Sophomore guard Nurideen Lindsey will transfer to another school at the end of the semester, the New York Daily News has reported.

“I came to St. Johns for a couple of reasons,” Lindsey said in a press release. “One was to be close to my mom, whose health has been up and down due to some past experiences. The second was to play for Coach Lav. In both instances it has not worked out how I envisioned.

Head coach Steve Lavin has missed the Red Storm’s last four games after undergoing surgery to treat prostate cancer in October. He has been on a modified schedule that involves him missing games and some practices, while continuing to recruit and talk to the media.

Lindsey’s exit will leave the men’s basketball team with just seven scholarship players and only five players remaining from its top-ranked 2011 recruiting class, which was initially nine players deep.

Lindsey, a junior college transfer, started the season strongly, averaging 15.8 points per game in the Johnnies’ first five games. But since the 2K Sports Classic, in which he missed two free throws with his team down by one with 2.3 seconds left against Texas A&M, he’s only averaged 6.8 points per game.

Lindsey took an unconventional route to Division I basketball. After averaging 38 points per games as a junior in high school, he stopped playing basketball for over a year after the murder of his brother. He didn’t play organized basketball for nearly  two years until his one season at Redlands CC in Oklahoma.

His departure will leave the Johnnies with a six-man rotation, unless swingman Amir Garrett is ruled eligible for the spring semester. Lindsey had started every game this season.