Chiefs turned it around in 2024-45, now Turco looks for Piscataway boys to take the next step

It won’t be easy, it never is. But if it were, would it be as fun?

Bob Turco has made multiple coaching stops in his career, three of which have come in the Greater Middlesex Conference, where he’s the only coach to bring that many different schools to a GMC Tournament final.

But last year, when he brought the third of those teams to the championship game, may have been the most fun he’s had.

Going from St. Thomas Aquinas to a public school in Piscataway meant he’d no longer have to “build” a team; he would mostly get the kids he had, the ones who wanted to be there, and coach them up, then coach them up some more.

So, he took an 11-14 team in 2023-24 to 24-6, finishing second in the Red Division, along with a trip to the GMC finals, where they lost to Colonia. Not too shabby for Year One.

Year two starts Saturday in Edison in Game Two of the Outerbridge Crossing Challenge, an opening weekend showcase Turco wanted to host at Piscataway, but has been moved to various locations as their new gym floor awaits completion after heavy rains caused flooding this fall that damaged several athletic spaces.

The Chiefs will “host” McKee/Staten Island Tech out of New York City, which already has begin its season (they start earlier in New York) and is 3-2 on the year in the PSAL, the New York City Public School Athletic League. They were 11-15 last season.

You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio at approximately 2:30 pm, following the 1 pm opener between Edison and Petrides. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call both games; click here to listen.

Head coach Charles Donohue is looking forward to the challenge, and looking at last year’s GMC finals against Colonia, he was impressed most with their poise under pressure, as well as their pressure and defense.

They return senior Nizayah Jordan, the Seagull’s top scorer last season, averaging 17.4 points per game, while hitting 53 times from beyond the arc. They’ll also be looking to get more scoring out of senior point guard Terrence Legrand.

For Piscataway, it’ll be dealing with graduation losses of Nate Davis (14.5 ppg, 53 treys, 49 steals) and Vaughn Turner (9.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg), but has plenty of talent back, including long-distance shooter Josh Lima (10.3 ppg), football starting QB Landon Pernell (7.9 pppg, 28 treys, team-best 116 assists) and swing Donald Nwaigwe (11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg), the team’s top returning scorer from last year’s GMCT runner-up team.

Click below to hear a preview of the Piscatway/McKee-Staten Island Tech game from both head coaches