Piscataway Tech Hires Plainfield Standout Mike Gordon; Familiar Faces In New Places
PISCATAWAY, NJ–On Friday, GMC Hoops learned from an article in MyCentralJersey.com that Piscataway Tech hired its second coach this summer. This time, the Raiders hope this one is a keeper. Former Plainfield standout, Mike Gordon, who went on to star at the D1 Level at SUNY-Binghamton, and had been recently serving as an assistant to head coach Jeff Lubreski at his alma mater (Plainfield HS) the past several seasons, was hired to replace DeShawn Singleton at Piscataway Tech. Singleton had been hired at P-Way Tech earlier this summer to replace Karl Towns, Sr., who had coached at the school for the past 15 seasons.
Gordon came up in the Plainfield hoops program in the early part of the new millennium when the Cardinals began enjoying the basketball renaissance it is currently in. Gordon played behind the likes of Jihad Muhammad (Cincinnati) and Andre Dabney (Bloomfield College), who were both 1,000 point scorers at PHS before moving on to playing careers at the college level. The duo of Muhammad and Dabney helped lead the Cardinals to the North Jersey Section 2 Group III sectional final against Randy Foye and then Watchung Conference rival, Newark East Side at Piscataway HS back in 2001. Gordon teamed up with the likes of Tyrone Davis to challenge the likes of Linden and Elizabeth in the Watchung Conference during the 2003-04 season.
Gordon is the older brother of former St. Patrick’s standout, Derrick Gordon, who went on to play at Western Kentucky before recently transferring to UMass. Gordon was on the Plainfield HS coaching staff along with former Linden standout, Danny Del Valle and South Plainfield standout, Clint Robinson, when the Cardinals won back to back Group III state titles and made two finals appearances against St. Anthony’s in the 2011 and 2012 Tournament of Champions. Top players on those teams were Justin Sears, who now plays at Yale, Sekou Harris, Jahmal Lane, and Dijon Allen-Jordan. Some notable wins over those two years were the triple overtime win at Mendham for the 2011 North Jersey Section 2 Group III championship, a hard fought, come from behind win over Neptune in the 2012 Group III State Championship at Pine Belt Arena, and a rout of St. Joseph’s in the 2012 Tournament of Champions semifinals.
Piscataway Tech is moving back down to the Gold Division after spending two years in the Blue. This past season, the Raiders were 8-16 after challenging for the division crown in 2012-13. P-Way Tech lost Jordan Lackey, who will be attending Division II Franklin Pierce in the fall, but still has the likes of Aziz Austin and a good group of juniors returning. Gordon is the eighth coaching change in the GMC so far this off-season. In addition to previously mentioned changes at South Amboy (John Zammit), J.F. Kennedy (Drew Hill), and Middlesex (Jared Goldstein), there have been three other coaching changes with some familiar faces in Middlesex County and Garden State hoops moving into the scene. Former longtime St. Anthony’s associate coach, Ben Gamble takes over at Cardinal McCarrick, former Piscataway boys hoops head coach, Guy Jensen takes over at Metuchen, and recent Middlesex head coach, Art Tooles takes over at New Brunswick.
Gamble will be the fourth different head coach in as many years at McCarrick, which has stumbled recently with back to back sub .500 seasons after being one of the dominant programs in the GMC since 2003. Gamble, who is the 25th head coach in the history of the school, comes with an impressive pedigree. Not only did he play on two of Hurley’s many state championship teams including the one that defeated McCarrick when it was called St. Mary’s back in 1980, but he also served on the staff with Hurley at St. Anthony’s since the 1999-2000 season, and helped guide the Friars to 6 Tournament of Champions titles. The Eagles will be moving down to the GMC Blue after spending time in the GMC White since the 2008-09 season. The Eagles competed in the Hoop Group Summer Showcase among other things this summer.
Joining Gamble on the staff this year will be former St. Joe’s and Piscataway assistant Jayson Reid, who had recently been on the staff at Snyder in Jersey City. Gamble is not the only former assistant to Bob Hurley to take the reins of a GMC school. Former Union Township head coach, Anthony DiGiovanni was on the staff at St. Anthony’s before moving on to take the job at Piscataway in the 2003-04 season. After leading the Chiefs to a memorable quarterfinals appearance against South Plainfield in the 2004 GMCT, DiGiovanni moved on to New Brunswick, where he coached two seasons for the Zebras. At NBHS, DiGiovanni led the Zebras to the 2005 and 2006 GMCT Quarterfinals and the 2005 North Jersey Section 2 Group III semifinals. In the three years in the GMC, DiGiovanni was 45-30.
Games between Cardinal McCarrick and Metuchen will be fun again this season. The reason for that is McCarrick assistant, Jayson Reid, will be taking on his mentor, Guy Jensen, who has taken over at Metuchen. He replaces Jon Korellis, a former assistant to Rich Stoner, who came back to coach the program several years ago. Korellis guided the Bulldogs to its best season since the next to last season that Stoner coached at the school. The Bulldogs won the Metuchen Holiday Tournament, upset Spotswood at the SAC, and qualified for the CJ Group I state playoffs where they lost to Blue Division rival Middlesex. Jensen comes back to coaching after being away for several years. He and Reid had coached at Piscataway, where they guided the Chiefs back to prominence with two GMCT titles in three years from 2007 to 2009. P-Way also won two GMC Hoops Trophies (2008 and 2009), and a North Jersey Section 2 Group IV championship in 2008. Prior to coming to Piscataway, Jensen and Reid were assistants to Mark Taylor at St. Joseph’s in the early 2000s. Jensen and Reid coached the JV at St. Joseph’s and guided the Junior Falcons to the 2002 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament Championship over Cardinal McCarrick (46-39).
Jensen also reunites with former Piscataway girls head coach, Pat Mayo, who became the girls hoops coach at Metuchen this past season. Jensen is not the only familiar face in a new place for this coming 2014-15 boys basketball season. Former Franklin girls coach, Art Tooles, who recently led Middlesex to a 14-13 record in a quarterfinal round appearance in the 2014 Central Jersey Group I State Tournament, is taking on another rebuilding program at New Brunswick. After the Zebras reached the Central Jersey Group III Quarterfinals and lost to Lakewood in overtime back in 2012, then head coach, Antoine Allen moved on to Piscataway, and Rory Levine took over as coach. The combination of a number of new faces and a tough GMC White schedule had been tough on NBHS the past two seasons. Tooles will try to provide stability and direction to a group of Zebras that are young and have had flashes of brilliance. Prior to taking the NBHS head coaching job, Tooles coached at Middlesex for three seasons, and the Blue Jays steadily improved under his guidance. This past season, Middlesex had a good blend of young talent such as Stew Lester and Vince Chiera, and solid veterans such as recent 1,000 point scorer, Jarret Bogus.
In total, there will be seven new coaches roaming the sidelines around the GMC when the 2014-15 season begins in December.