While the GMC Stays Relatively Quiet This Summer, Big Named Players On The Move Around NJ
Compared to last summer, changes around the GMC were relatively quiet. Not to say that there haven’t been, or will be any changes prior to the start of the 2013-14 season in December. However, many of the big name players in the GMC stayed put. In addition, there weren’t a lot of coaching changes.
The most prominent coaching change in the GMC came shortly after the season ended when long time East Brunswick head coach, Bo Henning stepped down after guiding the Bears to their first sectional title since 1987. EB also reached its first conference final since 1996. Replacing Henning at the EB helm is long time assistant and junior varsity head coach, Mark Motusesky, who graduated from the school in 1988 after playing for current AD, Frank Noppenberger.
Motusesky first got into the coaching ranks as an assistant to Ed Breheney at North Brunswick during the 1996-97 season when the Raiders won their only conference tournament title. Motusesky then came home to EBHS, where he eventually joined the boys basketball staff in 1999. Motusesky has built a great record of success at the JV ranks by leading the Junior Bears to three straight appearances in the EB/GMC JV Tournament Championship Game with titles in 2011 and 2013. Motusesky also won a JV tourney title back in 2004 when the third seeded Junior Bears knocked off top seeded South Brunswick.
Under Motusesky, the Junior Bears have made five EB/GMC JV Tourney Final Four appearances and 11 Elite Eight appearances since 2002. His work at the JV level has helped EB lay the groundwork for the recent success that they have had, especially since the 2007-08 season when EB was only 4-18. Taking over the JV at EB will be another familiar face in the storied history of the school. Rich Whalen, a member of the 1996 GMCT Champion Bears, will be moving up from his assistant coach position. Whalen was teammates with the school’s all time leading scorer, Matt VanLeeuwen. Both players also got EB into the GMCT final in 1995 before falling to the John Celestand and Justin Bailey led Piscataway Chiefs. This year, Rob Ukawuba tied VanLeeuwen as the all time leading scorer at EB.
Looking around the Central Jersey area, there were several coaching changes in the Skyland Conference. Mike Frauenheim stepped down as the coach of Immaculata and was replaced by Sean McKeever, who played junior college ball at both Raritan Valley Community College and Middlesex County College. Former Piscataway and North Hunterdon head coach, Charles Brown, who also coached at MCC, took over the helm at Manville, and gave the Mustangs a taste of what the elite programs are like by having them participate in the recent Summer Prime Time Shootout at West Windsor-Plainsboro South HS. Reggie St. Rose was named the head coach at North Plainfield High School after leading the town’s Middle School squad to a 32-0 record.
There were some GMC college news with several players from this year and recent years past making news. First and foremost, St. Joseph’s point guard, Jimbo Long signed a letter of intent with Mansfield, a Division II school in Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, Long had originally signed with Gettysburg, but changed his mind, and made the step up to Mansfield. The school plays in the same conference as East Stroudsburg, where Old Bridge’s Sultan Aminu will be playing. Both players will be seeing each other in November. Keith Hughes, a former standout and 1,000 point scorer at Woodbridge, signed with Georgian Court University, which will have its inaugural season this coming year.
Hughes played at the Robinson School this past year with New Brunswick’s Samaad Thomas and Piscataway Tech’s Galen Smith. Both Thomas and Smith are moving on to the next level with Thomas signing on to Division II Bloomfield College and Smith going to NAIA Dalton State in Georgia. Both Thomas and Hughes will also be facing each other at some point since both GCU and Bloomfield College are members of the CACC. Finally, Anell Alexis, who played a couple years at St. Joseph’s before moving on to St. Benedict’s, transferred from Marist to Norfolk State. At Marist, Alexis, the son of former Syracuse University standout, Wendell Alexis, averaged 4.6 points per game while shooting 42 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the line over 72 games in three seasons. There is also a younger Alexis moving up the high school ranks. Julian Alexis currently plays at Immaculata.
The big story has been top players around the Garden State on the move this offseason. A number of elite players in New Jersey have new addresses. Malachi Richardson, who helped guide Roselle Catholic past St. Joe’s for the T of C Championship in March returned to Trenton Catholic, where he played as a freshman. Richardson will be joined by Myles Powell, who transferred in from Medford Tech. Fellow teammate Eli Cain also transferred from Medford Tech to St. Benedict’s. Both Powell and Cain led Medford Tech to the Group II final before they lost to eventual T of C semifinalist, Newark Tech. One of the top freshmen in the state and the country, Bryce Aiken, who impressed in a 26 point performance against Roselle Catholic at the 2012 Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic, transferred from Pope John to the Patrick School.
Isaiah Briscoe, who has been a standout player at St. Benedict’s the past two years, and helped lead the Grey Bees to an upset win over nationally ranked Findlay Prep of Nevada, and a finals appearance in the ESPN Rise NHSI against Montverde Academy of Florida, transferred to Roselle Catholic. Tyronn King, a standout from North Hardin in Kentucky, transferred to St. Benedict’s while NyRhique Smith left Monmouth Regional to attend school down in Maryland at Clinton Christian. Camden Catholic, which went 20-8 last year, and is only a few years removed from a T of C finals appearance, got a big boost when 6’10” big man, Demola Onifade came over from Lagos, Nigeria.
In some of the summer league action, South Plainfield and Timothy Christian competed in the Bound Brook Summer League. Timothy Christian advanced to the semifinals before losing to Somerville (54-43).