Hoop news
OK, don’t blow a gasket. This is just a quick basketball update. We’ll quickly get back to football.
First, the Westchester Basketball Coaches Association and the Officials Association are hosting their second-annual golf outing on Sept. 28 at Dunwoodie Golf Course in Yonkers. Proceeds from the event benefit Coaches vs. Cancer. Click here for full details to participate or donate. I played last year and had a great time. If you do come, plan on losing the long drive contest to me. Playing a hundreds per year has its benefits.
A few other things to update you on:
Former Fox Lane standout Joe Godette has left the school and returned to New Rochelle, the district he grew up in. Adding Godette to a team with P.J. Torres and Antoine Mason could put the Huguenots in serious contention with Mount Vernon and Poughkeepsie.
New Rochelle has officially set its schedule for this season: opens on Dec. 4 at St. Raymonds; Dec. 12 in the Upstate/Downstate Challenge in Long Island; Dec. 19 against Albany Academy at Marist College; a trip to Tennessee to compete in the Arby’s Classic; plus two games against Mount Vernon (including the season finale) and a showdown with Iona Prep on Feb. 6 at Iona College. The entire schedule can be found here. I’ll try to get the Mount Vernon and Iona Prep schedule this week.
The Hudson Valley Coaches Clinic be held on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Marist College. The clinic will feature Kentucky’s John Calipari, St. John’s Norm Roberts, Derek Kellog of UMass and Brusier Flint of Drexel. Interested coaches (on any level from youth to varsity) should contact Brian Laffin for more information: 845-797-0806.
Interesting story on Syracuse.com about Jamesville-DeWitt big man Dajuan Coleman, a the 6-8 center who had his way against Peekskill in the Class A state final and against Iona Prep the following week. He was only a freshman.
Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino has been named the school’s athletic director. He’ll still coach the basketball team.
Check out the ESPN.com rankings of the top point guards in New York. Daquan Brickhouse of Peekskill and Dayvon Whitaker of Poughkeepsie were rated well. But there’s another 2010 guard from this area listed ahead of both.
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Great Job Kevin.
who is the 3rd local kid ranked above whitaker and brickhouse?...i couldn’t get into that espn link..
Kadeem Francis form stepinac HS..
I didnt see who was rated above either. MAybe it was Hinds?
Hinds and also Henderson from NFA
does anyone know WHO & HOW these rankings come about.
Hinds is 2011
Kadeem he is a hard worker. Just imagine if he and Trinity Catholic’s LaQuinn Shuler had stayed at Valhalla. With Jensen and Annunziata they would have made Valhalla favorites to win the state championship.
kev pc lost 38-8 but it was 8-6 pc n they were driving in again when they lost jr qb ryan roman to a broken wrist . he is out for year. there has not been one thing abt program at all n they r a local team .even if they have been bad there should of been something abt the upcoming year.
KEVIN, HOW DO THESE POINT GUARDS AND OTHER PLAYERS GET RANKED FOR ESPN. I NOTICED MOST HAD NO RANKINGS EVEN SOME WHO HAD VERBALED.
Has everyone ever heard of a kid Named Matt Townsend. Just because he does not play for one of the Big B-ball schools does not mean he should not get notice. He is 6’7 and he is getting offers from just about every Ivy League school. He is only a Junior this year. The kid is white and from Horace Greeley. He can really ball.
Are the teams for the Slam Dunk Tourney picked yet? hopefully there are some more big matchups this year..
Kevin,
Thanks for the basketball update. I know some of the more overzealous bloggers on here get on you for posting a basketball post – not exactly the broad, open-minded sort of guy apparently. So thanks for doing it anyway. It would actually be great to get more basketball posts during the summer. Summertime is huge for high school basketball players hoping to play at the next level. It would be interesting to read and discuss which local players were playing for which AAU teams in which tournaments and which players are getting college interest. We’ve heard a little about Jabarie Hinds and Conroy Baltimore having huge summers for the Westchester Hawks. It would be interesting to see what kind of colleges Jordan Bronner, Carissimo and Voelkel are getting at Iona as well as Antoine Mason and others. Many of these kids could commit in the next few weeks/months.
