PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jamel Jackson

Lincoln, 6-2, Sr. G

Jamel Jackson watched Sebastian Telfair make crucial plays for Lincoln for three years before the guard stepped into the spotlight as a senior after Telfair went to the NBA’s Trail Blazers.

“Playing with Sebastian definitely helped me,” said Jackson, The Post’s PSAL Player of the Year. “Being around him and seeing how hard he worked showed me what I had to do.”

Jackson took care of the rest, developing from a role player who had little more than a sweet outside shot into an all-around threat who helped the Railsplitters reach the PSAL title game at the Garden for the fourth year in a row.

Jackson will head to prep school in the fall after scoring 22 points a game this season.

“We knew we were going to need more from Jamel this year with Sebastian gone,” said Lincoln head coach Dwayne Morton. “You never know what a player will do, no matter how talented he is, until he gets the chance. He gave us what we needed.”

AMAURY FERNMIN

JFK, 6-1, Sr. G

Not many people noticed as Amaury Fermin consistently put up solid numbers for the Knights since he was playing in a traditionally weak division. But when he continued to do it during the playoffs, he started turning heads.

“He’s more than just a good scorer,” head coach Johnny Mathis said of Fermin, who scored 23 ppg this season. The guard is being recruited by Big East and ACC schools, but may go to prep school. “He was our leader. He made everyone play better because he wanted to win so much. He felt he had a lot to prove.”

With a PSAL title now on his resume, it’s obvious that he did.

Vic Morris

Cardozo, 5-11, Sr. G

Ron Naclerio knew he would be asking a lot of Vic Morris this season. The senior already had shown himself to be one of the most potent offensive players in the PSAL, but Naclerio thought he was ready for more.

“He had to take every big shot for us, even when everyone knew he would take it,” Naclerio said. “I would have liked him to have made a few more, but he hit a lot of them for us.”

Morris, who will attend prep school before heading to Hofstra, has the bad memory necessary to be a successful outside shooter. He averaged 28 ppg for the Judges.

Steve McKoy Jr.

FDA, 6-4, Sr. F

Frederick Douglass Academy usually develops steady players, but not stars. Steve McKoy Jr. wanted to change that trend.

“Being a pretty good player wasn’t enough,” McKoy said. “So whenever I had the chance, I wanted to prove how good I could be.”

He succeeded throughout the year, leading the Lions deep into the PSAL playoffs, while averaging 13 points and 11 boards a game.

“I don’t think people realized how talented he was until he outdid guys from around the country,” head coach Pat Mangan said of McKoy, who has Div. II offers but is holding out for a D-I scholarship.

Vernon Teel

Flushing, 6-3, Sr. F

Charles Richardson talked to his star player before his senior season and told Teel that it probably wasn’t realistic for him to expect to make the playoffs.

“I really didn’t think we had the players,” Richardson said. “I was being honest with him.”

Vernon Teel wound up leading Flushing to a 10-4 league record by scoring 32 ppg. More importantly, the Red Devils made the playoffs.

“I think he actually played better because he had something to prove,” Richardson said of Teel, who is being recruited by Big East schools, but will likely spend next year at a junior college or prep school. “It motivated him.”

COACH OF THE YEAR

Johnny Mathis

JFK

The longtime coach probably deserves the award just for staying with his team despite his debilitating battle with diabetes, but the fact that he took an unheralded group of players to the PSAL title game and knocked off three-time defending champion Lincoln sealed it for Mathis.

“The biggest challenge was getting them to believe they could do it,” Mathis said.

SECOND TEAM

PLAYER SCHOOL HT. YR. POS.

Joe Edwards Man. Center 6-3 Sr. G

Malcolm Grant Robeson 6-0 Sr. G

Rasheem Jenkins Wings 5-10 Jr. G

Jarrel Mills Wadleigh 5-10 Sr. G

Anthony Stukes Banneker 6-3 Jr. G

THIRD TEAM

PLAYER SCHOOL HT. YR. POS.

Darian David Monroe 5-11 Jr. G

Patrick Hazel Bayside 6-6 Jr. F

Corey Lyons FDA 6-4 Sr. F

Damien Santana Grady 6-0 Sr. G

Kevin White Jr. Lincoln 6-0 Sr. G

HONORABLE MENTION: Lawrence Alamilla, Lincoln; Preston Bell, LIC; Randy Burns, Grady; Danny Cox, Midwood; Mike Davis, Banneker; Moses Dayee, New Dorp; Tom Downing, Curtis; Clovis Ellis, Boys & Girls; Devin Epps, Cardozo; Nicardo Essis, Walton; Michael Glover, Monroe; Dwight Hardy, JFK; Emilijano Kinaj, JFK; Nick Leon, Lincoln; Nathaniel Lester, Canarsie; Kevin Menner, Lincoln; Evan Thomas, Campus Magnet; Darren Townes, Manhattan Center; Jaytorn Wisseh, Banneker.