Category: Boys Basketball

New Rutgers Prep boys' basketball head coach Will Abrams (Photo: @CoachWillAbrams - X)
by Alec Crouthamel

Rutgers Prep tabs Associate Head Coach, alum Will Abrams as new boys’ basketball coach

Rutgers Prep will have a familiar face patrolling the boys’ basketball sideline, as the school has announced a successor to former head coach Matt Bloom, who stepped down on Friday after nine years at the helm.

Will Abrams, an alum of the school and the program’s associate head coach for the last five seasons, was promoted to head coach, the school announced on social media.

He inherits a strong program that won a sectional title in 2022, and has appeared in four of the last five Somerset County Tournament finals.

“Will has earned this opportunity through five years of dedicated leadership as our top assistant,” Bloom told CJSR on Wednesday night. “He’s ready to lead a terrific group of returning players, and I can’t wait to support him as he takes the program to new heights!”

It’s a full-circle moment for Abrams, taking over the reins 20 years after his standout playing career with the Argonauts under Bloom’s predecessor, former Rutgers Prep and Franklin head coach Tony Mento.

Abrams went on to play at Division III Utica University, becoming a team captain in his final two seasons. He ended his playing career averaging 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a senior.

He entered the coaching world two years after graduating, remaining with the Pioneers as an assistant in 2013. In two years on staff, he helped in all facets of the program, including day-to-day operations, scouting, recruiting, as well as game and practice preparation, while also helping guide three players into the program’s top-ten record books.

From there, he spent a year as the basketball director at USA Sports Group in New Jersey.

Abrams then got back into college coaching, spending a year as an assistant coach at Division II Felician University in North Jersey.

After that season, Abrams both returned to New Jersey and got his first Division I opportunity, joining Rutgers’ Women’s Basketball coaching staff under Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer. He first arrived in 2017 as a recruiting assistant, working in that role for two years before being promoted to Director of Player Development. In that role, his responsibilities included “coordinating the community outreach program, managing male practice squad and walk-ons, serving as the academic liaison, and assisting in scouting and game preparation.”

He moved down Easton Avenue after three years with the Scarlet Knights, joining Bloom as Rutgers Prep’s associate head coach. In his time with Bloom, Abrams helped lead the Argonauts to a sectional title in 2022 and four straight Somerset County Tournament final appearances, winning the county crown in 2023 and 2024.

Rutgers Prep is set to enter 2026 off an 18-10 campaign, making it to yet another Somerset County Tournament final, before falling in the Non-Public South A semifinal to Bishop Eustace. The Argonauts return a solid stable of veteran upperclassmen, even with the departure of star sophomore Will Brunson to Florida’s IMG Academy.

Abrams will be just the third head coach at Rutgers Prep in the last 23 years.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with new Rutgers Prep Boys’ Basketball coach Will Abrams:

by Alec Crouthamel

Rutgers Prep boys basketball coach Matt Bloom steps down after nine years leading the Argonauts

There will be two new head coaches on the hardwood this upcoming season at Rutgers Prep.

Matt Bloom, the Argonauts’ boys basketball head coach, announced on Instagram Friday afternoon that he will step down from the position after nine years at the helm.

Bloom led Rutgers Prep to three Somerset County championships and seven finals appearances, and was named CJSR’s Boys Coach of the Year in 2022 after winning the Non-Public South A sectional championship and making the state final. A successor was not announced at the time of publishing.

His statement reads as follows:

“After much reflection, I have made the decision to resign from my position as RPS Boys Basketball Coach. This is a decision I have made thoughtfully and independently, and while it is not easy to step away from something that has meant so much to me and my family, I am confident that it is the right decision. It has been an honor to work with and advocate for our tremendous student-athletes and coaches. Some of my life’s most cherished memories have come from my time on the sidelines coaching the Argonauts. I am incredibly grateful for the relationships I’ve made and am very proud of the championship program we have built over the last nine seasons. While I will no longer be coaching basketball, I am excited to continue teaching at Rutgers Prep and remain an active member of this terrific community. I look forward to continuing to support our students and the school across a multitude of activities and programs. To the student-athletes I have had the privilege to coach—thank you for trusting me and know that I will always be proud to have been your coach.“

In all, Bloom compiled a 173-64 record during his nine-year tenure, led the Argonauts to its first sectional title in program history, and broke a long county title drought in 2020, the first of three they’d win under his guide.