By the way, big news for New Rochelle getting Joe Godette. I’m not sure how many know this story. Godette played his freshman year at Stepinac, then transferred to New Rochelle his sophomore year, then transferred to Fox Lane for his junior year, and now back to New Rochelle for his senior year. I’m sure he’s a nice kid, but there’s something wrong with the system if a kid switches schools every year in high school all within the same county and never has to sit out. I wish him the best this year and I hope he can put things together and move on to the next level, but given how he’s been able to manuever around or switch schools, it doesn’t seem very likely that he’s being prepared for sticking with something at the next level of basketball or with life in general. New Rochelle’s team should be loaded and automatically jump into the favorites for the mythical #1 team in Westchester this year along with Iona and Mt Vernon. Stepinac should be very tough as well.
Great to see Kadeem Francis from Stepinac being recognized by ESPN. He’s a very nice player who must’ve had a great summer.
Hoops Fan, I know Joe Godette personally and he is a very nice kid. He has a lot of family issues and sometimes he has to stay with different family members. His Mother is in NewRo, thats where he really belongs.
Oh and Matt Townsed is really not that good yet, he is just so freaking tall. A lot of potential in him.
I like the basketball posts too.
A couple of weeks ago I got attacked suggesting that their should be a separate basketball blog..like basebal, hockey soccer and lacrosse have. This allows chatter all year round on these sports.
Football and basketball have to share a blog? Why so, these are arguably the 2 biggest high school sports.
This thought is not meant to be mean-spirited, but just to recognize the passions that many separate fans have for both these sports.
LetsBeHonest,
I’m sure he is a nice kid. I saw him at a couple Stepinac games his freshman year sitting on the bench with the varsity during the playoffs – he seemed like a nice kid. From my understanding Fox Lane wasn’t a family situation but who knows. I just hope that bouncing around doesn’t become a regular occurence in Westchester county for good players looking for greener grass elsewhere. I think that generally hurts kids and teams. It seems like Fox Lane was a bad move for him. Had he stayed at Stepinac he would’ve started as a sophomore alongside Tony Taylor and had a chance to be a big contributor as a soph. last year and this year he would’ve teamed up with Conroy Baltimore in what would’ve been a scary front line reminiscient of Chris Watson and Llewellyn Cole for any fans that have been around awhile. He ended up at New Rochelle where I don’t believe he even played on the varsity his sophomore year if he played basketball at all. No disrespect to Fox Lane, the competition there was a lot different than he would’ve face at New Rochelle or Stepinac. If he’d been at New Rochelle last year he could’ve significatly improved that team alongside Antoine Mason and probably gotten better in the meantime.
Unless you are an active part of Mount Vernon sports then you will not realize how big Cimmino being named AD is for all the sports. She was a horrible AD. Not only did she lack understanding for any sports but she also did not care for the athletes. Every MV athlete will benefit from this.
She being Donna Pierro
Actually townsend is around 6’4. I have seen him play and he has great size and skill. He played with the westchester hawks and is the real deal. He is clearly top 4 big man in all section 1
Also Matt was backup big man for the westchester hawks. They are ranked 4th in the nation
im not quite sure why people aren’t talking much about najee being back at mvernon, that’s much bigger news then joe godette going back to new ro. joe is soft – that’s it. najee is way better – not even close. this puts
mt. vernon right back up there to repeat as
section 1 champs.
and regardless of joe’s “issues” that’s still no excuse to be in 3 different high schools in 4 years. some kids have it far worse then him.
people think mvernon will be down and they will be surprised!
Steve Wittingham is transferring to New Rochelle from St. Raymonds.
and the westchester hawks arent 4 in the nation. lets not gas them up please
Hoopsfan—
Joe Godette did sit out his Sophmore year at Fox Lane. He is a good kid that made some necessary changes due to family issues.
I agree that a system which allows players to change schools just for sports advantage is very wrong. There are rules, but it seems there are more loopholes.
