A year under now-retired Whalen has Corrigan well familiar with Aquinas girls’ hoops as he takes the reins in ’23-’24

A Middlesex County basketball guy, you could excuse Tim Corrigan if the idea seemed a little far-fetched.

Having played scholastically at St. Joseph-Metuchen, the connection made sense: his one-time AD, Jerry Smith, was now the man in charge at the other end of Plainfield Avenue at St. Thomas Aquinas in neighboring Edison.

But going from head coach at Watchung Hills…. to being an assistant coach at the other school?

Turns out that Smith wanted to bring him on as a Plan B, in case legnedary head coach Joe Whalen couldn’t make it through the year, or at best, if he indeed retired at the end of the year. Whalen had already gone public with his multiple sclerosis diagnosis, and the challenges it presented while coaching.

Corrigan signed on, and when STA’s season was over, after Whalen told the team it was time to step away, he was quickly elevated to head coach.

Aquinas has lost some key pieces, most notably fowards Nia Clemons and Jessica Cooper to graduation. Leah Crosby transferred to Rutgers Prep, and Amarillis Shubick is playing her senior year of high school ball at Perkiomen School in the Philly suburbs.

But major three-point threat Gianna Chuffo, a junior, returns. “One of the hardest working people I’ve ever been around,” says Corrigan, she averaged 10.3 points per game last season, playing in all 29 games, and led the team with 86 three-pointers. Rising star Adrianna Summersett also will play a role. She was in all 29 games last years as well, and hit 19 from beyond the arc.

Sophomore Jordan Barnes also returns, with her 4.8 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per contest.

They will also add Edison transfer Trista Whitney, who Corrigan says reminds her of Clemons, who “could play any position on the floor.” Whitney averaged 12.5 points and four assists per game. And Corrigan expects a bunch of newcomers to make an immediate impact, just as younger players did under Whalen.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ basketball coach Tim Corrigan about the upcoming season: