GMC Hoops Blogosphere

2011 Raritan Bay Summer League–Week Three Schedule

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Friday, GMC Hoops received the week three schedule of games for the 2011 Raritan Bay Summer League from the league’s co-director, Tom Reilly. The web site plans to be down at South Amboy Middle/High School for some of the action. Below is the schedule for the third week of the season. There will be only three days of games this week. No games on June 7th. Game times will be at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 PM.

Monday, June 6th–Day Eight

• 5:00 PM–Quincy Kings vs. Central Jersey Hawks–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 6:00 PM–We Run vs. Merill Park–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 7:00 PM–Roselle vs. Lightening–5th and 6th Grade Division
• 8:00 PM–Roselle vs. St. Ambrose–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 9:00 PM–Old Bridge vs. South Amboy–High School Division

Wednesday, June 8th–Day Nine

• 5:00 PM–St. Stan’s vs. East Brunswick–5th and 6th Grade Division
• 6:00 PM–Quincy Kings vs. Roselle–5th and 6th Grade Division
• 7:00 PM–South Amboy vs. St. Ambrose–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 8:00 PM–Monroe vs. Sacred Heart–Girls Division
• 9:00 PM–Monroe vs. Metuchen–High School Division

Thursday, June 9th–Day Ten

• 5:00 PM–Lady Jayhawks vs. Sacred Heart–Girls Division
• 6:00 PM–Central Jersey Hawks vs. South Amboy–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 7:00 PM–Shore Blazers vs. Lightening–5th and 6th Grade Division
• 8:00 PM–Monroe vs. Monsignor Farrell–High School
• 9:00 PM–Old Bridge vs. Metuchen–High School

As more information comes along about this league, GMC Hoops will post it to the blog.

Big Summer Ahead For South Plainfield Hoops

Tigers Plan To Play At Scarlet Shootout As Well As Rahway Summer League

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Friday afternoon, GMC Hoops received word from South Plainfield High School boys basketball head coach, Bob Conway, that the Tigers will be competing in the upcoming Scarlet Shootout at Rutgers University during the weekend of June 11th and 12th. SPHS will also be competing again in the Rahway Summer League while the Junior Varsity will be playing in the Colonia JV Summer League. Already this off-season, the Tigers have competed in the Kean Spring League. South Plainfield is looking to improve on this past season’s 6-15 mark, and further develop the solid young talent coming up from the freshman team.

2011 Summer League Season Approaching

Several Team Camps Kickoff Season In Two Weeks

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On this first day of the unofficial start to summer around the Garden State, thoughts begin to creep in that the summer league season is swiftly approaching. In a little more than two weeks, the first of a number of team camps will be taking place with the third annual Scarlet Shootout at Rutgers University.

The following week, there will be two camps taking place. The second annual Montgomery Team Camp as well as the Linden Team Camp will be getting underway on Monday, June 13th, and running until Thursday, June 16th. During that same week, the Bound Brook Summer League will begin play with games on Tuesday, June 14th as well as Thursday, June 16th. The week after that, the Middlesex County College Summer League opens play with games on Tuesday, June 21st, and Thursday, June 23rd. Rutgers is scheduled to have an Overnight Team Camp take place from Friday, June 24th to Sunday, June 26th.

In addition, William Paterson College will be running a team camp during the week of June 20-23. Before all of this activity takes place, there is the Raritan Bay Summer League, which will start its second week of play on Tuesday after Memorial Day. The schedule for week three indicates that there will be games played from 5:00 to 10:00 PM at night at South Amboy Middle/High School. Summer is usually a very busy time of year for GMC Hoops. The site sees a great deal of team camps, summer leagues, and showcases during this period.

Already, the web site has seen and covered two spring leagues, and plans to be at the Raritan Bay Summer league next week.