I’m pretty sure the Westchester Hawks team finished 4th in the AAU Div I Nationals—whatever that means…
The coaches and officials, its nice to see people giving to a good cause. I plan on playing that day does anyone one from the blog want to join me ? We can take a collection and have the Varsity Insider sponsor a hole?
Najee who is back at Mt. VErnon ?
Joe Godette… Interesting but I think New Ro needs to check the transfer rules that are governed in Section 1 and NYS before they get happy. There are a lot of things that need to be checked on a kid that has moved that much.
The westchester hawks 16u finished 4th in national and finished in the elite 8 of the super showcase down in Orlando. The players on the team were Jabarie Hinds, Conroy Baltimore, Adam Honig, Matt Towsend, Shayne Martinez and PJ Torres. They beat a lot of good teams through out the two week craziness and then eventually lost to the national champions All Ohio Red. All of these players should have a big impact during the upcomming basketball season. Najee Whitehead is a high major basketball player who transfered back to MV after a year of prep school in WV. Don’t be surprised when Greely knocks people off this year because Matt is a beast inside.. Adam Honig and Matt will compliment each other well. Conroy and a confident Kadeem Francis will have CHSAA on there heals. NewRochelle is the team to beat this year with all the new additions I just hope Murph know how to coach, big egos. PJ Torres will be a good scorer for them but there is only one basketball. Jabarie Hinds will be asked to try and lead a young inexperienced MV team to the promise land this year we will see how that works out in Feb.. But to his credit he showed that he can get the job done with his play this summer, I heard that wake forest viginia, seton hall,Okl st, were up to see him play during open gym and have already offered him a scholarship.Shayne Martinez and a vetran NR should put Rockland schools back on the map in section 1. Regardless of who wins this year theiir will be some great games to go watch in section one this year
mt. vernons new addition will definitly put them at the near the top again. Conroy is the best big man in section 1 and townsend is clearly at the top of the list in the top 4 i would say. Him and adam should have a great year together. Pj is the best scorer. I wouldnt be surprised if most of the north rockland starting 5 make it to all county 1st team easy. It will be a great year. Woodlands will spark a surprise and will be having a great season with two new additions from the westchester hawks 16u team, pg malik atkins and sg deyvauhn henry. Deyvauhn will probably be a top scorer this year in all of section 1 along with pj. His hops are rediculous and he can show you a windmill jam or take off for lay ups from the freethrow line
IONA – NEW RO will be the game of the season…guaranteed
North Rockland beat New Ro this summer
Interesting stuff here wow! Kevin, this just shows the basketball updates have been way too far in between. So much news here!
First, Najee Whitehead is back at MV?! That is news to me, but huge news for Mt Vernon. That automatically makes them at least co-favorites with New Ro. I’ve also heard MV has an excellent sophomore bigman coming onto the varsity, plus their usually group of supporting guards they seem to have every season.
New Rochelle looks loaded with Antoine Mason, PJ Torres, Godette (likely) and now apparently Steve Whittingham from St Raymonds. Is Whittingham from New Rochelle or did he just transfer in. I thought he was from the Bronx. Whittingham would immediately become one of the best guards in Westchester.
Seems to be a rush a transfers into MV and New Ro this season; Whitehead, Godette and Whittingham. Interesting.
Fan,
I like that you put Conroy as the best big man in Westchester. You might be right, but I think Samuels from Blessed Sacrament (assuming he is back there for his Sr year) has that title with Voelkel from Iona Prep right behind him. Conroy definitely looks to be the best bigman in his class – defensively, he might be the best overall.
Where did Malik Atkins and Devaughn Henry transfer into Woodlands from? I thought I’d heard both went to school in the city last year.
FL Hoops,
You may be right Godette sat out his sophomore year at Fox Lane, but I’m fairly sure he started his sophomore year at New Rochelle, not sure that he played basketball though. I could be wrong.
Lastly, anyone have any updates on the Iona Prep seniors (Voelkel, Bronner, Carissimo, etc) and their college options? I haven’t heard much about them besides a little about Bronner having a nice summer for the Hawks.
