Several Coaching Changes in GMC Made in Past Several Months
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With two weeks to go until the start of the 2013-14 season, teams are getting ready as practices got underway on Monday. Until a few months ago, there had been little change across the GMC in terms of head coaching positions. All of that changed though as the coaching carousel began to whirl around again with three coaching changes. New coaches were appointed at Wardlaw-Hartridge, Cardinal McCarrick, and South Plainfield.
At Wardlaw, Eugene Maxwell replaces James McGowan at the helm. Prior to coming to Wardlaw, Maxwell coached at Summit High School from 1999 to 2012. During that span, the Hilltoppers won two North Jersey Section 2 Group II sectional championships and appeared in two state finals before losing to Haddonfield both times. Among some of the talented players to play for Maxwell at Summit was Wellington Smith, who went on to play post-graduate ball at Blair Academy, and college hoops at West Virginia. Wardlaw competes in the GMC Gold, and finished 5-16 overall last season including a 3-9 division mark. The Rams did have some post-season success with an upset over Timothy Christian in the 2013 GMCT Play-In Round.
Over at Cardinal McCarrick, the Eagles are going through their second coaching change in as many years as last year’s coach, and former Old Bridge standout, Eric Woroniecki was replaced by assistant coach, Jason Griffin. Last season, McCarrick began a rebuilding phase after long time head coach Joe Lewis stepped down, and key players including Marques Townes and Alonzo Hamilton transferred. Prior to last season, Cardy Mac had become a fixture in GMCT Elite Eights and Final Fours with 11 quarterfinal appearances, 7 semifinal appearances, 3 finals appearances, and two GMCT championships since 1998. In 2012-13, the Eagles finished only 7-19 overall including a 2-12 mark in divisional play. McCarrick has several players returning from last season’s squad including Aaron Lewis and Sky Harris.
Finally, at South Plainfield, the Tigers filled their coaching vacancy only within the past month as assistant and JV coach, Matthew Connell replaced Justin Chiera at the school. Coaching the JV last season, Connell was 15-6. After going 2-21 in 2011-12, the Tigers moved down to the GMC Blue for 2012-13, and showed some improvement after a rough start to finish 8-16 overall including a 6-10 mark in divisional play. Over the summer, South Plainfield competed at the Bound Brook Summer League, where the Tigers finished 6-3 during the regular season to earn the top seed in the playoffs, but got eliminated. This year’s senior class was runner-up at the Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament as freshmen in 2011.
Prior to these changes, the only coaching change in the GMC occurred shortly after the 2012-13 season ended when longtime East Brunswick head coach, Bo Henning stepped down. He was subsequently replaced by his long time assistant and JV coach, Mark Motusesky, who coached the Junior Bears to three East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament Championships in 2004, 2011, and 2013. Since 2002, EB’s JV squad has made five JV tourney final four appearances, and 12 Elite Eight appearances.