Former Standouts Celestand And Mellish Create All-State Basketball

Old Rivals Come Together To Help Central Jersey Youngsters Become All-State Basketball Players

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–Earlier this week, GMC Hoops was contacted by former St. Peter’s standout, Mars Mellish, who is joining forces with former Piscataway standout, and NBA player, John Celestand in a new endeavor to help boys and girls across Central Jersey reach the high levels of success in high school basketball that they both had back in the 1990s.

Celestand and Mellish were key fixtures in Middlesex County basketball during the mid 1990s. While at Piscataway, Celestand, who now works as a basketball analyst for ESPN and Comcast, became the school’s all time leading scorer, and along with the likes of Justin Bailey, Dewey Ferguson, Sean Shumate, and others led a Paul Schoeb coached team to heights of New Jersey basketball never seen since by any public school in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Not only did they win the 1994 GMCT as the number two seed, but they also knocked off a top flight program in Shawnee from South Jersey with the likes of Penn State bound, Danny Earl, in the state semifinal before defeating Teaneck for the Group IV state championship. Then, in the Tournament of Champions, the Chiefs had to contain the likes of Florida State bound, Lamarr Greer to advance in the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals before losing to Tim Thomas and Paterson Catholic in the semis.

Meanwhile, Mellish, who now works in the Elizabeth public school system as an accountant, came up with Perth Amboy native Tony Lee as freshman at St. Peter’s in the 1993-94 season. Despite losing to P-Way in the 1993 GMCT Elite Eight as the number two seed, and the fact that the Chiefs only had one loss coming into the final, the undefeated Cards were the favorite in the 1994 GMCT Championship. In the title game, Piscataway defeated a St. Peter’s squad that also included the likes of Dave Capers, who went on to St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10, Marcus Wilson, and Kenya Merritt. The following year, the Chiefs and Cardinals would square off again in the 1995 GMCT Semifinals, and early on, it looked like Piscataway would roll to an easy victory by scoring the game’s first 19 points, and taking a 25-3 lead, but behind Mellish, St. Peter’s stormed back, and ended up only losing by four points.

With Mellish and Lee leading the way, the Cardinals appeared in four straight GMCT Final Fours. In addition to losing to Piscataway in the 1994 final and the 1995 semis, the Cardinals fell to eventual 1996 champion, East Brunswick led by the Bears all time leading scorer, Matt Van Leeuwen. Then, in 1997, despite adding sophomore transfer and future NBA player Rodney White to the roster, the Cards fell to eventual GMCT champ, and White Division rival, North Brunswick in the semis. Those Cardinal teams had a tendency to play with fire, but almost always found a way to come out on top. Coached by Bob Greene, St. Peter’s had some memorable escapes in GMCT play. During the 1995 Final Four run, the Cardinals played South Plainfield in the Round of 16.

The first half saw plenty of scoring with 20th seeded South Plainfield, coming off a preliminary round win over Jason Womble, and 13th seeded South Brunswick, giving the Cards all they could handle only trailing by a 37-30 margin at the half. However, fourth seeded St. Peter’s put together a key 10-0 run to open the third quarter to take a 47-30 lead, and then held off several rallies by the Tigers that closed the gap to four and six points before Joey Cesaro hit a three from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded to finish off a 80-79 Cardinal victory at the Red Tile Palace. The following year, St. Peter’s encountered a similar struggle with Blue Division squad, Monroe. The Falcons, which made their best tournament run in school history until the recent successes under former coach, Bob Turco, had the lead against St. Peter’s late, but the Cards used their pressure to come up with a comeback win in the GMCT Quarterfinals at Middlesex County College.

Piscataway, which has enjoyed great success in both the Middlesex County Tournament, and GMC Tournament over the years including the past five seasons, never had the success they accumulated during the mid-1990s. In the 1994-95 season, the Chiefs followed up their state title run with another GMCT championship over Red Division rival East Brunswick, and a Central Jersey Group IV sectional championship with the likes of Celestand, Bailey, Anson Ferguson, Delvon McMillan, Derek Clapps, Rocco Matrisciano, and Eddie Simmons. The 1994-95 Chiefs also defeated up and coming national power St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth led by Seton Hall bound Shaheen Holloway in front of a packed house at Piscataway High. However, their run ended with a loss to Malik Allen and Shawnee in the Group IV state semis in Atlantic City.

