Fledgling New Jersey Academy hoping to compete with Montverde, Oak Hill for national basketball championships
By ADAM ZAGORIA WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. --
By ADAM ZAGORIA WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. --
By ADAM ZAGORIA
New Jersey will soon have a basketball academy modeled after the famed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Jack Li, a wealthy Chinese entrepreneur, is partnering with Martin Whitfield, a Plainfield, N.J. native and former player at the University of Texas-San Antonio, and Chris Chavannes, principal and head coach of The Patrick School in Hillside, N.J., to launch The Princeton Arts & Sports Academy. A press conference is set for Jan. 28 in Princeton.
They are looking for a high-profile name to coach the basketball program and former Rutgers and current Team Rio National coach Mike Rice is considering it, sources said. Rice has been coaching with Team Rio, which features Villanova-bound Bryan Antoine and Florida-bound Scottie Lewis, as well as at the Hoop Group. I profiled him in this 2016 New York Times story.
“He would be a great candidate, absolutely a great candidate,” Bob Hurley, the legendary former St. Anthony’s coach who was also approached about the job, said Thursday by phone about Rice.
“He’s a terrific coach and I think time heals all wounds and I think he has distanced himself from what had happened [at Rutgers]. I’ve watched him firsthand working since and I would love to see him get another opportunity.”
The 2018-2019 GEICO ESPN High School Basketball
The North Non-Public B bracket in New Jersey basketball just got a whole lot tougher.
The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) announced new classifications that will go into effect this year that put several of the state’s best teams all in North Non-Public B, the bracket that produced 13-time TOC winner St. Anthony’s under Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley (now closed) and six-time winner St. Patrick’s/The Patrick School under Kevin Boyle and then Chris Chavannes.
The Patrick School, the defending New Jersey Tournament of Champions winner, moves from South Non-Public B to the North, as do fellow powerhouses Roselle Catholic, Gill St. Bernard’s and St. Mary’s-Elizabeth.
