Mount Vernon point guard Isaiah Cousins has committed to Oklahoma, head coach Bob Cimmino confirmed to SNY.tv.

The 6-foot-4 Cousins chose the Sooners over Virginia Tech, UConn, Dayton and Xavier, Cimmino said.

“Isaiah is a 6-4 point guard who attacks the rim, hits the 3 and is a gym rat,” Cimmino said. “He never takes a play off and has elevated his game tremendously in the last year.”

The list of players to come out of “Money Earnin’ Mount Vernon” in recent years includes Ben Gordon of the Detroit Pistons, former Rutgers players Mike Coburn and Jonathan Mitchell, George Mason’s Sherrod Wright and West Virginia’s Kevin Jones and Jabarie Hinds. (more…)

NEW YORK — Kevin Jones tested the NBA waters after his junior season at West Virginia.

After getting feedback from NBA executives, the 6-foot-8, 260-pound Mount Vernon, N.Y., native opted to return for his senior season, and it has turned out to be a wise move.

Jones leads the Big East in both scoring (20.9 ppg) and rebounding (11.6 rpg) and is the odds-on favorite to be named Big East Player of the Year.

“Not once have I really thought about that,” Jones, 22, said after going for 23 points  and 14 rebounds Wednesday in the Mountaineers’ 78-62 loss to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. “I just want to continue to keep on playing well so my team will do well.

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Mount Vernon High School has become a virtual pipeline to the Big East in recent years.

West Virginia senior forward Kevin Jones and freshman point guard Jabarie Hinds both played for head coach Bob Cimmino at ‘Money Earnin’ Mount Vernon.’

Cimmino also coached former Rutgers players Jonathan Mitchell and Mike Coburn.

And current senior point guard Isaiah Cousins — who holds offers from Hofstra, Manhattan and Stonybrook but won’t sign until the spring — may still wind up in the Big East if he blows up this season.

“I think he wants to see if his recruitment does blow up,” Cimmino said. “He’s gotten so much better in the last six months that it’s very, very noticeable.”

Yet with the future of the Big East now up in the air, Cimmino feels more than a tinge of sadness. (more…)

West Virginia-bound guard Jabarie Hinds posted 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Mount Vernon to its record-ninth New York State state championship, 62-51, over Jamestown Sunday at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

“I played well,” Hinds said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, though.”

“Jabarie dominated the flow of the game with five steals, earning MVP honors,” said Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino.

Mount Vernon was tied with Bridgehampton before the game with eight state crowns. (more…)

Jabarie Hinds and Achraf Yacoubou both played at the LeBron James Skills Academy last summer.

They are both lightning quick, high-IQ guards headed to Big East schools.

And now they are co-winners of the New York State Mr. Basketball Award.

The other finalists for the award were Rice’s Jermaine Sanders and Lincoln’s Shaquille Stokes.

“Jabarie shows class on and off the court and is also a great player,” said the 6-foot-4 Villanova-bound Yacoubou of Long Island Lutheran. (more…)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Mike Coburn and Jonathan Mitchell both received the tragic news on the morning of Senior Day.

Marcquis Abney, their former teammate at Mount Vernon High School, died tragically in a car accident in Mount Vernon early Sunday morning.

“It was tough,” Coburn told SNY.tv after scoring a game-high 20 points in Rutgers’ 65-54 loss to West Virginia at the RAC. “I got a call early this morning and he was a real, real good close friend of mine. We played together all four years.”

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(Photo courtesy NJ.com)

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The awards keep piling up for St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley.

Hurley on Monday was given the Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball.

The accolade comes a week after Hurley, 63, notched his 1,000th career victory over Jersey City St. Mary’s.

Last August, Hurley became just the third high school coach ever inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

He has won 23 state titles, 10 Tournament of Champions crowns and three mythical national titles. (more…)

NEW YORK – Bob Hurley didn’t get to 997 career victories without making some executive coaching decisions at tense moments.

With his team trailing by 12 points in the second half to Brooklyn Boys and Girls and on the brink of a major upset Saturday in the SNY Invitational championship game, Hurley made a critical call.

“We just went to what we call ‘Fist,’” Hurley said after St. Anthony, No. 2 in the USA Today Super 25, rallied to beat the No. 22 Kangaroos, 43-38, at LIU-Brooklyn for their first SNY crown and Hurley’s 998th career win.

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NEW YORK – Jabarie Hinds and Myles Mack seem destined for a Big East rivalry for years to come.

With Hinds headed to West Virginia and Mack to Rutgers, the two point guards are slated for annual showdowns for the next several years.

But on Friday night, Mack got the best of Hinds when unbeaten St. Anthony, No. 2 in the USA Today Super 25, beat Mount Vernon, 60-47, at LIU-Brooklyn to advance to the championship game of the SNY Invitational.

“It was a matchup we had built for a lot of years,” said the 5-foot-9 Mack, who scored 12 points and dished 2 assists in the win. “He played very good the second half; he got his shots off. But we won the game so that’s all that matters.” (more…)