In recent years, there have been some teams in this area that have come close to reaching those heights reached by the Chiefs in the mid 1990s. Tim Ortelli had some Bridgewater-Raritan teams that made solid post-season runs, Immaculata had back to back Tournament of Champions appearances in 2008 and 2009, and GMC teams such as South Brunswick (2007), P-Way (2008), and Cardinal McCarrick (2003, 2005, and 2011) managed to get to the state finals, but never won. However, sectional titles and state titles for Central Jersey teams, especially those in the GMC have been hard to come by. The talent rich public schools in Union County and Essex County, especially those in the former Watchung Conference have dominated in recent years with the likes of Linden, Plainfield, Newark Science, Newark Central, Newark University, and Shabazz along with the usual non-public school powers such as St. Anthony’s, St. Patrick’s, Seton Hall Prep, CBA, and Trenton Catholic.

If there are any teams and players from Central Jersey that have done really well, they are those in the Shore Conference. Always underrated and underestimated, the teams from the Shore, especially Monmouth County are well coached and play solid basketball. Individually, the talent in New Jersey has mostly been found in Northern and Southern Jersey with Central Jersey being looked over. As a promoter of the Greater Middlesex Conference, I have seen many of the elite teams in the GMC compete better with some of the state’s elite. They have bridged the gap. However, when you go to events such as the GMCBCA Senior All-Star Game, you often hear people saying how the players aren’t as good as they used to be. I have some hopes for this current junior class, which could be even better than the 2005-06 class. So, I’m looking forward to the 2011-12 season.

With that said, I have a great deal of pride in the basketball played in Middlesex County. There has been a great deal of history and tradition represented by the schools that compete in the GMC. Going back to the days when I was a kid, and even early on in college, I always looked forward to the GMCT Tournament, and either taking a trip to the RAC for the finals, or listening to it on WCTC. That is why I’m always very hard on GMC teams when it comes to non-conference, and state tournament play. Players in this area have to strive even harder to compete with the state’s top talent. I take it very hard when people make posts in forums saying that the GMC is weak. Celestand and Mellish have this in mind with All-State Basketball.

The concept of All-State Basketball is simple. Cultivate young basketball talent from around the Central Jersey area from the ground up. The organization is creating clinics, camps, and one on one training with a stress on fundamentals to help each basketball player become one of the best in the Garden State. In addition, they are looking to develop other elements such as character while instilling the importance of teamwork, discipline, dedication, and sportsmanship. The work begins for both Celestand and Mellish on July 30th and 31st at New Brunswick Middle School when they plan to run a clinic for players ages 10 to 14 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Cost is $95.00, but if you register by June 15th, you’ll get a $15 discount. For more details, check the events page at http://all-statebasketball.com.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Notebook

Asbury Park Recreation Finishes Undefeated While South River Goes Winless

NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday, May 16th, the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League ending with the traditional showcase round of games. There were 12 teams that competed in this league with most of them coming from the Shore Conference. Of those dozen teams, there were only four that sported a winning record including: Asbury Park Recreation, Neptune, Ocean Township, and Mansquan.

The lone GMC team that competed in the league, South River, finished up the spring without a victory, but made an important first step in getting ready for the 2011-12 season, which will be a challenge for them without the likes of Xavier Foster, Gavin Campbell, Tim Huff, Craig Huff, Nick Boyler, and Kyle Majewski, who are all graduating this June. The Rams have a few good pieces in place with the likes of Tyler Harris, Tim Dararr, and Erick Gomez returning next year, but they need to instill more of the little things in their game such as boxing out, drawing charges, getting back on defense, and just playing solid, smart basketball at both ends of the floor.

