There are some people who truly believe that everyone who lives in Secaucus is related to someone else who resides there. It’s a smaller circle than the old “Six Degrees of Separation,” or even the popular “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game.
Pick someone who is from Secaucus and chances are that person is related to someone else from Secaucus. It’s beyond amazing how many people are somehow related in one municipality.
Need proof? Well, look no further than Secaucus’ two-sport standout Zac Schlemm. In terms of direct relations, Schlemm has an older brother, Kyle, who played basketball for the Patriots a few years ago, and a younger brother, Erik, who is currently a junior varsity basketball player.
If you remember Samantha Schlemm, a softball pitching standout for Secaucus in recent years, she’s not a sister, but rather a cousin.
Now, if we want to go to Zac Schlemm’s extended family, we can include the Roesings, namely Eddie, Cory, Bobby and Danielle, former and current athletic standouts at Secaucus. They’re all Zac Schlemm’s first cousins. Cory was the 2006-07 Hudson Reporter Female Co-Athlete of the Year who is currently a volleyball standout at Caldwell College. Bobby was a two-sport standout who graduated from Secaucus last June.
Need more? Then we can include Alan Kashian, the former Secaucus and Stevens Tech hoop standout, who is Schlemm’s uncle. And Sheila Ulrich Rivera, the former Secaucus standout who later became the school’s volleyball coach. She’s Schlemm’s aunt.
The litany, the genealogy is downright mind boggling.
“I have a very extended family,” Schlemm said, with a laugh.
Recently, Zac Schlemm joined a very elite club at Secaucus High School, namely the 1,000-point club, a group of athletes who scored 1,000 points or more during their basketball careers.
Among that group are three members of Schlemm’s family. Uncle Alan scored 1,003 in his career at Secaucus that ended in 1993. Aunt Sheila tallied 1,090 points in her career that was completed in 1987.
Cousin Cory is the school’s all-time leading scorer, both among the boys and girls. She had 1,791 points before her graduation three years ago.
Before the Patriots faced Wallington last Tuesday, Schlemm needed 35 points to reach the impressive milestone, a mark that only four boys had ever surpassed in the school’s history.
Usually, when a player is approaching the 1,000-point mark, it’s within a handful of points, so that family and friends can make preparations, bringing celebratory balloons and pasting signs all over the gym.
So when the Pats faced Wallington, Schlemm was resigned to the fate that he would have to wait.
Or so he thought.
“I told everyone that it was probably not going to happen that night,” Schlemm said. “I mean, I had to get 35. Since I didn’t think I was going to get it, my friends didn’t want to come see the game.”
“I knew he was 35 away,” Secaucus head coach Bill Millevoi Jr. said. “Although we knew he had the ability to score, it was asking a lot.”
However, as the game progressed, Schlemm’s point total continued to increase. He had 16 at halftime and 26 after three periods.
“People started to make phone calls during the game that Zac was coming close,” Millevoi said. “More and more people then came to the gym. A lot of his family showed up. He needed 10 with about five minutes to go. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted it.”
“After halftime, people got word and were there,” Schlemm said. “On the bench, my teammates were saying, ‘You need 15 more, 13 more.’ It was so much pressure.”
Finally, with minutes to go in the game, Schlemm needed just two points. He went to the free throw line to shoot two shots.
“I missed the first one,” Schlemm said.
“There was total silence in the gym,” Millevoi said.
But later on, Schlemm went to the line again and made the free throw to give him 35 for the game and 1,000 for his career.
“I wanted to do it at home,” Schlemm said. “It was a great feeling.”
With that, Schlemm became only the fifth boys’ basketball player in Secaucus history to reach the milestone. In the Patriots’ next game, Schlemm scored 28 points, so in that game, he surpassed his uncle on the all-time scoring list.
“I rubbed it into him a lot,” Schlemm said of Kashian, who is the director of facility operations at the new Meadowlands Stadium. “After I scored the 1,000th point, Uncle Alan said to me that he wanted me to have a season-ending injury, just so I wouldn’t go past him. We’re very close and I played basketball with him a lot growing up.”
In fact, when Schlemm was younger, it was a battle between uncles to see what sport he would participate in during the winter.
“Uncle Alan wanted me to play basketball, but Uncle Eddie [Roesing] wanted me to wrestle,” Schlemm said. “I was torn between uncles, but basketball won out. Honestly, our whole family is close knit.”
For his efforts, Schlemm has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Millevoi realized that Schlemm’s day would finally come.
“He’s been playing varsity with us since his sophomore year,” Millevoi said. “I did expect him to put up the big numbers this year. It’s good from a coach’s standpoint that you’re going to get 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. I knew what he was capable of. He can play a little inside and outside. We make sure we try to get him the ball and let him get at least 15 touches per game. I knew he was going to be special. He had the ability as a threat, both inside and outside.”
Incredibly, Schlemm’s better sport may be baseball. He was a standout pitcher for the Patriots as a sophomore and had a host of brilliant performances that year. However, last year, he suffered a from a stress fracture in his back, apparently suffered during basketball season, and pitched in only a handful of games.
“I couldn’t even bend my leg,” Schlemm said. “It really bothered me. I am really looking forward to playing again this year.”
Schlemm doesn’t know what the future holds in terms of college and what sport he will pursue. Montclair State has shown interest in him as a basketball player. He will see what baseball holds.
“It’s definitely a rewarding feeling, because sports is my life,” Schlemm said. “I can’t even describe what this means to me. In a school where football stands out, it was good to be recognized for another sport.”
And now Schlemm has another milestone to shoot for – going past Aunt Sheila on the scoring list.
“I can catch my aunt,” Schlemm said. “I can’t catch Cory.”
Sometimes, it’s not too bad to be No. 2 in the family, especially when your family is that talented. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.