Former Carteret Standout and Colonia Freshmen and Assistant Coach Takes Helm At JFK
ISELIN, NJ–The coaching carousel continues to spin around the world of boys basketball in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Â In addition to the recent coaching changes at Cardinal McCarrick and South Amboy, there was another coaching change that took place earlier this off-season when J.F. Kennedy announced in mid-May that Drew Hill was selected to be the new boys basketball coach for the Mustangs. Â Hill, who played at Carteret High School, and recently served as freshmen boys coach and varsity assistant to Chris Chiera at Colonia, replaces Chris Banos, who stepped down this spring after coaching at the school for the past seven seasons.
In high school, Drew Hill played with the likes of Omar Alson, Rob Carter, Lamarr Morris, and Wilfredo Fuerte at Carteret when the Ramblers were coached by Class of 1988 alum and current St. Joseph’s head coach, Dave Turco. Â During his time playing for the Ramblers, Hill contributed to a program that would not lose a Blue Division game for nearly three seasons after losing at South Plainfield on opening weekend of the 1999-2000 season. Â The Ramblers would reach the GMCT Final Four in each of those years, play in the GMCT Championship in two of those three seasons, and win the championship in 2002, the first GMCT title at the school since 1986. Â Over those three seasons, Carteret put together an overall record of 70-12.
After Chris Chiera moved up to the varsity head coaching position in the summer of 2006, Hill filled the opening for freshmen boys basketball coach at Colonia. Â He coached freshmen hoops for the past eight seasons, and had his best season in 2009 when he guided the Colonia frosh to the quarterfinals of the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament before losing to eventual champion, Piscataway. Â During that time, Hill also served as a varsity assistant along with JV coach, Brian O’Lone to Chiera, where he helped with scouting and preparation during the season, and summer when the varsity squad played at the Linden Summer League, and the JV and freshmen played in the Colonia JV Summer League.
During his time at Colonia, the Patriots enjoyed some early success under the guidance of Chiera with a 2007 North Jersey Section 2 Group III Championship over Union Hill and a sectional finals appearance in 2008. Â The Pats moved up to North Jersey Section 2 Group IV for the 2008-09 season, and ultimately lost to eventual finalist Piscataway in a thrilling quarterfinal contest. Â The Pats would return to N2 Group III, but had their seasons ended by Mendham in 2010 and 2011, and T of C finalist Plainfield in 2012. Â Then, in 2013, Colonia scored a nice upset over Summit in the opening round of the N2 Group III tourney before losing to Irvington. Â This past season, Colonia defeated Passaic Valley and Irvington to advance to the N2 Group III semis before losing to Summit in the semifinals.
In conference play, the Patriots would fall in the GMCT quarterfinals to eventual champion, Piscataway in 2007, but rebound to reach the GMCT semifinals before losing to eventual champion, Cardinal McCarrick in 2008. Â Colonia wouldn’t return to the GMCT Final Four again until this past season. Â Playing as the only Group 3 school in the GMC Red, Colonia had been plagued by slow starts to the season in recent years, but would always seem to rebound to make a nice run in the GMCT. Â Over the eight seasons he served as an assistant to Chiera at Colonia, the Patriots compiled an overall record of 128-82 with a sectional championship, two sectional finals appearances, three sectional semifinal appearances, four GMCT Elite Eight berths, and two GMCT Final Four appearances.
Hill was selected from another good field of candidates, and will be looking to build off this past season’s success that saw the Mustangs claim the highest seed in the GMCT boys tournament since the 1990 when JFK won it all. Â The Mustangs finished 15-11 overall including a second place finish in the Blue Division with a 12-4 mark. Â Kennedy has a good nucleus of players returning from this past season’s team including Bergen Catholic transfer, Jayson Graham, Joe Duffy, Stepp Oziegbe, Andrew Allen, Terrance Young, Kush Patel, and Brandon Patterson. Â The team recently competed in the Kean Spring League, where it was only 2-6, but two of those losses came by single digits including a last minute loss to Piscataway and an overtime loss to Roselle. Â The Mustangs also possess a talented junior class that finished third in the 2013 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament and includes the likes of Nick Keane, Rocky Prakiya, and Patel.