Sounds like New Ro and Mt. Vernon are bringing them in. However, there are new rules c.2007 that prohitted these types of transfers. It will be interesting who calls them out… North Rockland? Poughkeepsie? White Plains? You clearly do not have the ability to move in and out of a district. A player that has been to numerous schools will get a red flag.
it will be interesting how those rules shake out. Public schools in general have been weak enforcing transfer rules in my opinion. Another thing with Whitehead that MV fans would know better than I, but I heard he repeated a grade while he was in prep school. Would that affect his eligibility? It would seem like it would if that is correct. Either way, this is great news for MV.
hoops fan you seem to be a stepinac fan. if so, you will enjoy their schedule this year – slam dunk, st. ray’s, bishop loughlin, molloy, all hollows,
st. mary’s (school where danny greene played) and of course the great rivalriy games with mount & iona 2 times.
i am a friend of the coach there and i couldn’t believe the schedule when he told me. best of luck to the crusaders.
i will say iona will be the favorite again. with their experience and big 3 (voelkel / bronner / sandro) they will be a tough match-up. and jeff mack is over shadowed by those 3 & the fact that he is a football stud, but he is probably one of the top ten guards in the area.
nice to see najee back in mvernon – when he plays his game to the best of his ability, he is very solid on both ends of the floor!
now back to football, i am looking forward to seeing how iona rebounds vs. holy cross.
I wish Poughkeepsie would get a transfer Big Man. That is what they lack this year. Whitaker, Gause and McLaurin are elevating their games exponentially. A big man would help out tons
Transfers will be investigated… Word from a Section 1 person
My bad on the Hawks- thought you guys were talking about the 17u team. Not to burst a bubble, but most 16u elite teams go to Vegas or Peach Jam (Nike’s version of nationals) while nationals are occuring.
I’ve heard Sandro has offers from some Ivy’s and Lehigh. I’m forgetting the others.
Baller:
Check the website in NATIONALS and the SHOWCASE.. To see what teams were out there.. The Hawks ran through some real good teams. I am sorry that you don’t coach aau basketball or if you do its the local circuit but don’t ever try to down play what these kids have accomplished during this crazy summer. Vegas is a great tournament but so is the showcase and national.So do the math, 4th in Nationals out of 160 teams isnt to bad, finishing 8th out of 130 teams very good… And just to be curious, did you travel out too Vegas to see these good teams i doubt it.. I guess you knew that a lot of teams that participated in Peach Jam came down to Orlando for the Showcase, and Nationals also I doubt that too.. Put your bias attitude aside and just be happy for the westchester hawk team that accomplished something this summer. I am also sorry that your team didn’t get any national recognition, you can always ask to to be a volunteer with the hawks staff next summer
JUST A BASKETBALL FAN:
BALLER MADE A VALID POINT – NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM THE HAWKS BUT IT IS TRUE THAT A TON OF GREAT TEAMS WERE OUT IN VEGAS. AAU IS NOT WHAT IT USE TO BE – VERY WATERED DOWN. AAU TEAMS AND PLAYER RANKINGS ARE HURTING THESE KIDS BECAUSE ALL OF A SUDDEN EVERYONE IS A D-1 PLAYER.
AND IM NOT SURE WHY ANYONE WOULD WANT TO BE A VOLUNTEER WITH THE HAWKS STAFF.
Yes aau is kinda watered down but for real there were a lot of great teams down in orlando also. And as for everybody being a D1 player thats not aau fault. Kids always need exposure especially if they dont go to a high school who gets major looks.
just a basketball fan
even though you talked mad junk can i be a volunteer assistant for the hawks
JUST A BASKETBALL FAN:
I HEAR WHAT YOU ARE SAYING BUT I BLAME AAU FOR THE REASON THAT ALOT OF KIDS THINK THEY CAN PLAY AT THE D1 LEVEL. SOME OF THE AAU COACH’S AND PROGRAMS ARE GOOD BUT ALOT ARE VERY BAD. SOME USE THE KIDS AND HAVE DIFFERENT TEAMS EVERY WEEK – NOT TO MUCH DISCIPLINE GOIN ON. AND AGAIN NOT ALL AAU – BUT CERTAINLY ALOT! ALOT OF WANNABES THAT DON’T KNOW THE GAME AND THEY HYPE DIVISION 3 TYPE KIDS UP LIKE THEY ARE SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE NOT. IT IS JUST REALITY.
