When rumors were floating around that St. John’s University was going to replace Norm Roberts as head basketball coach, St. Peter’s Prep senior standout Ronald Roberts (no relation) expressed his displeasure in the coaching change and thought that he might want to get released from the letter of intent he signed with St. John’s.
And after the school hired former UCLA coach and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin as the new head coach of the Red Storm, Roberts has decided to get his release from the letter and go back into the recruiting process.
Roberts was a two-time Hudson Reporter All-Area First Team honoree and was Third Team All-State selection this past season for the Marauders, averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds per game. He will definitely draw major interest from other big-time Division I schools.
Prep head coach Mike Kelly told a reporter that Roberts has already received a handful of offers and will make a decision about his future shortly…
Former St. Anthony All-American and Jersey City native Mike Rosario made it official Tuesday. He has received his release from his scholarship at Rutgers University and is free to transfer wherever he wants.
Rosario told this reporter last month that he was not going anywhere, even after rumors were rampant that he was headed to USC to join former teammate Jio Fontan there. But Rosario apparently had a change of heart and will leave Piscataway.
Rutgers has meanwhile filed tampering charges against USC in the case of Rosario, citing instances of recruiting the sharpshooting guard before he officially left Rutgers. It is not known whether the tampering charge will hinder Rosario’s attempt of heading to USC…
Marist head football coach and athletic director Larry Arico has decided that he cannot handle both positions any longer, so he has stepped down as the head football coach.
“It’s definitely tough being the athletic director and football coach at the same time,” Arico said. “We have a lot of different sports going on and the kids need a lot of attention. During the football season, there really wasn’t anyone there to overlook the other teams because I was concentrating on coaching. When you look at the whole picture, it’s the best decision right now. From a school standpoint and my family standpoint, it’s best to have someone give the football program more attention. I think the administration and I were talking about this for a while, even before last season and it was a mutual decision.”
Arico coached the Royal Knights for five seasons and posted a career mark of 16-33. The Royal Knights were 4-6 last season, but return a lot of players from that squad.
“We’re going to have a senior dominated squad,” Arico said. “There is a lot of talent there.”
Arico said that the school has been conducting interviews and should have a replacement in place within the coming weeks.
“It’s going to be different for me after coaching for 19 years,” said Arico, who will remain as the school’s athletic director. “We’ll see what it’s like when the season begins.”…
Congrats to Hudson Catholic softball coach Jennifer Werneke, who guided the Hawks to their first-ever softball victory last week, a 15-5 win over St. Anthony. Of course, Hudson Catholic just admitted girls into the school for the first time this year, so the victory was a milestone…
Wagner College officially announced that former Duke All-American Bobby Hurley would join his younger brother Danny on the coaching staff at the school, as was reported here last week…
St. Peter’s Prep has now added crew to its list of sports that it offers its students. The first-ever Prep crew team recently competed in the Passaic River Regatta in Lyndhurst…
In baseball, is there any local team that wants to step forward and lay claim to being the best in the area? For the first time in recent memory, there isn’t one single team that is a cut above the rest. It’s really a complete donnybrook as to picking a top squad right now. Every team, with the exception of High Tech, seems to have three and four losses and we’re still in April…
The hottest baseball hitter around is Union City’s Yeudy Ventura, who seems to get two or three hits every single game and two or three RBI. Ventura, the man with the very unique first name, is having himself an All-Area kind of season already…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Baseball Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (6-4). 2. North Bergen (4-2). 3. Memorial (5-2). 4. St. Mary’s (4-4). 5. High Tech (6-0).
Hudson Reporter H.S. Softball Top Five: 1. High Tech (4-0). 2. North Bergen (2-3). 3. Hoboken (5-1). 4. Secaucus (2-3). 5. St. Dominic Academy (4-2).
Jersey City native and former major league pitcher Willie Banks isn’t ready to hang it up just yet. The 41-year-old Banks has signed on for another season with the Newark Bears and will pitch out of the Bears’ bullpen, as well as serving as sort of an informal pitching coach to the Bears’ staff. The season begins for the Bears on Thursday night, April 22… — Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.