Believe it or not, I do more than just cover boys basketball for The Journal News. When I’m not at one of the many high school gyms across the lower Hudson Valley I’m keeping track of local athletes playing at the next level.
In addition to the twitter account I run (@LohudCollege), I also write a weekly notebook every Sunday about Rockland and Westchester/Putnam natives playing at the next level.
I decided to post this week’s college notebook as it included two former stars of Section 1 basketball: White Plains’ Sean Kilpatrick (pictured below right) and Mount Vernon’s Sherrod Wright (pictured above). The two redshirt juniors are putting up big numbers, especially from deep.
If you have any updates on a local athlete playing in college feel free to tweet at me.
As a basketball player, you can either live or die by the 3-point shot.
Two local players seem to be thriving on it.
George Mason’s Sherrod Wright of Mount Vernon and Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, a White Plains graduate, were honored by their respective conferences last week, thanks in large part to their work behind the arc.
Wright was named Colonial Athletic Conference player of the week after scoring a team-high 22 points in the Patriots’ 67-64 win over Richmond. The redshirt junior guard hit a 3 at the buzzer to move George Mason to 7-4.
This is the second time Wright has received the award during a season in which he is shooting a CAA-best 47.5 percent from deep. Wright, who has scored 20 or more points in three straight games, has the fifth-highest points average in the conference at 16.9.
Kilpatrick was named to the Big East honor roll for the third time this year after averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of wins for Cincinnati.
Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 25 points in their 60-45 win over rival Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Classic.
While the redshirt junior guard may not have Wright’s accuracy from behind the arc — he is shooting 35.1 percent — he makes up for it in sheer mass. Kilpatrick is third in the Big East in 3s per game with 2.5. His 18.8 points per game ranks him fourth in the conference.
The Bearcats are 12-1 and ranked eighth in the latest USA Today poll.
Dominant rookies: A pair of Iona basketball players has dominated the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rookie of the week award recently.
Joy Adams, a forward on the women’s team, has won the award the past three weeks while A.J. English, a guard on the men’s team, has taken home the honor the past two.
Adams posted her third consecutive double-double, this one with 10 points and 12 rebounds, in the Gaels’ 73-47 win over Colgate. On the year, she is averaging 11.6 points and 10.2 rebounds.
English averaged 10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists over a three-game stretch during which the Gaels went 2-1. English’s 17 points against Liberty matched a career high.
Photos courtesy of Matthew Brown/Peter Carr/Journal News.
24 Comments
GREAT JOB I WAS WAITING FOR THIS,HAPPY NEW YEAR
Good stuff Josh.
When you mention Wright and Kilpatrick in the same sentence you have to look back at the battles those two had in HS. It seemed like they always drew coverage against each other and the level of excitement in the gym was special. Kilpatrick has been getting stronger and stronger every year and Sherrod is going to make a name at George Mason when he’s done. Both of these kids should be able to play over seas..
Have to bring up the steal and dunk when WP came into MV.. I had it on my TIVO, and played it a few hundred times.. Unfortunately I had to return the box.
Great to see these guys doing well in college. Two of the best players we’ve had around here in a long time. I think a few big east coaches are regretting not offering Wright.
Great article Josh. One kid I follow out on island who is lighting it up from MV is Vaughn Allen. Great story and has become a big time player. Look at numbers.. He will be playing somewhere after college.
http://liupostpioneers.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3209
HRs,
That is why you are at the top of the basketball blog list,nice info
HRs,
Thanks for the heads up on Vaughn Allen. I will keep an eye on him.
Happy to see the great response from the notebook. I take a lot of pride in it. If you are interested in more notebooks about men’s basketball, about a month ago I did one on freshmen making a big impact. Some of the stats have changed, but all of them are still putting up numbers in their rookie year.
Check out the article here:
http://www.LoHud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012312020034
As I said, any suggestions you have regarding future notebooks would be appreciated. Feel free to tweet at me (@LoHud_College) or drop a comment here.
-Dan DeFrancesco
Sorry to get off the topic of basketball, but Boston College has inquired about Da’Sean Downey from Woodlands for football. He has no offers yet. I wonder if he goes the prep route.
This is pretty fun…
Jack Bramswig from Pleasantville is a 6-5 junior at Manhattanville and averages 17ppg and 11rpg.
Justin Person from Woodlands is a 6-3 junior at SUNY Purchase and averages 7.3ppg and 4.7rpg
David Haughton from Woodlands is a 6-6 junior at Suny Purchase and avergages 5.7ppg and 6.9rpg.
Joel Neri from Port Chester is a 7-1 soph at Suny Purchase and averages 10.9ppg and 3rpg.
BillyBarty,
Great mentions. Those four have been performing well right in our backyards. Bramswig has already nabbed two POTW honors.
Some more Purchase locals:
Craig Davis (Westchester CC graduate)-15.5 ppg (leads Panthers) + 6.5 rpg
Michael Braithwaiter (Spring Valley)- 4 ppg + 2.6 rpg
Isaac Campbell (Mount Vernon) and Taj Bridgers (Ramapo) are also on the team
For Manhattanville:
Connor Quigley (Pelham)- 5 ppg
Niko Emanuilidis (Pleasantville)-1.4 ppg
There are a ton of others in the area but one of my favorites is Tavon Sledge (Spring Valley). Sledge went to high school in LI (Half Hollows Hills West) but is originally from Rockland County. The 5-foot-9 guard can FLY. I got a chance to see him last week when the Gaels played Norfolk State and he grabbed eight rebounds. On the season he is averaging 7.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg + 3.3 apg.
