Kyrie Irving, who began his high school basketball career at tiny Montclair (N.J.) Kimberley Academy and finished up at powerhouse St. Patrick, will be named the NBA Rookie of the Year, according to reports.

Irving, who led all first-year players in scoring at 18.5 points per game, will receive the award Tuesday, the AP reported.

“I would imagine it’s something you dream about as a kid working out with all the time and effort you put in,” former St. Patrick and current Montverde (Fla.) Academy coach  Kevin Boyle told SNY.tv.  ”He was blessed with some talent but what people don’t realize is he’s an example of a guy who really loves to play and really worked hard. He put a lot of time in the gym. (more…)

NEW ORLEANS — Basketball seems to come easy for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the hard-charging Kentucky freshman from Somerdale, N.J., who is projected as a Top 3 pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

But speaking to reporters and in front of cameras — a requirement for high-profile athletes — hasn’t always been so easy.

Gilchrist, 18, has battled a stutter for much of his life.

On Sunday, during a 14-minute session with a small group of reporters here inside the Kentucky locker room on the eve of the NCAA championship game Monday night against Kansas, Kidd-Gilchrist addressed the issue for the first time in the four years I have covered him. (more…)

Editor’s Note: This is an updated version of this story. It originlally mentioned that a St. Patrick player was considering transferring to Peddie, but that was an error. It is a another player –DeAndre Noble Haywood of Paterson Eastside  –who is considering Peddie.**

NEW ORLEANS — St. Patrick basketball coach Chris Chavannes believes his school will be open next season and that the basketball team will feature Seton Hall commit Aquille Carr.

“We sent a letter to parents, the student body and to alumni that we are going to be independent of the Archdiocese [of Newark] and we are in the process of putting that together,” Chavannes told SNY.tv Sunday in confirming a report by The Star-Ledger. “We’re very confident that we’ll be able to get that done in the near future.” (more…)

Ohio State is the only team in this Final Four without a player from New Jersey’s powerhouse St. Basketball trio of St. Anthony, St. Patrick and St. Benedict’s.

But that’s apparently not for lack of trying.

“Well, we have recruited that area and you can see our success rate since we’re the only one that doesn’t have one,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said Monday on a conference call.

St. Anthony product Tyshawn Taylor runs the point for Kansas, St. Patrick alum Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is a major contributor at (more…)

LOUISVILLE,  Ky. – Derrick Gordon and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are former teammates at St. Patrick High School and brothers for life.

Like all competitors, they put their relationship on hold for a couple of hours Thursday night when they faced off in the NCAA Tournament at the KFC Yum! Center.

But now that the game is over and No. 1 overall seed Kentucky is moving on, Gordon would like to see his friend and former teammate cut down the nets next month in New Orleans.

“One of us had to lose,” Gordon said after scoring 12 points in top-seeded Kentucky’s 81-66 rout of No. 16 Western Kentucky in a South Regional first-round game. (more…)

On the same night St. Anthony ran its two-year long winning streak to 60 games, it’s chief rival for the last two decades, St. Patrick, played what could be the last game in school history.

UCLA-bound point guard Kyle Anderson scored 34 points to lead the Friars to a 90-24 rout of Oratory Prep in the New Jersey North Non-Public B quarterfinals in Jersey City.

Anderson eclipsed the 30-point plateau for the second straight game, having gone for 35 in Saturday’s win over Medford Tech.

Since arriving at St. Anthony to play for Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley in 2010 following the closing of Paterson Catholic, Anderson is now 60-0 in a Friars uniform. (more…)

NEW YORK — The Cavaliers-Knicks game Wednesday night wasn’t billed as the “St. Benedict’s Prep Alumni Game,” but it easily could have been.

The two teams featured three players who competed under former St. Ben’s coach Dan Hurley in Knicks guard J.R. Smith and Cavs big men Samardo Samuels and Tristan Thompson.

Throw in former St. Patrick star Kyrie Irving and the game actually featured four players from the two North Jersey prep powerhouses.

Between them, the four players accounted for 44 points and 13 rebounds in the Knicks’ 120-103 victory. Samuels said all the Jersey players have the “same little swag…a little approach to things.” (more…)

For nearly two decades, St. Patrick and St. Anthony forged one of the most bitter and hotly contested high school basketball rivalries in the nation.

A year ago, the two North Jersey schools were undefeated and ranked first and second nationally when they met in the unofficial national championship game at Rutgers.

St. Anthony beat St. Patrick in that game and went on to claim its fourth mythical national championship.

Now, with the news that St. Patrick will close its doors at the end of the year, Hall of Fame St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley says it’s the end of an era. (more…)

NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving is actively working to help his alma mater, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, out financially, but Al Harrington and Sam Dalembert are not, Celtics head coach Chris Chavannes told SNY.tv.

“We have faith that Kyrie will help St. Patrick,” Chavannes said, referring to the Cavaliers rookie point guard and the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft. “They have been very pro-active.”

The same is not true of St. Patrick alums Harrington, whom St. Pat’s principal Joe Picaro used to drive to school, and Dalembert, Chavannes said.

“Since they have been in the league, a number of consistent people who donate [to St. Patrick] have stopped because they all are under the assumption that these alums are giving back in a variety of ways,” Chavannes said. (more…)