​A.J. Lesburt wants to play pro basketball after college.The Derry native decided to take a route less-travelled to get there: North Andover and Merrimack College.The transfer from Brown University, with one year of college eligibility remaining, got some offers from bigger Div. 1 schools from the Power 4 conferences.The issue was potentially playing time – might be a starter, might come off bench and might be a role player. All of which would’ve gotten him paid, after averaging over 10 points per game two seasons ago, missing last year due to a broken ankle.Merrimack offered him something else – a chance to be a star.The last five years Merrimack has given and taken from the transfer portal, losing stars and creating new ones under head coach Joey Gallo.Nearly three weeks into “summer camp” on campus, the relationship has “marriage” written all over it.“I love it, so far,” said Lesburt, a 22-year-old, 6-foot-5 guard. “I’ve had an absolute blast. The culture here is one of kind. The coaches have created something special. Everyone here is so passionate.“A big reason I chose Merrimack was I heard about the culture here,” he said, sitting in the Volpe Complex lobby. “It’s true. It’s all true. You can see why this program has been so successful.”Gallo has been a magician using the transfer portal, finding and developing talent. Case in point last year with incoming freshman Kevair Kennedy and Div. 2 transfer Ernest Shelton. Both were not expected to be who they ended up being and later transferring to Wake Forest and Boston College respectively.Lesburt is a different animal. There is no guesswork. He’s had success in a better conference, the Ivy League.“Since he’s been here he’s more of a fit from his personality and competitive spirit,” said Coach Gallo. “A.J. jumped right in and looks like a guy that has played for us for multiple years.”Lesburt watched some film of Merrimack’s vaunted “aggressive” zone defense, Coach Gallo’s calling card, before making his decision and it is even more enjoyable being in the middle of it.“It’s a very intellectual defense,” he said. “At first glance it’s absolute chaos. But when it’s working it’s beautiful poetry in motion. Everyone is connected on a string. I can see being on the other side. It’s hard to understand. I love it. It’s fun to play in it.”Lesburt’s basketball journey is an interesting one. While playing many different youth sports growing up in Derry, by the time he got to middle school he realized basketball was his passion.He boarded at Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan before moving on to Pomfret (Conn.) School for high school. He transferred his final two years to Bradford Christian, connecting with his AAU coach, Vin Pastore.“We never recruited A.J. initially, realizing he had many big Division One schools after him before he chose Brown,” said Coach Gallo. “But we had seen him play many times. We knew about him ea