i doubt vegas is better then nationals. A team from new york won it which is great and consisted of former spring valley palyer terry brutus but nationals clearly gets more big major scouts such as duke and north carolina. Also nationals get tv and website recongniton from espn. And the hawks won states as well so you would expect they are the real deal considering about 6 teams from ny competed in nationals
fan,
Taking nothing away from AAU nationals, the Westchester Hawks teams aren’t better than the Gauchos, New Heights, the LI Panthers and probably a couple other local teams. The Westchester Hawks are definitely a very solid tri-state area AAU program and have competed against the best around the country, but no one is going to say they’re the 4th best summer-league team in the country. AAU/Summer leagues are dominated by the shoe companies sponsoring events, therefore the best AAU teams go to the sneaker sponsored tournaments (Vegas) ahead of the AAU nationals. At the end of the day, the Hawks have had some great players and get exposure for local players that wasn’t always available to top local players
fan:
stating that you doubt vegas is better then nationals just goes to show you have no clue.
nationals are great for the younger kids 11, 12, 13, 14 year olds!
you people obviously don’t understand that the hawks went through every team in new york.. the long island lightning beat both the panthers and gauchos who were in many of the same tournaments. The long island lightning lost by 20 to the hawks in the regional championship and gauchos came in third. Gauchos were at nationals and didnt make the top 10. And you clearly dont know that jabarie hinds is ranked 18 point guard in the country. You can say which ever one is better for aau but when it comes down to exposure and write ups as well as rankings, everyone goes to espn.com If you want to speak about sneaker sponsered events just know of jabarie being a reebok all american. Hes a local
fan,
Anytime a post starts with “you people” its a good indication what follows is not going to make a lot of sense. Jabarie Hinds is a great player and I’m sure he is ranked as the 18th best point guard in the country. Don’t you think the 17 best pg’s play AAU basketball too? And maybe the 17 best wings and bigmen? We all can agree that the Westchester Hawks are an excellent AAU team with many excellent players. No one has disagreed with that at all. Your contention that the Hawks are the 4th best AAU team in the country is a little suspect and everyone else seems to disagree with you. College recruiting websites often have rankings of the top 25 AAU programs, check those out if you want to see where the experts who go to all of these tournaments rank them.
THE HAWKS AREN’T EVEN THE 4TH BEST AAU TEAM IN NEW YORK…UMMM NEW HEIGHTS, GAUCHOS, JUICE,
L.I. LIGHTNING…HERE WE GO WITH THE CRAZY
WESTCHESTER NON-SENSE!!!
Wow this is crazy the hawks do have a good aau team.. But to there credit yes they did come in 4th in national and that is a big acomplishment especially when every major school was in attendance. Now with that being said they did beat the Long island lightning by almost 30points in the regional final..There are a lot of great aau teams out there and every team that we are talking about on this blog are sneaker teams.. The hawks will never be able to compete with those teams talent wise because they can atract all the best players around because they have the money and every kid loves free sneakers.. Thats fine but I know for fact that this years hawks team was better than the guachos, and metro hawks (nike teams). Lets put this discussion to rest now guys. Nationals cost 625 the showcase cost 450 round trip flight hmmm a lot of money.. comming in fourth out of a 160 teams priceless. As long as the kids compete thats all you can ask as a parent or a coach….
Any word on how Voelkel’s visit to Manhattan went?
Alexander Hamilton coach Ural Hogans has stepped down, Hamilton has always been a Class C contender. Any rumors on a replacement?
so wait, its OK for public schools to get transfers in, but NOT OK for catholic schools to get transfer?
Hoop Fan,
White Plains should be tough witht he kids tthat are coming back. Does anyone know the names. The only kids I heard about was guard Bobby Jones and Alexis Nunez.