After giving an early verbal commitment to Temple University last winter, St. Anthony guard Josh Brown has withdrawn that commitment and has opened up his recruiting process again.
Brown, along with teammate Hallice Cooke, has enjoyed sensational summers, making their way through the AAU circuit.
Both are drawing a lot of attention from the colleges and should have big-time commitments nailed down before the season begins in December…
Speaking of summer basketball, St. Peter’s Prep had a great run at the recent Hoop Group team camp, finishing as the runner-up in the big schools division. Head coach Todd Decker is putting his thumbprint on the program, now that he has taken over for former coach Mike Kelly, the Jersey City police lieutenant.
If Decker can keep the momentum going into the regular season, the Marauders will be a very formidable team to watch…
Speaking of Jersey City public servants, Jersey City firefighter Patrick ‘Paddy Boy’ Farrell will return to the ring as part of Union City promoter Pound4Pound Production’s next card at Bally’s in Atlantic City Aug. 18.
Farrell just won his return to the ring in June at the Prudential Center.
“It is coming off short rest, but I went back to the ring after two weeks or so,” Farrell said. “Pound4Pound has been very good to me. I asked Pat and John [Lynch, the Union City brothers and promoters] to give me a couple weeks and I’d be ready.”
Farrell will fight in a six-round cruiserweight bout against an opponent yet to be named.
“I’m moving my way back up,” Farrell said. “I wanted my last fight to be a six-rounder, but I could only get four. I’m really happy to get back in the ring again.”…
New Jersey City University has a new men’s soccer coach. Patrick Snyder, who was the head coach at Mercer County Community College last season and was formerly the head coach at Felician College, has been hired as the full-time head soccer coach, only the fourth in the school’s history.
Snyder, also known for his work with the New Jersey Olympic Development Program (ODP), guided Mercer to an 11-7-1 record last year and a berth in the Junior College Region 19 championship game.
Snyder had been at NJCU in a part-time capacity since February, but was elevated to full-time status last week…
Update on Michael Lang, who was featured last week after signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ organization. Lang had nine hits, including a homer, and three RBI last week, improving his batting average to .257, playing for Yakima (Washington) in the Northwest League…
Marist baseball coach Ron Hayward, who led the Royal Knights to the NJSIAA Non-Public B state championship in the spring, has been elevated to the position of athletic director at the school, replacing Larry Arico, who resigned to move with his family to Michigan. Arico’s wife, Kim Barnes Arico, was named the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Michigan.
Hayward will continue as the baseball coach as well as handling the athletic director duties…
For the first time in a decade, two Hudson County high school football products will head to NFL training camps next week.
Evan Rodriguez of North Bergen, the fourth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, will be a player to watch at the Bears’ training camp in Lake Forest, Illinois, while former St. Peter’s Prep standout Will Hill, a free agent signee, will go to the New York Giants’ training camp in Albany…–Jim Hague.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.