There was a time that a big-time high school basketball tournament, one like the Prime Time Shootout at the spanking new Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton last weekend, would simply be a showcase for the Friars of St. Anthony.
They were the team that everyone aspired to knock off, the ferocious favorite. After all, the tiny Jersey City Parochial powerhouse had collected an ungodly 22 state championships, five NJSIAA Tournament of Champions titles in nine years and two mythical national championships.
The Friars, with legendary coach Bob Hurley calling the shots, set the bar, the standard for every other high school program in the nation to follow.
Now, last weekend’s Prime Time Shootout proved to be some other team’s showcase. And the Friars were just another participant, back in the pack with the rest of the 39 other schools enjoying the three-day hoopfest.
After losing to Rice and Archbishop Malloy in consecutive games in the Shootout, the Friars’ record stood at 12-6. Six losses? Hurley’s teams wouldn’t lose that many games in six years.
And after the two losses, the Friars fell to No. 10 in the Star-Ledger’s Top 20 statewide poll. That’s almost unheard of and thoroughly unthinkable. Number 10 in the state? The Friars haven’t dipped that low in the rankings in almost 20 years.
There are some people who are calling the coroner and declaring the Friars deceased. Sound the drum and blow taps. And there are a lot of people who are rejoicing in glee over the demise and downfall.
There are a lot of people who might be concerned. Except one. The coach.
After the loss to Rice, which featured three NCAA Division 1 big-time recruits, Hurley took a piece of chalk and scribbled on the blackboard in the locker room, “2001,” and it had nothing to do with some space odyssey.
Hurley knows that his young team, without a single senior, is more than likely a year away.
“This is one of the youngest teams we’ve ever had and we’re not a real confident bunch right now,” Hurley said. “We’ve faced so many talented teams this year that we’re on life support. But we’re going to be fine. Other teams will graduate an awful lot of talent and we’ll have practically everyone back.”
And although the Friars are losing, Hurley is doing a lot more instructing, tutoring, which is his strength. Usually, he’s either focused on damage control at this point, because his teams are so dominant. Or he’s worried about the opposition. Now, he can focus on teaching and instructing – the enjoyable side of coaching.
Elijah Ingram, who scored 22 points in the loss to Rice, is only a sophomore. So are backcourt mates Dwayne Lee and Donald Copeland. Carmine Charles shows a lot of promise as a perimeter player and Jon Paul Kobryn will only get better as an inside player. The future definitely looks bright.
That’s why Hurley isn’t disconsolate about the current status of his team. He’s just biding time for a return to the top. It’s a cyclical thing.
It’s happened once before for the Friars. After Danny Hurley and Rodrick Rhodes departed for big-time college basketball in the early 1990s, there was a little bit of a lull. But in 1996, the Friars rebounded to an undefeated national championship season, the second in school’s history.
Maybe this downward trend can lead to better times ahead. Hurley believes so. That’s why he put the message on the blackboard, to keep these youngsters focused on the future, both the rest of the season and beyond.