A graduate of Teaneck High School, and later the University of Pennsylvania, Bloom spent all four years as a manager for the Quakers’ men’s basketball team under head coach Fran Dunphy.

He couldn’t stay away from basketball long even after graduating. Bloom spent three years on Fred Hill Jr’s staff at Rutgers, including two as the operations coordinator. He then stayed in the Division I ranks at La Salle after Hill’s dismissal, starting as a video coordinator before rising up to become the Explorers’ Director of Basketball Operations for his last three seasons in Philadelphia.

Then, when head coach Dr. John Giannini (now the AD at Rowan) left La Salle after 14 years, Bloom had to find another opportunity. That’s when he arrived at Rutgers Prep, and the rest was history.

The Argonauts went 18-10 and made it to the Somerset County Tournament final in his first year at the helm, then the semifinals in 2018-19. They finally broke through in Bloom’s third season, winning the program’s first Somerset County title since 1983.

That year, led by future Division I players Otega Oweh (Oklahoma/Kentucky), Nico Galette (Sacred Heart/Youngstown State), Trey Patterson (Villanova/Saint Peter’s/Rice) and Noah Harris (Marist), they went 27-2, won the county tournament as the top seed, and made it to the sectional final, where they lost to Wildwood Catholic.

Rutgers Prep also won back-to-back county tournaments in 2023 and 2024, giving Bloom and the Argonauts four titles in five years, when counting the sectional crown in 2022.

This past season, Rutgers Prep went 18-10, making it to yet another Somerset County Tournament final, before falling in the Non-Public South A semifinal to Bishop Eustace.

Always quick to give credit to his players, Bloom departs coaching the Argonauts, but noted in his statement he will remain in the classroom as a teacher at the school.

by Mike Pavlichko

A few personal thoughts on the loss of a great reporter, and an even better man, Greg Tufaro

When Greg Tufaro, the longtime Middlesex County sportswriter, passed away this Monday, the news was a shock to many.

But it really shouldn’t have been. 

Not to say we all expected it.  No one did. 

But that was the point.  There were so many text messages I received from coaches, friends and acquaintances who didn’t even know he was ill.

And that’s the way Greg wanted it, because in his world, nothing was about him.

I truly believe much of that came about from his family, and the battles that his brave daughter Marisa fought all her life, with her father Greg and mother Cyndi alongside her every step of the way.

When Greg and I spoke exactly a week before his passing, when I called him to talk about him ending the charitable mission of the Marisa Tufaro Foundation, founded with his wife Cyndi in memory of their amazing daughter, who died all too young from cancer herself nine years ago, a complication of multiple heart surgeries, his voice was weak and raspy.  He wasn’t comfortable talking about the shutdown. It was too emotional.

That’s the way Greg Tufaro was, because it was never about him.

It was about the Foundation, or the kids and coaches he interviewed for his stories for over 30 years with the Home News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.

I first met Greg sometime in the late 1990s when he was on the Rutgers beat, and I was a student, covering the Scarlet Knights as well.  We shared dinner once – with my WRSU broadcast partner and our Targum colleagues – out in Portland, Oregon, covering the NCAA Women’s West Regional Final, where the Scarlet Knights clinched their first Final Four berth, beating UAB and Georgia en route to Philadelphia. 

Not a lot of guys would hang out with student reporters.  Greg did.

Later, we crossed paths often on the high school sports scene after I graduated and made the jump over to WCTC in New Brunswick, where I covered football and basketball.

North Brunswick QB Frankie Garbolino accepts the 2023 Marisa Rose Bowl MVP trophy on June 29, 2023 at Nicholas Priscoe Stadium in Woodbridge from (left to right) Cyndi Tufaro, Joe Bellamy of Bellamy & Son Paving, and Greg Tufaro of the Marisa Tufaro Foundation. (Photo: Korbid Thompson)

Greg actually interviewed me once.  It was 2018, and with the help of Piscataway football assistant John Thompson, we had “cracked” the Born Power Index, a new part of the NJSIAA football playoff formula, which was top secret.  We learned it was rewarding teams with better seeds for winning by large margins.  Seeing this injustice, he wanted to cover it, and gave me a ring.

He was so meticulous, didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.  He read the story back to me and my quotes, too, wanting to make sure he had everything right, down to the letter, and every dot on an i and cross on a t.  It had to be right.

Ask any coach he talked to and they’ll tell you the same kind of story.

That’s how Greg was.