Another local team that drew some interest from the web site was the G-Force Stallions, led by former Bishop Ahr graduate, Rob Gomulka, who is now attending Monmouth Academy. Gomulka had some standout games for G-Force, but the Stallions were only able to get to .500 at 4-4. The Union County AAU team was one of four squads to finish at .500 in the league this spring. G-Force defeated the Tropics, Point Pleasant Boro (53-39), Marlboro (73-59), and Manasquan (54-50). In the victory over Manasquan, Gomulka pumped in 37 points while he scored 22 points against Marlboro. The Stallions lost tough ones to Neptune (48-38), St. Rose (31-30), and Middletown South (52-51) in addition to a showcase loss to Ocean Township.

Moving on to the rest of the competition, Asbury Park Recreation got off to a slow start as it didn’t compete in the very first week of play after taking a brief break from hoops following its appearance in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, but the Bishops made up for that by going through the competition at the Hoop Group Headquarters this spring en route to an 8-0 record. Among those wins was a Showcase Games round victory over Neptune, which had a 6-1 record entering the contest. Other victims this spring were: St. Rose, Middletown South (55-45), Ocean Township (54-51), Wall Township (57-51), South River (67-52), Manasquan (43-35), and the Tropics (60-53).

Two teams in this league finished at 6-2 including Ocean Township and Neptune, two squads from the Class B North Division of the Shore. Those two teams played head to head on April 25th with Neptune winning the contest by a slim two point margin (44-42). The Scarlet Fliers only lost to St. Rose (40-37) and Asbury Park Recreation. Besides defeating the Spartans, the home town team defeated Marlboro, G-Force, Middletown South (65-23), Wall Township (49-42), and South River (73-44). Meanwhile, the Spartans of Ocean Township, which finished 5-19 overall including a 1-10 mark in divisional play this past season, made some positive steps toward improving this spring.

The Group III school lost its only two games to perhaps the best two teams in the league in Asbury Park Recreation (54-51) and Neptune. Having six or seven more points this spring could have gotten the Spartans an undefeated record like Asbury Park Rec. The Spartans defeated Wall Township, South River (46-36), Tropics (49-44), Point Boro (52-32), Marlboro (48-38), and G-Force. The last team to have a winning season this spring was Manasquan with a 5-3 mark overall. The Warriors only lost to Asbury Park, G-Force, and Point Boro while defeating Wall Township (44-38), Marlboro (47-45), South River (42-27), St. Rose (52-35), and Middletown South. Rebuilding after having a fine campaign in 2009-10 that saw the school reach the semifinals of CJ Group II state tourney after winning it all in 2009, Manasquan had a tough go with the likes of Lakewood, Monsignor Donovan, and Point Boro in Class C Central. A solid spring is a positive step toward getting back to the elite in the Shore and Group II.

Besides G-Force, Middletown South, St. Rose, and the Tropics were all 4-4 this spring. The Eagles of Middletown South took a back seat to its crosstown rival, Middletown North, which earned the top seed in the Central Jersey Group IV tournament this past season, and reached the championship game despite some team turmoil towards the end. Returning to Class A North after spending some time in Class B North, the Eagles struggled against the likes of Middletown North, CBA, Howell, Manalapan, and Freehold Township. This spring though, the Eagles had some good moments, and some bad moments. The loss to Neptune on April 18th was the darkest hour of the season. However, Middletown South did battle back with victories in three of their last four games over Point Boro (61-57), Marlboro (54-53), and G-Force (52-51).

St. Rose was also .500 as they look to retool after another successful season in Class B Central with a 21-7 record including an 11-1 mark in divisional play against the likes of Asbury Park and Point Pleasant Beach. The Roses, which earned the top seed and reached the semifinals of the Non-Public B South State Tournament this past season, defeated Neptune, Tropics (74-71), G-Force, and the Tropics again in the showcase round.

