Tigers’ AD and Boys Hoops Coach Stepping Down to Take Position at King’s Academy in FL
PISCATAWAY, NJ–Last Friday afternoon, GMC Hoops learned that Chris Hobbs will not be returning next year as Athletic Director and Boys Basketball head coach. In an email sent to other athletic directors in the Greater Middlesex Conference, Hobbs announced that he would not be returning next year since he accepted a position at Kings Academy in Florida as varsity boys basketball coach and associate athletic director. Hobbs coached at TCS for 9 seasons including six in the GMC.
Hobbs, who is 165-174 for his career, which includes a stop at Emmanuel Christian School in Manassas, Virginia (48-55 record), was 117-119 at Timothy Christian. This past season, the Tigers, which were in the second year of a rebuilding program after winning the GMC Gold back in 2013-14, finished 8-19 overall including a 6-10 mark in divisional play. Don’t be fooled by that record though since there were quite a few games that the Tigers lost by either single digits, or in overtime. TCS has a bright future ahead with the likes of top sophomore Robert Saydee, juniors Tyler Mixson and Will Clemmons, and GMC Hoops Most Improved Player of the Year, Pierce Kokosinski returning next year.
In 2013-14, Timothy Christian had a magical year. Led by the likes of Brandon Summers, Zach Coyle, Matt DiLeo, Jarret Locke, and Matt Harris, the Tigers finished with a 15-11 overall record and won their first ever GMC division title in boys basketball. TCS was also a contender to win the division in 2011-12 and 2012-13. The Tigers were 13-13 overall in 2012-13 including an 8-4 mark in the GMC Gold for a third place finish. Perhaps the best season that TCS had under Hobbs was in 2011-12 when the Tigers finished 22-6 overall including a 12-2 mark in the Gold Division. The signature win of the 2012-13 season was a 49-47 win at Piscataway Tech that was a coming out party for Summers, who was near perfect from the field in that game.
The win over P-Way Tech gave Timothy Christian sole possession of first place for about a week or so, but eventually, the Raiders which had defeated TCS by a 46-25 margin before Christmas, reclaimed the top spot and won the division. Some of the top players at Timothy Christian during Hobbs tenure included Kristian Svendsen (Asbury University in Kentucky), Dan “Triple” Decker (Summit University), Brandon Summers (Valley Forge University), and Josh Decker (Cairn University). Both Svendsen and Dan Decker finished their careers at TCS as 1,000 point scorers. Svendsen currently ranks fourth on the school’s all time scoring list with 1,363 points while the elder Decker is currently sixth with 1,203 points.
Hobbs demonstrated tremendous energy and enthusiasm on the sideline at TCS. He did it all for the Tigers. Not only the dual job of athletic director and boys basketball coach, but also coaching JV during the 2012-13 season. On top of that, he was very involved with social media and developed a great following not only TCS boys hoops, but for all the TC sports programs. Prior to the start of the 2015-16 season, Hobbs began writing a blog about his coaching experience, and talked openly in one of his entries about the struggles of the 2014-15 campaign in which the Tigers went 3-23. Rather than dwell on the negatives, Hobbs talked about how much he learned and grew as a coach from that season. He also became a very influential figure in the GMCT seeding process after being on the seeding committee in each of the past two years.
GMC Hoops will miss Coach Hobbs greatly. He was always a great help when it came to obtaining information about Timothy Christian boys basketball. From the holiday tournaments that they played in to the pre-season scrimmages and regular season games. It was always great to stop by TCS and watch the Tigers played because I knew that GMC Hoops would always be welcomed. In addition, Hobbs would occasionally tweet about a game covered by GMC Hoops that involved a GMC Gold team. He always showed tremendous respect to all the teams in the Gold Division, and great pride in the smaller schools of the conference. The tremendous pride turned into advocacy when it came to the GMCT seeding. The GMC is losing not only losing a tremendous coach, but a very important voice.