Mike Rosario and Jio Fontan leave for New Zealand on Wednesday for the FIBA U19 World Championship slated for July 2-12.
And don’t be surprised if they sleep with a basketball once they get there.
You see, the duo — who are playing for Puerto Rico in the event — slept with a FIBA basketball during training [...]

As Mike Rosario and his Rutgers teammates flew off to Spain last month, Rosario’s mind flashed to the guys on the street back in his hometown of Jersey City.
They never would have believed it.
Those guys never would have imagined that one of their own would be taking off for a worldwide basketball tour that would [...]

Fordham athletic director Frank McLaughlin wants star point guard Jio Fontan to return to school, but Fontan and his family say he will never play for Fordham again.
McLaughlin has repeatedly ignored interview requests from the media (myself included), but he did tell a Fontan confidant that the school will not release the young man from [...]

UConn point guard Kemba Walker of New York and a pair of players from Bob Hurley’s storied St. Anthony program — Villanova commit Dominic Cheek and Kansas freshman Tyshawn Taylor — have been selected to attend the 2009 USA U19 National Team Trials.
The 12-man team will compete in the U19 World Championship later this summer [...]

Here’s the trailer for ‘The Street Stops Here,’ the documentary film about St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley and the impact he’s had on hundreds of young men.
The trailer features clips of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina coach Roy Williams, as well as Rutgers guard Mike Rosario, Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor and Villanova-bound wing [...]

DETROIT — Carl Henry says his sons “should have their releases [from Memphis] as early as Monday” and are still trying to determine if they will be able to play together next season at Kansas or Memphis.
C.J. Henry is a non-scholarship player at Memphis and would have to get an NCAA waiver to suit up [...]

DETROIT - The Naismith Hall of Fame has once again decided in its infinite wisdom to keep legendary St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley outside of its hallowed walls.
The official word won’t come until Monday, but it’s a fact that Hurley won’t be among those joining Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton and Rutgers women’s coach [...]

DETROIT - Bob Hurley believes Jio Fontan should remain at Fordham for at least another year instead of transferring.
“He and his father have discussed transferring with me,” Hurley, the Naismith Hall of Fame nominee and St. Anthony coach, said Friday by phone. “I’ve talked with the Fordham people. I believe that he should stay through [...]

UPDATE: Bob Hurley wants Fontan to stay at Fordham.

DETROIT - Fordham point guard Jio Fontan is seeking his release from the school, but has been denied by the program, according to a source with knowledge.
Half a dozen schools from the SEC, ACC and Big East — including both New Jersey programs — would be interested [...]

BOSTON — No matter who wins Thursday’s Villanova-Duke game in the Sweet 16, the folks at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark will be proud.
No. 2 Duke (30-6) features one former St. Benedict’s player in junior forward Lance Thomas and No. 3 Villanova (28-7) has two former Gray Bees in senior forward Frank Tchuisi and sophomore [...]