Cathedral Prep will be without one of its best returning basketball players this winter as senior Michael Lucarotti has transferred to Andrews Osborne in Cleveland.
Lucarotti, a 6-foot-4 guard, has been instrumental in the Prep basketball program for the past few years and has been verbally engaged in Youngstown State. He was Prep’s third-leading scorer as a rookie with 6.6 points per game and led the team with 14.5 points per game in his sophomore.
Lucarotti has averaged 15.1 points per game as a junior and 840 career points after three seasons with the Ramblers. He’s been fortunate enough to join a solid roster of 1,000-point scorers in Prep history, which includes RaSean Thrower, Sheldon Zablotny, and Matt Harris over the past decade.
Lucarotti is a two-time all-region pick, an all-district pick and was named to the All-State squad last winter for the Ramblers.
Andrews Osborne, also known as the International Sports Academy, has several teams in its basketball program. There is a high school team, a national team that plays in big tournaments on ESPN, and a postgraduate team for athletes who need another year to become college eligible or who need a another year of recruitment.
Mercyhurst Prep graduate Matt Bengel will play on the postgraduate team this year because he wanted another year of recruiting, which has been affected by COVID-19.
Andrews Osborne sent his high school team to the McDowell tip off tournament and Burger King Classic last season. He also plays Erie High from time to time in non-regional games.