One final thought. In terms of locals playing basketball in college, the Oneonta men’s basketball team is an interesting story.
At times the Red Dragons start four locals (Jack Dignan, Brewster; Frankie Kelly, Kennedy; Jackson Zuvic, Haldane; Zach Mager, Clarkstown South). Kelly, Zuvic and Mager have started in all 10 games while Dignan has started in four but appeared in all 10.
The quartet makes up four of the top 5 scorers:
Mager- 15.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.2 apg
Zuvic- 12.7 ppg, 6 rpg, 1 apg
Kelly- 9.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.9 apg
Dignan- 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.2 apg
Oneonta is having a tough season (1-9) but all four are underclassmen (Kelly + Mager are sophomores while Dignan and Zuvic are freshman).
-Dan DeFrancesco
Folks… Dan wrote the college notebook, not me. You should all check him out on Twitter @LoHudCollege. Lots of great updates on local stars who have moved on to college.
Dan.. while you are on the SUNY scene. SUNY Geneseo has 2 westchester starters. Ryan Riefenhauser from Dobbs Ferry averaging 10ppg and Thomas Decker from Step…leading in assists
Any reports on Matt Townsend from Greeley at Yale ? He was a beast and I thought he could succeed at that level. Or The guys from Fox Lane last year who went to Emery and Rochester ?
Thanks for the great stuff
Lavor Morris a 6-3 senior from Lakeland HS is averaging 11.9ppg at Concordia College
Matt Townsend is averaging 5.5ppg and 4.8rpg at Yale. He averages 19mpg.
Dylan Peretz is a 6-8 frosh at Rochester and averages 2.0ppg and 2.3rp while averaging 8.7mpg.
OldHeadHoops,
Yeah I’ve had my eye on Riefenhauser and Decker. I have a soft spot for the SUNYAC as that’s where my alma mater is (Plattsburgh).
Speaking of the SUNYAC and Stepinac, former Crusader Deveino McRae is doing well at New Paltz in his first year. In his rookie campaign he has started every game and averaged 9.5 ppg and 6.7 rpg.
Townsend is putting up solid numbers as a sophomore (5.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.1 apg, 19.1 mpg). He didn’t get any time in the first five games but then immediately jumped into solid playing time, including 4 starts. Not sure if he suffered an early season injury or the coach was just working out his rotation but he seems to be doing well now.
The same thing seemed to happen to him last year as he missed the initial five games with an injury and then came off the bench the rest of the year.
Will Trawick (Fox Lane) is avg 2.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg and 5.7 mpg for Emory and has played in all but one of the Eagles games.
Fellow Fox Dylan Peretz has gotten mostly garbage time in three games for the University of Rochester. The Yellow Jackets are 10-0 and ranked 7th nationally by D3Hoops, so getting any time for such a strong team is an accomplishment for a freshman.
Will Trawick is a 6-5 frosh and is averaging 2.0ppg, 1.7rpg at Emory.
Valhalla’s James Jensen a Jr. at Middlebury is avg. 6.7 ppg and 5.7 rbs/g..for the 9-0 Panthers, who will be the new #1 team in the nation (D-3) James is coming off a career high 18 pt. game in a 106 -86 win over RPI. James has started 3 of 9 games.
Dan sorry about that! Thank YOU for this. Love hearing about our local kids. I work out on the island so I read a lot about Vaughn. He has a bright future. Can you update us on where Daquan Brickhouse may go after ASA Junior college? He is doing really well. Dayvonne Whitaker was on the team but I am not seeing him on the roster this year so if you can find out whats up with him, appreciate it.
HRs,
No worries.
I spoke with Daquan about a month ago regarding where he was looking to go and he said he was just focused on basketball and hadn’t really looked into it yet.
Brickhouse, a Peekskill graduate, is avg 13.3 ppg, 4.1 apg and 2.9 rpg at ASA. He is also joined by fellow sophomore Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Lakeland), try saying that name, who is avg 10.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.3 bpg and 1 apg for the Avengers who are 10-3.
No idea about Whitaker (Poughkeepsie). I know his old running mate Nate Gause is at Le Moyne avg 8.6 ppg along with freshmen Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, 4.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg) and Patrick McGuinness (Albertus Magnus).
thanks for that info. Mike Mcloud from NFA was on the ASA team(along with Whitaker last year). He isn’t on the roster either. Hope these kids are playing somewhere.
Nate made a good choice in Lemoyne. He is going to do real well.
Another kid who had nice upside and I can’t find info on is Kenny Bradshaw from Peek. He started at Sullivan and left. Any info on him?
BISHOP LOUGHLIN IS IN THE FINALS OF THE STOP DWI TORNAMENT
IN 2OT BISHOP LOUGHLIN WINS STOP-DWI TORNAMENT OVER TRINITY FROM LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY
Congrats to Sean and Sherrod!!!
Tavor Sledge has been a complete stat stuffer for Iona so far. Expect big things out of him his Jr and Sr seasons when he takes over at the point (after Momo graduates). He is starting but mainly plays off the ball.
Does anybody have a good update on Jarrell Marshall?
not surprised u were waiting for this haywood. its normal for a grown man to sit and wait for an article on kids who once played basketball inwestchester county. dude u got major problems.
HJFHJ,
HAPPY NEW YEAR,I LOVE YOU TO,LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLL