GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Freshmen Sports Taking A Hit In 2010-11 Thanks To Budget Cuts

Dunellen And Colonia Forced To Have Freshmen Play Football With JV And Varsity While South Plainfield Saves Freshmen Programs By Being Creative

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–This week, reality began to set in across Middlesex County as well as the rest of the Garden State as school budget cuts that had to be made in the wake of voters rejecting school budgets by historic margins. Many schools in the Greater Middlesex Conference including Dunellen and Colonia had to eliminate freshmen programs for sports such as football as stated in an article from the Star-Ledger.

Colonia had to disband its freshmen football program due to a $47,000 cut in its athletic department while Dunellen had to cut its freshmen football team due to a $15,400 shortfall. DHS is getting nearly $700,000 less from the state in aid this coming school year. According to a April 15th survey of athletic directors around the GMC, Colonia, J.F. Kennedy, Middlesex, North Brunswick, Piscataway, South River, South Plainfield, Spotswood and Woodbridge stood to lose freshman programs. However, one of those schools got creative, and was able to save its freshmen programs.

South Plainfield, the hometown and alma mater of GMC Hoops, was able to save its freshmen sports despite a reduction in budget by 50 percent from approximately $200,000. According to another article from the Star-Ledger, the South Plainfield school district had its operating budget reduced nearly $8 million. Spending on school supplies such as textbooks were estimated to drop one third while expenditures for extracurricular activities was forecast to be reduced one sixth. SPHS Athletic Director, Mike Buggey, who has been at the post since the 1994-95 was able to create a new plan using money from retiring teachers salaries and a switch in insurance companies along with a strict budget. The plan saved freshman sports along with the swim team and winter track at SPHS.

The cuts in freshmen programs has affected the coverage of the GMC Hoops season opener between St. Joseph’s and Colonia as well as the annual Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Boys Basketball Tournament held in February.

Battle Over Ticket Prices At State Playoff Games Continues

Negotiations To Host H.S. Championships At Pro And College Sites This Fall On Hold As NJSIAA Awaits Word On How Much It Can Charge

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ–In an article in today’s Star-Ledger, it was reported that negotiations to hold state and sectional high school championships at professional and collegiate sites around the Garden State this fall have been put on hold as the NJSIAA is waiting to see how much it will be able to charge. The article states that the state’s governing body for interscholastic athletics is going to submit a request to State Education Commissioner, Bret Schundler, this coming Wednesday. The request seeks to charge the same prices for admission to these games as it did last year.

Prices would be $10 for adults and $7 for students and senior citizens at football championship games, and $7 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens at championship games for girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, and field hockey. Football championships are scheduled to be held at the new Giants and Jets Stadium (6 games), Rutgers Stadium (6 games), Kean University (2 games), and The College of New Jersey (2 games). In addition, sites for the soccer and field hockey championships are set to take place at TCNJ while volleyball championships are scheduled to take place at William Paterson. This is the latest episode in an ongoing struggle between the NJSIAA and State Assemblyman John Burzichelli of Gloucester.

Earlier this year, the NJSIAA suggested the possibility that the Tournament of Champions and Meet of Champions along with another state championship games may be eliminated. However, the state body was able to pass a $5.3 million dollar budget that included keeping the state playoffs intact. However, Burzichelli remains unconvinced that the NJSIAA has done enough, and that has created a stalemate that only leaves high school sports, its athletes, coaches, and fans left out.

GMC Hoops Schedules 2010-11 Season Opener

Site To Open 2010-11 Season With Freshman, JV, And Varsity Tripleheader @ St. Joseph’s

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Thursday morning, GMC Hoops sat down and went through the current schedules of all the GMC teams, and decided that it will open the season with a Freshman, JV, and Varsity tripleheader between St. Joseph’s and Colonia on December 17th. The Falcons are defending GMCT Champions, and will likely be ranked at or near the top of the 2010-11 GMC Hoops Pre-Season poll. Meanwhile, Colonia will be making its debut in the GMC Red after moving up to the division following this past season in the GMC White.

St. Joe’s and Colonia both played in the Linden Summer League over the summer while the Pats also played in the Scarlet Shootout. Both teams also had JV squads in the Colonia JV Summer League. The Falcons played a very rigorous summer schedule that included the Hoop Group Elite Team Camp, Kean Ironman Challenge, Elizabeth Summer League, Rahway Summer League, Hoop Group Headquarters Team Camp, and Summer Prime Time Shootout. St. Joseph’s will be led by incoming junior Quenton DeCosey along with the likes of Jimbo Long, Slay Sudah, Ace Sudah, Brandon Dolan, Kevin Mayce, and James Ziemba among others.

