When Lincoln High School held a ceremony to honor its two football standouts who signed national letters of intent last week, head coach Robert Hampton called the day “historic.”
After all, it had been since 1998 that Lincoln had a Division I signee, when Jerome Ledbetter inked his letter to Boston College. But at that time, the letter signing wasn’t a huge event. Ledbetter probably just signed the letter, stuffed back into an envelope and shipped it off to Beacon Hill.
Now, the National Signing Day is a big deal all across the nation, televised on ESPN in many cases, for all the world to see.
It was a huge day for the Lincoln football program for several reasons, because the Lions had two products, running back Devell Jones and lineman Daisjon Robinson, put their names on scholarship letters – Jones to Monmouth University and Robinson to the University of Delaware.
“They’ve set the template for what we want to do at Lincoln,” Hampton said. “We want to have more opportunities like this in the future. We had two this year. Next year, we want to have four. I have so much admiration for St. Peter’s Prep. They have it every year. I’d love to have the numbers they have.”
St. Peter’s had eight players sign scholarship letters last week.
“That’s the standard,” Hampton said. “I’d like to be in the same category with them.”
But last week’s festivities were an excellent start, especially after not having one scholarship player in 17 years.
Jones was able to celebrate his big day at two places. You see, Jones is a student at University Charter Academy, which doesn’t have a football program, so he was able to play for the school in his home district of Lincoln.
So Jones became the first-ever scholarship athlete from University Charter. The administration of the school celebrated Jones’ big day, with athletic director Michele Bruce presenting Jones with an embroidered Monmouth warm-up suit, complete with his name emblazoned on the back.
“I’m really grateful for what Ms. Bruce did for me,” Jones said. “It was a great feeling to be the first athlete from University Charter. It made me feel like I was really doing something special.”
There was a ceremony at University Charter in the morning, then Jones headed to Lincoln to share the moment with teammate and friend Robinson, who had originally given a verbal commitment to the University of Massachusetts, but changed his mind and signed with Delaware instead.
Incredibly, Jones recalled the first time he met Robinson, when the two were members of the Jersey City Recreation program.
“He was the first one I met when I joined the Recreation program,” Jones said of Robinson. “We were in the seventh grade, I guess 12 or 13 years old. He was on the offensive line and I was told to be a running back. One of the coaches said that I had to get close to the linemen, so I got close to him. My first carry I scored a touchdown, so I guess I was pretty good at it. I didn’t think too much of it at the time.”
“He ran right behind me,” Robinson said. “And he followed me the same way all through high school. We just took it to another level.”
The two standouts helped the Lions win 10 games and reach the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group II championship game at MetLife Stadium last December.
Robinson explained the reason behind him changing his mind from UMass to Delaware.
“When I took my official visit to Delaware, the campus was welcoming,” said Robinson, who earned Hudson Reporter All-Area honors three consecutive times. “I felt like I had to be there. Everything about it was so positive. There was nothing negative. It was pretty tough for me to tell the coaches [at UMass]. I broke it all down and Delaware outweighed UMass in my opinion.”
Robinson said that he had a great sense of pride signing his letter.
“The Class of 2015 opened the door to let colleges know that we have a lot of talent here,” Robinson said. “This is extraordinary. We’re the beginning of a new generation. It was shocking to realize Lincoln hadn’t had one in almost 20 years. To have Devell sign with me is just a blessing.”
Jones, a two-time Hudson Reporter All-Area honoree, had other offers on the table, but he signed with Monmouth, the first school to offer.
“I had a sense of loyalty to Monmouth, because they were the first ones,” Jones said. “I made a joke a while ago, saying that whatever school offers me first, that was one I would sign. But I was just saying it. I didn’t realize it would turn out to be true. I’m just thankful that Monmouth took the shot and made the offer.”
Hampton knows that he will more than likely have another celebratory signing day next February. After all, talented receiver/defensive back Frank Darby is already receiving a lot of offers and quarterback Zymire Gordon will have a choice on his hands as well. It’s safe to say that the times have changed at Lincoln, all for the better…
The Memorial boys’ indoor track dream season continued last week when the Tigers won the team title at the Hudson County Track Coaches Association championships at the 168th Street New York Armory.
The Tigers won five individual gold medals as well as the 4×400-meter relay. Rafael Hernandez claimed two gold medals by winning both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. Hernandez won the 1,600 in 4:34.26 and the 3,200 in 9:39.78. Kelvin Amonte won the 55-meter hurdles in 7.85 seconds, Onasi Cuevas won the 400-meter dash in 50.50 seconds and Anderson Heredia won the 800-meter run in 2:00.32.
Others to win gold medals included Kamau Laguerre of Hudson Catholic, who won the shot put, and Isaac Alberto of Union City, who won the 55-meter dash in 6.70 seconds.
St. Dominic Academy won the girls’ team title, led by Camille Bertholon, who won the 800-meter run and finished second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs. Ayanna Patterson of SDA won the shot put to aid the team cause.
Crystal Ortiz, the fabulous freshman from Hudson Catholic, won both the 1,600-meter run (5:29.54) and 3,200-meter run (11:41.67). Other winners included Liliana Ventura of Memorial, who won the 55-meter hurdles, Sabrina Ozona of Union City, who won the 55-meter dash, Jeffania Cherry of Ferris, who won the 400-meter dash and Chaz Lei Jackson of Lincoln, who won the long jump…
It was a good week for the St. Peter’s Prep wrestling team, who won the Hudson County Duals championship for a sixth straight year, then followed it up with a win over Delbarton in the opening round of the NJSIAA Non-Public A North sectionals. North Bergen, which lost to Prep in the finals of the Hudson County Duals, was set to face Passaic County Tech in the North Jersey Section 1, Group V sectionals at press time…
North Bergen’s Danny McDermott is climbing back into the ring after winning the World Boxing Union light welterweight championship last year. McDermott is handling the boxing game from inside and outside the ring, as he is also serving as a promoter for the card at the Jersey City Armory March 14…
There will be two new head football coaches in the county this fall, as Raymond Marshall is taking over the Snyder program and Matt Gallo will replace Ed Stinson at St. Anthony…
Former North Bergen All-State girls’ basketball standout Lauren Jimenez is making her mark as a coach at Rutgers-Newark. Last week, Jimenez had to step in as the interim head coach for Bill Zasowski, who was with his wife for the birth of their daughter. Jimenez earned a victory as head coach in Zasowski’s absence, as the Scarlet Raiders defeated Kean…
In high school basketball, St. Anthony continues to roll, with the Friars winning their 13th straight over Newark West Side last week. Markis McDuffie has kicked his game into another gear, scoring 24 and 23 in consecutive games…
Asante Gist has made an instant impact at Marist after transferring in from Roselle Catholic. The talented Gist scored 31 points in the Royal Knights’ big win over Hoboken last Wednesday…
Congrats to the Ferris girls’ basketball team, which clinched the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League’s Red Division title last week. Samantha Hines had 24 points in a win over Memorial. The Bulldogs should get a top seed in the upcoming Hudson County Tournament. The seeds will be determined this weekend…
Hudson Reporter Boys’ High School Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (17-1). 2. Hudson Catholic (18-3). 3. Marist (16-3). 4. Snyder (13-6). 5. Weehawken (12-3)…
Hudson Reporter Girls’ High School Basketball Top Five: 1. Secaucus (18-0). 2. Lincoln (15-3). 3. North Bergen (12-5). 4. Marist (13-5). 5. Ferris (14-4)…–Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.