Former Ramblers Standout and Head Coach and St. Joe’s Assistant Replaces Brandon Hall in CTown
COLONIA, NJ—The 2017-18 boys basketball campaign was a memorable one in Colonia. After being 7-7 at one point in the season following four consecutive losses to Edison, Ridge, Carteret, and Howell, the Patriots put together a tremendous run with 10 wins in their last 13 games, nearly won the GMCT Championship, and reached the semifinals of the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Tournament.
Despite finishing 17-10 overall, nearly winning the GMCT after falling behind by almost 20 points in the second half, defeating two NJ.com Top 50 teams in then second seeded Piscataway (in GMCT Quarterfinals) and top seeded Rahway in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Quarterfinals, the Patriots finished outside the NJ.com Top 50. Regardless, Colonia’s combination of experience and youth as well as a solid foundation of talent built over the past several years came to fruition, and will continue to have an impact into the 2018-19 season.
The losses of the likes of Frankie Lehman, Kristian Chapman, Connor Bevilacqua, and Timmy Carroll as well as the departure of former standout and previous head coach Brandon Hall, will slow the Patriots down a little, but there is still a lot of firepower back and good talent coming up from the JV and Freshmen levels to make them a contender to win the GMCT in 2019. Add to that the hire of former Carteret hoops standout, former Ramblers head coach, and St. Joseph’s assistant coach, Jose Rodriguez, and Colonia may have all the right ingredients to get over the finish line this season.
Rodriguez, who had coached at Plainfield the past couple of seasons, was hired during the summer after Hall decided to take a unique opportunity to join the coaching staff at Seton Hall University. So far, Hall’s move seems to have paid off since the Pirates have started the season very well with upset wins over Miami of Florida and 6th ranked Kentucky en route to a 6-3 record going into their annual match-up for Garden State bragging rights against Rutgers on Saturday.
At Plainfield, Rodriguez coached the Cardinals to a 16-36 mark against tough Union County Conference Watchung Division competition that included the likes of Linden (2017 TOC Semifinalist), Roselle Catholic (2018 TOC winner), Patrick School (2017 TOC winner), and Elizabeth as well as crossover games against St. Mary’s of Elizabeth and Union Catholic. As a player, Rodriguez was one of the top players of all time to play at Carteret High School. Over his four year career playing for the Ramblers, Rodriguez scored 1,227 points, which still ranks third behind the legendary Keith Hughes Sr. (1,742 points) and 2015 graduate Jaquan Robertson (1,482 points).
During his junior and senior years, he along with the likes of Omar Alston, John Caldwell, Madhi Pettus, Rob Carter, Drew Hill, Wilfredo Fuentes, and others led Carteret to two straight GMCT Final Four berths including an appearance in the 2000 GMCT Championship only to lose to Sayreville, which was led by Dwayne Thomas and Bobby Brown. In 2001, the Ramblers lost to top seeded St. Joseph’s in the semifinals before the Falcons fell to Justin Chiera and Colonia in the GMCT Championship. After Rodriguez graduated from CHS in 2001, the Ramblers won their last GMCT title in 2002 with the likes of Alston, Carter, Hill, and Fuerte.
Those Rambler teams from 1999 to 2002 only lost one game in Blue Division play, and that loss occurred on opening day of the 1999-2000 season at South Plainfield. During the 2000-01 season, Carteret combined with Highland Park to put together one of the most memorable games of that season in Highland Park early in January 2001. After the Owls rallied from behind late in regulation to force overtime, the Ramblers won the game at the buzzer in the extra session. GMC Hoops selected it as the Game of the Year. Rodriguez earned GMC Hoops Player of the Week Honors after scoring 50 points in a win at Monroe in January 2001, which broke Joe “Ducky” Medwick’s record for most points in a game by a Carteret player.
As coach, Rodriguez rebuilt a Carteret team that had gone 2-18 during the 2005-06 season while he was an assistant to Keith Hughes Sr., to a squad that reached the 2008 GMCT Quarterfinals as the 7th seed before losing to 2nd seeded and defending champion, Piscataway at Middlesex County College. Carteret, which advanced to the Central Jersey Group 2 Quarterfinals before losing to Roselle, finished the 2007-08 season at 17-9 including a 10-4 mark in divisional play for a second place finish behind Colonia. Those Ramblers were led by the likes of Robert “Double-Double” Jackson, Brian Williams, Al Tampa, Alvin Rodriguez, and Rene Godfrey.
Following the 2008-09 season, Rodriguez eventually moved on to rejoin his former mentor at Carteret, Dave Turco on the staff at St. Joseph’s. Rodriguez served as both a varsity assistant and JV coach during his tenure there. Rodriguez was on the coaching staff during the time the Falcons won three straight Non-Public A State Champions from 2012 to 2014, and the school’s only TOC title in 2014. Simultaneously, the Falcons also won 6 GMCT titles in 7 years including five straight from 2010 to 2014.
Rodriguez will be taking over a Colonia program that is in very good shape. Three players from last year’s rotation return including Chad Baker, Luke Valeriano, and football standout, Chris Sica. In addition, the Patriots have plenty of good talent coming up from the JV level including Tommy Mitch, Jimmy Frage, Steve Carascio, Keyshawn Davis, and Jacob Fasulo. The Patriots are No. 2 in the 2018-19 GMC Hoops Pre-Season Poll and open the season on the road Friday night against a Scotch Plains-Fanwood squad that has not lost to a GMC team since losing to Piscataway opening day of the 2015-16 season (14-0). The Raiders opened the North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 playoffs by defeating Perth Amboy for their last win versus the GMC.