TOP  TWENTY:

  1.)  HACKENSACK—- The Comets bring back 6 of their top 7 players starting with D1 prospect 6’4 Junior Rashard Figures! Along with  5’8 Sr. Point Guard Chris Myers, 6’1 Sr. Wing Eugene Marshall, 6′ Sr. Guard Keon Lewis and one of the most underrated players in the area 6’3 Sr. Forward Jamiek Moore Hackensack should be a top contender for the Bergen County Jamboree and make big noise in the States this season! Keep an eye on Sophomore Anthony Uribe!

2.)  TEANECK—- It’s a possibility that the Highwaymen have two players averaging 20 points a game this season in Senior’s Joel Hernandez and Shakir Lindsey! If they can get help from Sr. Marcus Fulmore, Sr. Eddie Pena, Sr. Davonte Locadia and others step up Teaneck will still be one of the elites of the area!!!

3.) BERGEN CATHOLIC—- The Crusaders move up primarily because of the acquisiton of point guard Gilberto Cue! The freshman will start right away and will give Sr. P.J. Reed and Jr. Nadi Beciri great help! Bergen is young but talented and if they figure it out will be a legitimate problem this season!

4.) DEPAUL—- When Sophomore Donte Wise is eligible DePaul should be the toast of Passaic County! Sr. Josh Marquez and Jr. Juwuan Carter are two of the best players in the Northern New Jersey area and with Sr. Sanders Green added DePaul will be right in the mix for the Passaic County “CHIP” and more!

5.) EASTSIDE—- This year is time for Sr. Quattier Jackson to come into his own! The addition of Sr. guard Tommy Rivera from the Patrick School to go along with Sr. Jetor Brown will make the Ghosts a tough out for anyone! Also have sophomore Marquel Sheffield from Paramus Catholic!

6.)  PARAMUS CATHOLIC—— Sr. Kyle Menard has D-1 potential and Junior Jalen Hernandez has All County ability as they will lead the Paladins this season! Need Junior guard Kareem Coston and 6’7 Senior Anthony Rafes to step up to reach their potential!

7.)  DON BOSCO PREP—- Prep season will depend on the play of Junior Guard Paul Jorgensen and Junior Forward Tom Sweeny! Watch the dead eye shooting of Sophomore Justin Salem!

8.) PASSAIC COUNTY TECH—– Senior guards Whalik Watson and Isaac Williams will man the backcourt, while Senior Korrie Hagge will be the primary rebounder! Junior guard Zaheem Beal could be the most talented player on the team!

9.)  WOOD RIDGE—- Senior Guard’s Gary Whritenour and Mike Gibney are two of the best scorers in the area! Senior Guard Angel Colon will do the job of getting the ball to them! Team will shoot it from anywhere and push it with the best!

10.) OLD TAPPAN—– Junior Troy McLaughlin will lead the Golden Knights with the help of Senior’s  Mason Vialonga and Khalil Whitney!

11.) CRESSKILL—- Senior’s Dom Wilson, Tyler Jackson and Alex DeCandia will be the catalyst for Cresskill this season!

12.) PASSAIC—- Have one of the most talented players in the area in Senior Rashaan Johnson and expect to get help from Senior Gervon Williams a transfer from Hackensack and Sr. Aaziah Miller!

13.) KENNEDY— Kennedy is Kennedy and their scrappy defense and all out effort will keep them around! Senior Hassan Towns will lead them and be aware of Freshman guard Alphonso Gee! Also will get help from Sophomore guard Aalim Jones!

14.) ELMWOOD PARK— Can be a legitimate factor with the likes of Senior’s Nick Smith, Andre Frasier and Jahmad Green!

15.)  PASSAIC VALLEY—– Junior Stephan Minic is one of the best shooters from long range in the area! Freshman Jihad Wright will be a factor right away and will get rebounding from the Cirrincione triplets( Dan, Joe,Mike)! Ian Hanley also a factor!

16.)ST. MARYS——- Senior Connor Cuccinelli and point guard Shawn Johnson and Keith Bacote will lead St. Mary’s!

17.) HAWTHORNE CHRISTIAN—-Junior Alex Thomas has D-1 potential and will lead the Defenders with the help of Junior’s Chris Aust and Jake Hart!

18.)  DWIGHT -ENGLEWOOD— Senior’s Keon Osbourne, Austin James, Robbie Zeller and John Dargan will help offset the loss of All County stud Wesley Dickerson

19.) LODI —- Junior Vinnie Paladino is a strong point guard and Senior Donat Gashi can score the ball and if they can get big contributions from Junior Keyshawn Fowler and Sophomore Raymere Grant they can be strong contenders! 

20.) RIDGEWOOD — Senior Nick Simon will be the key player for the Maroon’s this season! Look for Chris Turnbull and Justin Ok to contribute!

    6’6 Forward DeAndre Bembry of the Patrick School college decision came down to two Philadelphia schools as his final choices were between St.Joe’s and Temple! Bembry. who played his AAU ball with Sports U said in the end him and his family felt St. Joe’s was his best fit! Bembry signed his letter of intent last week! SportsU director Ed Bright likes the decision saying” DeAndre is a great teammate. he is a guy who will fill up the stat sheet because he does so many things”! His Patrick School Coach Chris Chavannes also likes the choice saying” I think DeAndre and St. Joe’s are a great fit. DeAndre is the definition of “a player and he does many things well”! Bembry is a good athlete who runs the floor well and hits the jump shot consistently! Hoop Journal would like to congratulate Bembry and his family on his college choice and hope for nothing but the best in the future!!

Kennedy H.S., Paterson, N.J…….. The first Nike PreDraft Camp sponsored by the Playaz Basketball Club and ran by Nike brought a great response from the Paterson area and neighboring cities as over 100 kids participated in the event! Every type player was there from the Novice player to the Elite player! The Camp was headed by Nike Talent Development Coordinator Mike Morrison(below right) who played in the N.B.A. for 5 years with Dallas, Phoenix, Washington, Philadelphia and Orlando! He has been with Nike for 11 years and has a great way of communicating with the kids while going through N.B.A. type drills and also with the parents in a intense question and answer session which brought about reality situations that parents and players will have to confront on their way to becoming an Elite type ballplayer! With the help of Morrison and his right hand man Jamal Robinson Nike is trying to reinforce the grass roots aspect of the game with more intense training and less just “playing the game”! One of the top Sophomores in the Country, Isaiah Briscoe(left) led the talent brigade that participated in the camp! Other top players were Hackensack H.S. Junior Rashard Figures, St. Joseph Of Metuchen Junior Marques Townes,  Medford Tech Junior Elijah Cain, DePaul Junior Juwaan Carter,  Hawthorne Christian Junior Alex Thomas, Pope John Of Sparta Freshman Bryce Aikens, Hudson Catholic Sophomore Nassir Barrino, Kennedy Freshman Alphonso Gee, St. Anthony Sophomore Marcus McDuffie, Passaic Valley Junior Stefan Minic to name a few of many plus some top flight 7th and 8th grade players! The next Nike Pre Draft Camp will be held in Washington D.C. December 7th-8th and 9th! Hopefully this can be a once a year event for the area over the next few years!