2011 Kean Spring League–Notebook

Great Competition Highlights League Play

UNION, NJ–With the completion of the semifinals and championship game on Wednesday night, the 2011 Kean Spring League came to a conclusion. In the 55 games that were played, GMC Hoops got results from 41 of them. Of those 41 games, 20 of them, just under half were decided by nine points or less. At least four games went to overtime with two of those coming in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

Shabazz, which qualified for the Central Jersey Group II playoffs as the fifth seed, and lost in the quarterfinals at Governor Livingston, earned the top seed, and was undefeated in eight games that the site covered, or got results of including a hard fought 56-50 win over eventual fourth seeded Scotch Plains on May 11th. The Bulldogs and Raiders seemed to be primed for a rematch in the semifinals of the playoffs, but Notre Dame derailed those hopes with a double overtime, 52-48 victory over Scotch Plains in the quarterfinal round. Shabazz defeated Piscataway twice including a 49-37 win on May 2nd as well as the 59-51 victory over the Chiefs in the Championship Game.

Another Newark team, Newark Central, qualified for the playoffs as the second seed before falling in overtime to seventh seeded Piscataway (66-62) in the opening round. The Blue Devils, led by Brandon Waiters, are looking to retool after having a very successful 2010-11 campaign where they won the Group II State Championship, and reached the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions before losing to the eventual winner, St. Anthony’s of Jersey City. With Patrick Cole, Kameen McPleasant, and Ramon Johnson all graduating this year, Newark Central got to work right away on the 2011-12 season.

Roselle earned the third seed, and reached the semifinals of the post-season tournament before falling to Piscataway. The Running Rams from Union County began working toward a successful run in 2011-12 this spring, and have a good deal of talent coming back. The folks at Roselle have done a great job building up the team that they’ve assembled. I can remember seeing a number of these youngsters back when they were in the 5th and 6th Grade playing at the Raritan Bay Summer League in South Amboy. This past season, Roselle qualified for the Central Jersey Group II playoffs, and reached the quarterfinal round before losing to second seeded and eventual champion, Ewing of Mercer County and the Colonial Valley Conference.

Scotch Plains was one of the favorites in this league coming in. The Raiders qualified for the North Jersey Section 2 Group III state playoffs, and after surviving a frantic second half rally to defeat J.F. Kennedy in the opening round, they upset second seeded Newark East Side in the quarterfinals before losing to Mendham in the semis. The Raiders, led by Dom Gonzalez edged Piscataway (56-51) on opening night, and then defeated J.F. Kennedy (57-55) in overtime in the final game of the regular season to dash any hopes for the Mustangs to qualify for the post season. They also defeated South Plainfield by a score of 41-34 back on May 2nd. Hoping for a rematch against Shabazz in the playoffs, the Raiders may have been caught looking ahead as they lost to Notre Dame in overtime (52-48) in the opening round.

Notre Dame will be a program to watch in the coming years. After former Monroe head coach, Bob Turco took over the program toward the end of the summer league season, there have been some bumps in the road, but the Irish are making progress. This past season, Notre Dame qualified for the Non-Public A South state tournament, and lost in the opening round to last year’s sectional champ and Tournament of Champions finalist, Camden Catholic. The Irish followed that up with a fine spring not only qualifying as the fifth seed in the playoffs, but putting together a surprising run that landed them in the semifinals before losing to eventual champion, Shabazz.

Sayreville and Piscataway were the sixth and seventh seeds in this year’s playoffs, and were the only two teams from the GMC to reach the playoffs. The Bombers edged the Chiefs for playoff positioning thanks to a forfeit win over P-Way back on May 11th. However, Piscataway had the better run in the playoffs as they lived up to their expectations by reaching the Championship Game with wins over Newark Central and Roselle in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds respectively. The Chiefs also gave Shabazz a good fight before bowing out in the finals. Some players that really stood out for the Chiefs this spring were Donovan Kirkland, Thaddeus Dalton, Greg Davis, Jelani Jackson, and Marcus Freeney.

