The entire Mike Anderson recruiting class is now headed elsewhere.
Four-star forward Brandon Gardner, the last remaining member of the three-man class, has asked for his release from his National Letter of Intent a day after meeting with new St. John’s coach Rick Pitino, his mother Tameka Gordon told The Post.
Gardner, who attended Christ the King High School in Queens this past year, had remained committed to St. John’s following Anderson’s dismissal.
But after meeting with the Hall of Fame coach, the gifted six-foot-eight athlete wanted to explore other options.
In a statement on social media, Gardner said he was still open to re-committing to St. John’s, but a source said the school was not planning on re-recruiting him.
Several sources said schools were expressing interest in Gardner through third parties for quite some time, as Anderson’s job security came under question and that continued upon the hiring of Pitino.
There was belief that those schools were offering set amounts of money it could pay through Name, Image & Likeness.
Gordon denied that was the case.
“I’d like to stop the noise before it starts. NIL — it could never be over something my son is entitled to,” she told The Post. “Brandon Gardner was patient. He listened. He met with the coaching staff and respected everyone’s vision during this process, and my son is the captain of his ship.
“It’s unfair to place any scrutiny on my son over NIL. My son wants to play at a school where he feels he can play, grow and build an exceptional IQ. Coach Pitino will build his own team. Whether he wanted my son or not is irrelevant. He’s building his team, his way. It’s important for my son to work off of his instincts and prayers/signs. If it was about NIL. Brandon wouldn’t have committed to St. John’s.”
Gardner and his mother moved to Queens just this past year to finish up his high school career.
In the fall, he initially said he wasn’t going to sign his NLI, but reversed course and ended up signing.
Now, he’s free to look at other schools.