PATERSON, N.J. - Could this be the year Paterson Catholic finally takes down St. Anthony?
Based upon the Cougars impressive performance in beating Paterson Kennedy 81-64 to win their second straight Passaic County championship Saturday at Wayne Valley High School, it looks like they could beat anyone on a given night.
“I think they can beat a St. Anthony,” Kennedy coach Jim Ring said. “They have the talent that they could get there [to the Tournament of Champions]. They’re very, very good. They’re the best team we’ve played all year. Case closed. No one’s even a close second.” (more…)
PATERSON, N.J. - Here at the Passaic County championship game between defending champion Paterson Catholic and No. 2 seed Kennedy. Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato is on hand. The Pirates are recruiting Fuquan Edwin and Kyle Anderson from PC.
1:25 – It’s over. PC wins its second straight Passaic title, 81-64. Check back for quotes soon.
1:18 – IT’s all over except the Fat Lady. PC leads 81-59. Mack has 23, James 21 and Edwin 20 for the Cougars. Fordham-bound wing Lance Brown has just checked in for PC and promptly hit a 3-pointer from the wing. He had been out with a knee injury.
1:10 – PC is running away with it here at 70-54 midway through the fourth. Mack and James have 21 apiece and Edwin has 18.
1:02 – Myles Mack is on fire. The sophomore point guard just scored seven straight points and 11 of PC’s last 15 as the Cougars now lead 62-46 after three. He scored a bunch of points on transition baskets and one off a steal (more…)
If you don’t think Maryland is serious about landing Lance Stephenson, consider this.
The Terps staff plans to watch Stephenson, a McDonald’s All-American, four or five more times this season as Lincoln pursues its record fourth straight PSAL championship and third consecutive New York State Federation crown.
Lincoln opens defense of its PSAL title on Tuesday.
Maryland head coach Gary Williams previously watched the 6-foot-5 Stephenson, ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2009 by Hoop Scoop and No. 9 by Rivals, when he dropped in a career-high 50 points on FDR in the Brooklyn Borough championships. (more…)
Check out Part 1 of my three-part interview with legendary St. Anthony High School coach Bob Hurley. In this segment, Coach Hurley discusses the upcoming New Jersey state tournament and North Non-Public B rivals St. Patrick and Paterson Catholic. He also gives Villanova fans a primer on 6-foot-5 Villanova-bound wing Dominic Cheek, a McDonald’s All-American. Check back next week for Parts 2 & 3 in which Coach Hurley talks about the challenges facing Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John’s, as well as the changing tides in recruiting.
If you’re hoping to see the first round of the Big East Tournament on March 10, you’ll have to either get a ticket to Madison Square Garden or watch the games online.
The first-round games — which could potentially include a Rutgers-Seton Hall ‘Sopranos’-Style Showdown — won’t be shown on SNY, MSG or ESPNU.
ESPN will televise the last four days of the event, including Saturday night’s championship game.
ESPN owns all the rights to the tournament and a spokesman for The Worldwide Leader said “a combination of factors” is responsible for the games not being televised.
“It is a combination of factors,” Michael Humes said. “The format of the tournament was changed after we reached our agreement with the conference and these four games, and extra Tournament day, are in addition to content beyond what we committed to televise. Also, our main Championship Week networks are packed with other commitments. (more…)
Here are Tim Pernetti’s comments on the Rutgers men’s basketball team, currently 10-18, 1-14 in the Big East.
“I had a terrific meeting with Coach [Fred] Hill during my interview process,” Pernetti said. “And I know he’s fighting this year and I understand that.
“But I think the infusion of young talent into his program and some of the caliber of players that he has is very, very impressive and I know that there are more coming down the pike.
“Coach Hill is committed to developing that young talent and I’m committed to working with him to give him the tools he needs to help that young talent succeed.”
My take is that Rutgers need to show some marked improvement next season with the additions of Dane Miller and Austin Johnson and an as-yet-named point guard or Hill will face some serious scrutiny from fans and the powers that be.
ELIZABETH, N.J. – Like most younger siblings, Kevin Boyle idolized his older brother, Neil.
But it wasn’t until Neil passed away last weekend after a two-year battle with cancer that Kevin truly understood the impact his brother, 48, had on so many lives.
Thousands of people, including New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and all the members of the St. Patrick basketball program, attended the funeral on Wednesday to pay their last respects to Neil, a highly respected business agent with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 102.
Tim Pernetti was officially named the new Rutgers athletic director Thursday.
The appointment, following a national search, is effective April 1.
Pernetti, 38, will oversee 24 men’s and women’s intercollegiate teams in New Brunswick, 212 employees and an annual budget of approximately $56 million, roughly 3 percent of the university’s total $1.8 billion budget.
“We are delighted that Tim Pernetti is returning to the Rutgers community and is ready to work with our coaches and athletics and academic support staffs to further the tradition of excellence established by our student-athletes on the field and in the classroom,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick. (more…)
It was a Big Night in the Big East with many storylines unfolding…
**Thanks to a career-high 36 points from A.J. Price and 14 points and 15 rebounds from Hasheem Thabeet, UConn coach Jim Calhoun became just the seventh coach in Division I history to win 800 career games when the Huskies (26-2, 14-2) downed Marquette 93-82 in Milwaukee. Calhoun joined Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Jim Phelan, Mike Krzyzewski and Eddie Sutton as the only coaches to win 800.
“My dad always used to tell me…’You’re always going to be judged by the company you keep,’” Calhoun said. “I looked around at that list, and I’m really happy to be in that company.”
“Adam Zagoria sees the story behind the daily happenings.”
~ St. Anthony Coach Bob Hurley
Zagoria covers the New York Knicks and Big East hoops for NBA.com and SNY.tv. He also appears as a Big East Basketball Insider on SNY and 1050 ESPN Radio.
He is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, SI and Basketball Times.
**Photos courtesy Doug Scancarella,
