Former Monroe Standout Transfers in from Widener University
Monroe’s Luke Patel follows through on his only three pointer of the game as teammate Ibn Lynn looks on for Middlesex County College versus Union County College in a 71-67 Blue Colts victory on November 19th in Cranford. Patel, who transferred into MCC after playing at Widener University of Pennsylvania last year, is currently averaging 27.8 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game for the Blue Colts.
EDISON, NJ—The 2019-20 JUCO men’s basketball season is underway in Region 19 and the Garden State Athletic Conference, and once again Middlesex County College will be a factor despite losing the likes of Letrell West (D2 Claiflin University) and Cameron Saintil (D3 FDU-Florham) moving on.
In addition to adding the likes of newcomers such as Old Bridge’s Jared Meyer, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Marquis Billingsley, Monroe’s Josh Daniels, and Union Catholic and Linden’s Ibn Lynn, the Blue Colts also had another former Middlesex County hoops standout return home to play basketball this season. Monroe’s Luke Patel joins former teammate Daniels as well as Meyer, Billingsley, Daniels, and Lynn as well as returnees, A.J. Raines, Vince Montgomery, and Abdul Nieskens after playing for Widener last season.
Graduating from Monroe in 2018, Patel attended Widener University outside Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. There he played for a coaching staff led by Chris Carideo and includes former St. Peter’s of New Brunswick standout, Billy Leahy, who has followed in his father’s footsteps to coach. Leahy’s father, Bill, coached the last St. Thomas Aquinas team (then Bishop Ahr) to its last GMCT boys championship in 1992.
The elder Leahy also coached at Woodbridge and St. Peter’s before serving as an assistant to Rocky Knowles and Paul Salisbury at Old Bridge. The younger Leahy who played at St. Peter’s in the late 1990s and was a senior when GMC Hoops began its coverage of boys basketball in Middlesex County back in 2000-01. He went on to play at Cabrini, where he helped the Cavaliers win the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title, and compete in the D3 NCAA Tournament.
After being an assistant for a year at Cabrini, Leahy joined the staff at Widener, where he has been for 12 seasons. Widener is a member of the Commonwealth Conference and plays the likes of Lebanon Valley, Alvernia, Lycoming, Messiah, Stevenson, Albright, Hood, and Arcadia. Widener is currently 7-0 overall on the season. Former GMC players such as Tyler Drews (Old Bridge), Kishan Patel (North Brunswick), and Jordan Hankerson (South Plainfield) have played in this conference for the likes of Widener, Arcadia, and Alvernia respectively.
In the 2018-19 season, Patel played in 14 games for the Pride, and averaged 6.9 minutes, 2.2 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game. Patel, who was teammates with Drews at Widener last year, made 10 of 27 shots from the floor including 6 of 16 from beyond the arc while also making 3 of 5 from the foul line. The most minutes he tallied during the season was 17 against Lebanon Valley on January 30th, where he made 2 of 5 shots including a three for 5 points. He matched that point total three other times.
However, he was more productive in less time against Gallaudet on February 5th. Despite playing only 11 minutes, Patel compiled a season high of 6 points on a perfect 2 of 2 from the floor including a three while making one of two at the charity stripe. Patel also collected 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Against Hood, he played 16 minutes, and although he didn’t score, he handed out a season high 3 assists and also picked up 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Widener University finished 15-12 overall including a 10-6 mark in conference play.
Before arriving at Widener last fall, Patel was a standout at Monroe playing with the likes of Sashank Sindhia (Stevens), 1,000 point scorer Mike Kides, Daniels, and MCC’s head coach Dave Turco’s son Andrew. At MTHS, Patel played in 72 games, scored 675 points, and averaged 9.3 points per game in three varsity seasons for the Falcons according to NJ.com. He made a career total of 108 field goals, 107 threes, and 138 free throws. Patel scored in double figures 36 times including three contests of 20 points or more during his career.
Two of those games occurred during his senior season in 2017-18. One of those games, against Piscataway in Monroe on February 1, 2018, Patel registered a career high of 24 points on three field goals and six three pointers in a 68-54 loss to the Chiefs. Earlier that season, Patel scored 20 points on four field goals, a three, and 9 made free throws in a 67-57 loss to Sayreville. His first 20 point game occurred when he was a sophomore when he scored another 20 versus Sayreville on 2 field goals, 4 threes, and 4 free throws in a 63-56 loss to the Bombers on January 28, 2016.
Patel has already made an immediate impact on Middlesex County College, which only returned three players from last year’s Region 19 Champion. So far in this 2019-20 season, Patel has played and started in all 10 games for MCC, and has averaged 27.8 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He has connected on 34 of 77 shots from the floor, or 44.2 percent including 15 of 46 from three point land, or 32.6 percent, and 22 of 28 from the charity stripe, or 78.6 percent.
The Monroe native has scored in double figures five times already this season including a season high 19 points in 32 minutes on 6 of 11 field goals including 3 of 6 from three and a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul line in a 77-75 victory over Philadelphia Community College of Pennsylvania on November 14th. Patel has also played well under the bright spotlight of GMC Hoops with 12 points on 4 of 10 field goals including a three pointer and 3 of 4 from the line in a come from behind 71-67 at Union County College in Cranford on November 19th.
So far this season, Middlesex County College is 6-4 overall including a 6-0 record in Region 19 play putting the Blue Colts in second place behind Northampton Community College (9-0, 7-0) in Bethlehem, which is currently ranked 7th nationally among Division 3 JUCOs according to the NJCAA. MCC is also in first place at 5-0 in the Garden State Athletic Conference. Keep up the good work Luke, and best of luck the rest of this season and in future endeavors.