North Bergen graduate Noel Allen, who was the 2010 Hudson Reporter Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year, has signed a letter of intent to attend Adelphi University on Long Island beginning this fall and will play basketball there.
The 6-foot-6 Allen led all Hudson County scorers last season, averaging 27 points per game for coach Kevin Bianco and the Bruins. Allen also averaged nearly 14 rebounds per game was clearly the main reason that the Bruins had a fine 22-5 record last season.
There were some skeptics who doubted whether Allen could secure a scholarship to college, and after a brief waiting period to see about his academic eligibility, Allen proved all those doubters wrong.
Adelphi is an NCAA Division II program and Allen should fit in quite nicely there…
When Brian Meeney resigned at the end of last football season at Memorial, he never dreamed he would resurface at another Hudson County school.
“My goal was to head back to South Jersey, where I’m from,” said Meeney, who started his football coaching career at the old McCorristin High School outside Trenton. “But a couple things fell through.”
Out of the blue, Meeney made a call to coaching friend Larry Arico, the athletic director at Marist.
“I wasn’t even thinking about coaching anywhere,” Meeney said. “I just touched base with Larry to see how he was doing and he said that they hadn’t hired a new coach yet.”
Arico had stepped down as head football coach at Marist because of his duties as athletic director.
“Larry asked me if I was interested in the job,” Meeney said. “It all happened within one day. I went in for an interview and was hired that day.”
So Meeney takes over the program that Arico ran for the last five seasons.
“It’s pretty similar to what I had at McCorristin,” Meeney said. “I’m pretty familiar with the kids and the program. My only concern was taking it over so late, but we’re going to get to work to do our best and see what happens. Every new challenge is exciting. But we’re already at work. There was no time to think about any obstacles. I truly believe everything happens for a reason.”
Meeney reiterated that he did not leave Memorial on bad terms.
“I chose to leave and I have no bad feelings about my time at Memorial,” Meeney said. “They gave me the opportunity to become a head coach and get my teaching certification, so I’m very grateful.”
Memorial alumnus Oscar Guerrero is now the head coach of the Tigers…
The famed author Thomas Wolfe once wrote that “you can’t go home again.”
Well, that’s not the case for Alberto Vasquez, who was named the head baseball coach at his high school alma mater, Hudson Catholic, last week.
Vasquez was an All-State catcher during his playing days at Hudson Catholic before going on to have a fine career at Rutgers University. Vasquez also had a brief stay in pro baseball, seeing some action with the New Jersey Jackals a few years ago.
But Vasquez, who replaces his friend, Danny Suarez as head coach at Hudson, was born to be a coach and always had the qualities to become a coach, even when he was a teenager. Vasquez should do a fine job as the head coach of the Hawks…
Former Union City and Union Hill head football coach Joe Rotondi has landed an assistant coaching position at St. Peter’s Prep, where he will coach the linemen…
Congrats to Michael Sansevere of Hoboken, who helped Xavier of New York get to the New York Catholic League championship baseball game a few weeks ago….
It’s summertime, so you know it’s time for summer camps.
The St. Anthony Basketball Camp, under the guidance of assistant Friars coach Ben Gamble, will be held at the Golden Door Charter School for two sessions, Aug. 9-13 and Aug. 23-27. Former Friar standouts Tyshawn Taylor of Kansas, Travon Woodall of Pittsburgh and Chris Gaston of Fordham will be among the clinicians. For further information, contact Coach Gamble at (201) 993-7192….
The Rutgers-Newark summer basketball camp, under the guidance of men’s basketball coach Joe Loughran, will have three sessions, July 12-16, July 26-30 and August 2-6 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are drop off and pick up times available as well as discounts for more than one week. For further information, contact Coach Loughran at (973) 353-1483…
The annual Weehawken Open golf tournament is set for July 29 at the Wild Turkey Golf Club in Hardyston in Sussex County. All proceeds of the tourney will benefit the Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad. For more details, call (201) 210-8501… — Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.