Meanwhile, Sayreville faltered against Roselle in the opening round of the playoffs, but made a much better representation of itself against the Rams than it did in the regular season finale. Back on May 18th, Roselle defeated the Bombers by a score of 53-38. Sayreville has a good group coming back for 2011-12 with the likes of Joe Saitta, Trey Johnson, Corey Taite, Cody Van Note, and Danny Wojcik all returning. The Bombers have a good deal of superb guard play including great perimeter shooting coming back. The question is, how well will Sayreville’s interior game hold up with a lack of size in the frontcourt.

Rounding out the eight playoff teams that qualified was Millburn out of the Super Essex Conference. The Millers, which reached the North Jersey Section 2 Group III State Tournament in 2010 before bowing out against eventual Group III state champ, Mendham, had a rebuilding year this past season, but still managed to qualify as the 16th seed in this year’s tournament before losing to Somerville. Millburn didn’t play in the playoffs at Kean despite qualifying. Playing in its place was another GMC team in J.F. Kennedy.

The Mustangs didn’t make the playoffs originally, but still made a good representation of themselves. Some good moments this spring was the first half showing in a loss to Newark Central in week one, a come from behind victory against South Plainfield on May 11th that was highlighted by a game ending 31-9 surge, and a two point loss in overtime to Scotch Plains on the final day of the regular season. J.F. Kennedy will take some hits to graduation this year losing the likes of Daishon Robinson, A.J. Pichalski, Jordan Toczynski, and A.J. Williams. However, JFK still has a good deal of talent coming back with Josh Kamenas, Steve Alvarez, Shabas Clarke, Vik Pawar, and Kurt Lorentzen returning for 2011-12.

Westfield and South Plainfield rounded out the 10 high school teams that were competing in the league this year. The Tigers had some good moments, but had trouble sustaining that for a whole game. SPHS will need to sustain those good moments for a full 32 minutes so that they can improve on this past season’s 6-15 finish next season. The Tigers will also have to fill the void left behind by graduating seniors Denzel Mensah, Bryant Rosario, Sharif Ross, and Troy McNair. There is good talent returning though with the likes of Ray Perez, Joe Skwiat, Justin Glover, Claude Payne, Jordan Lackey, and Malik Cisson among others.

The Blue Devils of Westfield are always a very competitive team. Playing in the always tough confines of the Watchung Division of the Union County Conference, Westfield started off on the wrong foot with a 70-48 defeat to Notre Dame on opening night, but played tough the rest of the way with three losses by eight points or less including a 50-47 decision to Piscataway in the last game of the regular season, and a 65-58 victory over Sayreville back on May 4th. Rounding out the 13 teams that competed in the league were two squads from the AAU team, the Raritan Roundballers.

The Somerset County squad made up of players from schools such as Rutgers Prep, Ridge, and Immaculata, were led by the likes of Jack Kerwin and Dylan Kerwin of Ridge as well as Brandon Patton of Rutgers Prep. The Roundballers, coached by Kean men’s basketball coach, Rob Kurzinsky, had three losses by eight points or less including a 59-57 defeat to Roselle, a 49-41 loss to Westfield, and a 56-50 overtime loss to Shabazz. The AAU squad also soundly defeated Notre Dame by a score of 78-48.

On a final note, GMC Hoops would like to thank Kean men’s assistant basketball coach, and former EB player, Tom Wagenblast for his assistance and hospitality this spring.

2011 Middlesex County College Summer League Still Looking For Teams

League Set To Begin On June 21st

EDISON, NJ–Summer league season is coming, and Middlesex County College is still looking for teams to play in its annual summer league. The league has been a fixture in GMC Hoops summer league coverage every year since the inception of the web site. Games will be played on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Physical Education Center on the main campus of MCC starting on June 21st. There will be a regular season and playoffs. If you are looking for a league to play in, and would like more information, please contact Middlesex C.C. men’s head basketball coach, Chris Tarver at either 732-672-8114, 732-906-7723, or via e-mail at CTarver@middlesexcc.edu

Mark Taylor Takes Coaching Reins At St. Benedict’s

Former St. Joseph’s Hoops Coach Steps Down From Ridge To Coach At Top Jersey School

NEWARK, NJ–The coaching carousel has already begun to spin this off-season. Not too long after the season ended, Kevin Boyle, the long time head coach at St. Patrick’s, who guided the tiny Elizabeth school to national prominence over the past 20 years, left the powerhouse to take a head coach position at Montverde Academy in Florida. In addition, former St. Anthony’s standout, Roshown McCleod stepped down after one season at St. Benedict’s.