Meanwhile, Colonia will have the likes of Dave Cole and C.J. Gray leading the way along with Jordan McDaniel, Dashon Johnson, and Geoff Fairbanks. The Junior Falcons and Junior Patriots also have good squads coming in with St. Joe’s recently winning the Colonia JV Summer League Championship over Hillside while Colonia had one of its two squads reach the quarterfinals. St. Joe’s incoming freshman class should be a good one as well with the likes of Jake Dadika, Mike Allen, Rob Ciragi, and Mike Cintron among others. In addition to winning the GMC Red Division and the GMCT, St. Joe’s also won this past season’s GMC Hoops Trophy.

Catching Up With Larry Spigner

Former Metuchen Standout Now Financial Consultant Looking To Help Local Athletes

ALLENTOWN, PA–Recently, GMC Hoops was in contact with former Metuchen standout, Larry Spigner, who is now a financial consultant, led the Bulldogs to their last GMCT Championship back in 1988. He scored 19 points in the second half and overtime to defeat St. Peter’s for the title that year. His freshman year, he played ball with Tony Newsom, who eventually transferred to J.P. Stevens, and led the Hawks to a GMCT Championship in 1989. Spigner and the Bulldogs, seeded sixth in the 1988 tourney, defeated Newsom and the third Hawks in the Quarterfinals at Middlesex County College en route to the title.

Spigner, who has been in the financial services industry for 15 years, has used his experience to educate himself, and it has finally paid off. He has discovered an insurance product for professional athletes and entertainers, and he is looking to help local athletes. This product will help athletes protect their future earnings in the event that a career ending injury occurs. Spigner, who is second on the all time scoring list at Metuchen with 1,712 points, is looking to network with athletes and resources for him. He points out that there is a large amount of athletes coming out of the Central Jersey area. He said, “As you know there are many young professionals in a small radius from Scotch Plains - New Brunswick…Derrick Caracter, Lance Thomas, Eugene Monroe, Manny Collins, Earl Clark, Anthony Davis, Kyle Wilson, Malcolm Jenkins, Jonathan Casillas, Dwayne Jarrett, Andre Collins, Marqus Blakely…..potentially DeJuan Miller, Mohamed Sanu…..the list goes on as you stretch beyond Middlesex County…” In addition, there is Andrew Bynum of the L.A. Lakers, who played at St. Joe’s and hails originally from Plainsboro.

Furthermore, Spigner added that Rutgers football is becoming a talent pipeline to the NFL with the likes of Ray Rice (Ravens), Kenny Britt (Titans), Brian Leonard (Bengals), Gary Brackett and Eric Foster (Colts), Tim Brown and Shaun O’Hara (Giants), and Brandon Renkart (Steelers) among others. He is looking to help athletes by being a resource for them in the event that they suffer an injury that prevents them from playing their sport anymore. He works for a small brokerage firm that has serviced the Lehigh Valley area for over 40 years, and has access to various insurance and investment products that provide more flexibility than what larger firms provide. Spigner can be contacted at either 610-248-7078, or at his company’s web site, http://www.robinsonandrobinson.com.

Jersey Shoreshots Moving To Central Jersey Hawks AAU

MONROE, NJ–On Wednesday afternoon, GMC Hoops received word that the Jersey Shoreshots team that played in the 7th and 8th Grade Division at the Raritan Bay Summer League this past summer, is moving to become the Central Jersey Hawks AAU team, and they will be based out of the Monroe Sports Center. Although they played a 7th and 8th Grade Division schedule, the Shoreshots are a 6th Grade team. The team will have tryouts at the MSC on September 11th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. The season will kickoff at the end of February 2011, and will have a schedule playing mostly in New Jersey, but also against some of the best talent in the country. If you have any kids that would be interested in playing for this team, please contact Bill Howarth at WHowarth@foxasset.com or (732) 212-8050.

