Barrons Basketball and Football Standout to Play for Cougars in NJAC
Jaelen Hymes (#3 in Black) puts up a shot in the first half for Woodbridge in a GMC Crossover match-up at Carteret on January 29th. Hymes, who played both football and basketball for the Barrons this year, announced that he will attend Kean University and play for the Cougars men’s basketball program next year.
WOODBRIDGE, NJ—Earlier this spring, Woodbridge High School senior forward, Jaelen Hymes announced that he would attend Kean University in Union, New Jersey next fall to play basketball. For Hymes, it was a fulfillment of a goal to play college hoops from the time he started playing basketball.
Hymes played a very important role for a young Barrons team coached by Matt Gigliello. With three sophomores in the starting lineup, Hymes had to step up and be a leader, and he did just that. During the 2018-19 campaign, Hymes played in 20 games for the Barrons, made 67 field goals, 5 three pointers, and 52 free throws for a total of 201 points, or an average of 10.1 points per game.
The senior forward, who also played football at Woodbridge, scored in all 20 games that he played in. Of those 20 games, Hymes scored in double figures ten times. Five of those contests, he scored at least 16 points including a season high of 21 points versus Lawrence on February 9th, and 20 against crosstown rival, J.F. Kennedy on January 22nd.
Saving one of his top performances of the season for the end, Hymes collected a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds to help the then 18th seeded Barrons notch a 69-65 victory over 15th seeded Spotswood in the preliminary round of the 2019 GMCT on February 13th. In that game, Hymes sank 12 free throws to go along with his two field goals to finish second in the team’s scoring.
Hymes also played an important role in an upset win at East Brunswick almost two weeks earlier when he got his only two points of the game with two foul shots in the closing seconds that sealed the 45-41 win. At the end of the season, Hymes was selected to play in the 2019 GMCBCA Senior Boys All-Star Game at Middlesex County College, and contributed to the Visiting Team’s (White Uniforms) come from behind 127-122 victory on March 27th.
Woodbridge struggled this past season with only an 8-13 overall record including a 4-8 mark in the GMC White, and didn’t qualify for the state playoffs. However, with a mostly young squad, the Barrons began the season with losses in 9 of its first 10 games. In addition, the Barrons lost 9 games by single digits, and played the White Division champion, and crosstown rival, Colonia, the toughest of any team in the GMC White with all three losses coming by a combined total of just 24 points.
The Barrons finished the season with wins in 7 out of their last 12 contests including wins over GMC Hoops Top 17 teams in Edison, East Brunswick, and Middlesex as well as the GMCT Preliminary Round win at Spotswood. Hymes played varsity basketball for two seasons at Woodbridge. During that time, the Barrons compiled a record of only 20-25 including a White Division mark of 11-13. However, the Barrons were experiencing a period of transition losing top players such as Quassim Glover, Keshaun Henry, and Harry Rutkowski to graduation.
Over those two seasons, Hymes played in a total of 38 games, made 92 field goals, 6 three pointers, and 65 foul shots for a total of 266 points according to NJ.com. Hymes points per game improved from his junior year to his senior year by 6 points per contest. Last fall, Hymes played on the Barrons football team under first year head coach and former Colonia hoops and gridiron standout, Joe LaSala, and caught 10 passes for 105 yards including five for 50 yards and one touchdown in a season opening loss at home to Morris Hills (24-14) on August 30th.
Hymes will be joining a Kean University program that has had its share of GMC players over the years. The list of former GMC standouts that have gone on to play for the Cougars of the NJAC include: Bryan Keller (Piscataway), Vinnie Darpino (Colonia), Mike Burton (South Plainfield), Mike Summerer (East Brunswick), Tom Soulias (Spotswood), Xavier Fuller (Carteret), Stephen Strom (Old Bridge), and Jodrell Thompson (Colonia). In addition, Tom Wagenblast, a former hoops player at EB, served as an assistant coach at Kean before taking over the new men’s program at the College of St. Elizabeth.
Last year, Kean University finished 7-18 overall including a 5-13 record in the New Jersey Athletic conference. Despite the difficult season, the Cougars finished the campaign on a positive note with 4 wins in their last 7 games with the three losses coming to several of the elite teams in the conference including Montclair State University, William Paterson, and Rowan University. Congratulations Jaelen on accomplishing your goal, and best of luck going forward.