Teams: Cardinal McCarrick, Edison, J.P. Stevens, Monroe, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Sayreville, and Woodbridge
Favorite: North Brunswick
Contenders: Monroe, Woodbridge, Edison, and Cardinal McCarrick–Division could be very competitive and up for grabs.
Outlook: This division and the GMC Blue will be very competitive, but the White could be the most wide open with J.P. Stevens coming down to replace South Plainfield, which moved down to the Blue. With Joe Lewis stepping down at McCarrick and the talented Eagle trio of Marques Townes (St. Joseph’s), Alonzo Hamilton (Linden), and Jonathan Rodriguez (Bound Brook) all transferring, and North Brunswick losing the likes of Dion Rogers (Essex C.C.) and Chance Gadsden, you would think that anyone has a shot in the White this year.
North Brunswick looks to still be pretty formidable though with the likes of Iverson Fleming, Virgil Boykin, Dennis Ford, and Jordan Gonzalez all returning along with a JV squad led by Sterling Smith and Nick Sidotti that reached the East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament semifinals, and a freshman team that reached the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney final. Monroe took some lumps as well with the losses of Ryan Genevieve and Victor Sorrento to graduation, but the Falcons have Ryan Stolte, Nick Isola, Chuka Onukwugha, and Chris Germano returning along with reserves Nick Marinelli and Mario Danza, and a sophomore class that finished third in the Perth Amboy Tourney as freshmen.
Woodbridge lost two 1,000 point scorers in Kyle Pearson (FDU) and Keith Hughes (Robinson School). The Barrons also have a new coach in former Monroe and St. Joseph’s assistant Matt Gigliello. WHS still figures to be competitive with the likes of Duquan Bailey and Mika Graham coming back and a JV squad led by Khalil Jordan, Jared Pearson, Griffin Thomas, Colin Figueredo, and Andrew Hughes that reached the quarterfinals of the EB JV Tourney. They also have a solid sophomore class led by Tyler Smith, Zaire Robinson, and Ryan Alcott. Edison took a bit of a hit with losing the likes of Kevin Luckenbach, Julius Collier, and Alphonso Ray, but the Eagles still have solid players coming back in Marcus Cudjoe, Qassim Bass-Ali, and Jeff Renner.
Cardinal McCarrick took the hardest of hits this off-season with the departure of long time head coach, Joe Lewis, and top players Townes, Hamilton, and Rodriguez. The Eagles also lost varsity reserves Anthony Manning (Sayreville) and Carlos Morales (Perth Amboy). The Eagles new coach is former Old Bridge standout, Eric Woroniecki, who was on the Knights squad that fell to Trenton in the Central Jersey Group IV Championship in 2004. Varsity reserves such as Jason Williams, Aaron Lewis, and Jahmal Pryce along with players from a decent JV squad such as Tavian Chukwuani, Steven Scott, and Sean McRae will try to fill the void for the Eagles. McCarrick also got help in a talented 6’8″ big man in Jaquante Madden that came in from St. Patrick’s as well as Sky Harris, who transferred in from J.P. Stevens. Speaking of the Hawks, they also lost the likes of Marvin Crawford (Raritan Valley C.C.), and Brandon Ahmed to graduation. Stevens still has John Maxham, Sahej Chowdhary, and Jalen Sorrell returning.
New Brunswick and Sayreville will be competitive as always. The Zebras took some hits to graduation with the departures of Milton Pittman (Jersey City University), Samaad Thomas (Robinson School) and Za’Kry Shivers while Chad Mordecai transferred back to Franklin. NBHS, which has a new coach in Rory Levine, does have hard working Paul McKenzie back and he is leading the way for a inexperienced squad that consists of the likes of talented sophomore Nadir Whitten. Sayreville got some help with the addition of Manning from Cardinal McCarrick to an already guard heavy squad that consists of Corey Taite and Chris Henderson among others. Malik Pressley and Jon Bracero will also help once football season concludes on Saturday.