GMC Hoops Itinerary–Update–August 6, 2010

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the completion of play on Friday night, GMC Hoops has seen 16 games this past week in four different events over a span of five days. The site has seen 18 different events this summer including 11 summer leagues, and 7 team camps. Below is the list of events covered so far this season:

• Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League
• Raritan Bay Summer League
• Kean Pre-Summer League
• Montgomery Team Camp
• Linden Team Camp
• Middlesex County College Summer League
• Hoop Group Headquarters Summer League
• Bound Brook Summer League
• Rahway Summer League
• East Brunswick Team Camp
• Colonia JV Summer League
• Elizabeth Summer League
• Linden Summer League
• Hillsborough JV Summer League
• Hoop Group Elite Team Camp
• Rutgers Team Camp II
• Kean Ironman Challenge II
• Summer Prime Time Shootout

GMC Hoops plans to finish up his summer traveling this weekend.

2010 Playoff Bracket Update–August 4th

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the playoff results in from several different leagues including the Elizabeth, Colonia JV, and Hillsborough JV Summer Leagues, GMC Hoops has just updated the brackets from leagues or events that took place this summer. Elizabeth had its Championship on Monday, Colonia had its semifinals and finals on Tuesday, and Hillsborough is having its semis on Wednesday with the final on Monday. Below are all the brackets that we have from the leagues we’ve covered:

• Bound Brook Summer League–Playoffs
• Colonia JV Summer League–Playoff Brackets
• Kean Ironman Challenge II–AM Session
• Kean Ironman Challenge II–PM Session
• Middlesex County College Summer League–Playoff Brackets
• Rahway Summer League–Playoff Brackets
• Elizabeth Summer League–Playoff Brackets
• Hillsborough JV Summer League–Playoff Brackets

GMC Hoops thanks coaches Anthony Melesurgo of Bound Brook, Bernie Buniak of Dunellen, Brian O’Lone of Colonia, Chris Tarver of Middlesex County College, Tom Wagenblast of Kean, Ian Progin of Hillsborough, and Chris Balent of Elizabeth for getting us these results.

GMC Hoops Itinerary–Update–July 16th

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the completion of play on Friday night, GMC Hoops has seen 22 games this past week in seven different events over a span of three days. The site has seen 17 different events this summer including 11 summer leagues, and 6 team camps. Below is the list of events covered so far this season:

• Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League
• Raritan Bay Summer League
• Kean Pre-Summer League
• Montgomery Team Camp
• Linden Team Camp
• Middlesex County College Summer League
• Hoop Group Headquarters Summer League
• Bound Brook Summer League
• Rahway Summer League
• East Brunswick Team Camp
• Colonia JV Summer League
• Elizabeth Summer League
• Linden Summer League
• Hillsborough JV Summer League
• Hoop Group Elite Team Camp
• Rutgers Team Camp II
• Kean Ironman Challenge II

GMC Hoops plans to be back out on the beat next week.

Trying To Get Back On The Trail Again

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Good afternoon fans! You may have been wondering why there has not been as much activity in the blog as there has been. Well, after not only going out to Reading on Friday to see St. Joseph’s play in the Hoop Group Elite Team Camp at Albright College, but also seeing the Rutgers Team Camp at the RAC on Friday night, GMC Hoops was a bit worn out, and decided not to head out to the Kean University Ironman Challenge on Saturday.

As a result of the long trip on Friday, the site didn’t have time to post information on action that took place on Thursday including posts on the games covered at the Colonia JV Summer League, and Middlesex’s win over Franklin at the Bound Brook Summer League. I just didn’t have enough time on Thursday night and Friday to work on that. I have gradually gotten back to action by seeing a contest at the Raritan Bay Summer League on Monday night, and several games at the Middlesex County College Summer League on Tuesday night. My goal this week is to at least cover the second Kean Ironman Challenge on Friday. Everything else is up in the air as far as Wednesday and Thursday.

More updates are forthcoming, and as things get done in the blog, I’ll have a more definite schedule on what I plan to do the next couple days.

2010 GMC Hoops Itinerary–Update–July 9th

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the completion of play on Friday night, GMC Hoops has seen 22 games this past week in seven different events over a span of four days. Below is the list of events covered so far this season:

• Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League
• Raritan Bay Summer League
• Kean Pre-Summer League
• Montgomery Team Camp
• Linden Team Camp
• Middlesex County College Summer League
• Hoop Group Headquarters Summer League
• Bound Brook Summer League
• Rahway Summer League
• East Brunswick Team Camp
• Colonia JV Summer League
• Elizabeth Summer League
• Linden Summer League
• Hillsborough JV Summer League
• Hoop Group Elite Team Camp
• Rutgers Team Camp II

GMC Hoops plans to be back out on the be at the first Ironman Challenge at Kean on Saturday night.