Replacing McCleod is former St. Joseph’s head coach, Mark Taylor, who had recently completed a very successful stint at Ridge High School in Somerset County. In each of the past three years, the Red Devils reached the semifinals of the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Tournament. In addition, the Devils also reached the finals of the Somerset County Tournament in three of the last four seasons including a title in 2009-10. According to Ridge Hoops online, the Devils won 94 games over the past five years, which was the most of any public school program in Somerset County.

Prior to coaching at Ridge, Taylor played and coached at St. Joseph’s. He was an all Middlesex County Tournament player in 1983, and took over a Falcon program that was in the midst of rebuilding after winning its first ever conference title in 1993. In the eleven seasons as coach of the Falcons, Taylor guided the team to six GMC Red Division titles, six GMCT Championship game appearances, and two GMCT titles in 1998 and 1999. The Falcons also had seven berths in the GMCT Final Four.

Taylor coached two NBA players in Jay Williams (Chicago Bulls) and Andrew Bynum (Los Angeles Lakers). He’s also coached many other fine players such as Andrew Madlinger, Nick Cefalo, and Ishaq Pitt as well as Sean Baptiste, Kenny Widgeon, Jonathan Dixon, Tom Scott, Calvin Cannon, Greg Kuchinski, Preston Beverly, and Brian Wilson. He will be the third coach at St. Benedicts in the past three years. After last season, Danny Hurley, who brought the school to great heights stepped down to take the men’s basketball head coaching position at Wagner.

2011 Raritan Bay Summer League–Week Two Schedule

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–Earlier this week, GMC Hoops received the week two schedule of games for the 2011 Raritan Bay Summer League from the league’s co-director, Tom Reilly. The web site plans to be down at South Amboy Middle/High School for some of the action on Tuesday night. Below is the schedule for the second week of the season. There will be only three days of games this week.

Tuesday, May 31st–Day Five

• 5:00 PM–South Amboy vs. Roselle–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 6:00 PM–Quincy Kings vs. St. Ambrose–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 7:00 PM–Quincy Kings vs. Central Jersey Hawks–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 8:00 PM–Quincy Queens vs. Sacred Heart Girls–Girls Division

Wednesday, June 1st–Day Six

• 6:00 PM–Lightening vs. Roselle–5th and 6th Grade Division
• 7:00 PM–Metuchen vs. Merrill Park–High School Division
• 8:00 PM–Old Bridge vs. Quincy Kings–High School Division

Thursday, June 2nd–Day Seven

• 5:00 PM–St. Stan’s vs. Roselle–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 6:00 PM–We Run vs. South Amboy–7th and 8th Grade Division
• 7:00 PM–Shore Blazers vs. East Brunswick–5th and 6th Grade Division
• 8:00 PM–Sacred Heart vs. Monroe–Girls Division

As more information comes along about this league, GMC Hoops will post it to the blog.

Piscataway’s Diallo To Attend NJIT

Chiefs Hoops Standout Plans To Walk On Basketball Team

UNION, NJ–On Wednesday night, GMC Hoops learned from Piscataway boys basketball head coach, Guy Jensen, that senior Thierno Diallo will be attending NJIT this fall. The site also learned that Diallo plans to walk on the Highlanders men’s basketball team as well. Diallo was one of two seniors on the P-Way roster this season along with Danny Cole. He helped guide the Chiefs to a 22-8 record and a return trip to the 2011 Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and 2011 North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Tournament Championship Games. Cole is looking to play football at East Stroudsburg.