prep school, though,” she said. “But Jakarr is not going to make it, according to the transcripts.”

Because of that advice, Sampson began to inquire about a move to a different prep school: Oak Hill Academy. As soon as the second half of the 2010 school year began, Sampson was eyeing a transfer to the Mouth of Wilson, Va., school. This debate bubbled up at the beginning of last December, when Epps noticed how Sampson’s grades had begun to suffer. It was soon realized the Oak Hill Academy transfer wasn’t feasible, and Sampson stuck out the remainder of his junior year at St. Vincent-St. Mary, where he soon began to climb up rankings boards.

The Brewster Academy connection comes by way of Anthony Crater, who knows Sampson and his AAU coach, Don Anderson. Crater went to Brewster Academy before enrolling at Ohio State for a semester before transferring to South Florida, where he’ll be a junior this fall. On the word of Crater and Anderson, Epps made a call to Brewster Academy coach Jason Smith.

“My son needs to be more focused,” Epps said. “I had to get him into a situation where he could improve his grades.”

The move for Sampson to Brewster Academy was finalized Monday, when he and his mother were at the school, signing papers and taking tours.

“Jakarr was kind of hesitant to do this because he wanted to finish out with his friends,” Epps said. “He really loves coach Dru and his friends there, but his dream is to play college basketball. I had to sit down and show him the steps, the reality, what it’s going to take for him to get on a college basketball floor. I wasn’t trying to send him to a junior college or any other place.”

Jakarr will start classes on Sept. 11.

If Sampson had the grades, there’s little doubt his mother would be pushing him very hard to choose Xavier and stay close to home. But that’s not going to be the case. As of now, Epps said the colleges on his list are Baylor, St. John’s, Tennessee and Louisville. Kansas, which was in the picture, is not right now, primarily because of his grades and the fact Epps said she hasn’t talked with anyone from the school.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @CHJournal