Another time, I don’t remember if it was before or after that, we had a Friday night football show for a couple of seasons on WCTC called “Friday Night Football USA,” an offshoot of the long running Saturday show we did after Rutgers games.

The topic was a coach who got DQd for leaving the bench area to break up a scuffle.  Now it was my turn to interview Greg, and I got him on the air live to talk about it.  And his observation was that the officials could have handled it better, because the coach was not the problem, but rather trying to get his kids out of it.  The officials didn’t have to write him up, but they did.  It was great radio.

Then I headed off to cover a game, as a reporter, to get a story and tape for the next day’s show.  I got to the sideline, and my phone rang.  It was Greg.

Greg Tufaro (right) and his wife Cyndi at one of many charity events supported by the Marisa Tufaro Foundation. (Photo courtesy Marcus Borden)

“Mike, I gotta to apologize, I feel awful…” and he went into the most rapid-fire I-dont-even-know-what-to-call-it about how he felt like he threw the officials under the bus, these are good people, who am I to criticize? What if they heard me in the car on their way to a game, I feel terrible, etc., etc.  It took a couple of possessions as the game played out in front of me to talk him down.

“Greg,” I told him.  “You did nothing wrong.  You told me what you saw and gave your opinion.  That’s why I had you on.  Because you’re respected.  Don’t worry about it.”

After about ten minutes of back and forth, he took a deep breath, and I promised him it would be okay.  And it was.

That’s how Greg was.

When I started Central Jersey Sports Radio, he was so supportive of our venture, even though we might be competing for stories.  Told me this was a great thing I was doing.  I don’t tell a lot of people that.  Probably because of how he rubbed off on me.

Even when he got out of the sports reporting business and went to work with his good friend, Senator Patrick Diegnan of South Plainfield, we spoke occasionally. 

Mostly, I’d ask him advice.  How he’d handle something.  Should I even write this?  Am I on the right track? He’d compliment my work. 

I was a radio guy, but now I was writing more than I ever imagined.  I took it to heart.  Coming from him, it really and truly meant the world. 

The amount of people Greg Tufaro has touched, influenced, mentored, and helped, whether in sports writing, investigative journalism, with the Foundation, or in his legislative work is beyond even what you and I all know, and will ever know.

Because that was Greg Tufaro.  He wouldn’t tell you what he did, he just did it.

He didn’t ask for the honors, even though he was honored often.

He just did what was right.

Because that’s how Greg was.

Our deepest condolences to Greg’s wife Cyndi, his family, friends and colleagues.

Details on services for Greg Tufaro…

Relatives and friends may call from 1:00 – 5:00 PM on August 16th at the Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, 568 Middlesex Ave. (Route 27), Metuchen. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:15 AM on August 17th at The Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, 548 Main St., Metuchen. Interment will follow at Hillside Cemetery, 52 Lincoln Ave., Metuchen.

by Mike Pavlichko

Longtime Middlesex County sportswriter, founder of Marisa Tufaro Foundation, Greg Tufaro passes away

Please scroll to the bottom of this story for details on services.

For some three-plus decades, if there was a story to be found in the sports world and beyond in Middlesex County – sometimes the story behind the story – Greg Tufaro was the guy who would have it.

And for the past nine years, if there was a good cause, the Marisa Tufaro Foundation – which he and his wife Cyndi founded after the passing of their daughter in January 2017 – would be involved.

On Monday, Greg himself passed away after a battle with cancer, according to Tim LeCras, a spokesman for St. Joseph of Metuchen High School, Greg’s alma mater, where he graduated in 1985.

Tufaro received many accolades.  He was named the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year in 2015.  The New Jersey Press Association honored him more than a dozen times, with five first-place awards.

Tufaro, a Rugters University graduate, was well-known for his high school sports coverage, but also covered the Scarlet Knights after joining the Home News and Home News Tribune in 1989.

In 2021, he gave it all up to serve as Chief of Staff for State Senator Patrick Diegnan of South Plainfield (D-18), while continuing his work with the Marisa Tufaro Foundation, for which Diegnan also served on the Board of Trustees until the Foundation ended its charitable mission just last week, after nine years and more than a half-million dollars raised.

Details on services…

Relatives and friends may call from 1:00 – 5:00 PM on August 16th at the Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, 568 Middlesex Ave. (Route 27), Metuchen. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:15 AM on August 17th at The Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, 548 Main St., Metuchen. Interment will follow at Hillside Cemetery, 52 Lincoln Ave., Metuchen.

Thoughts and rememberances from the local sports community…

Click here for CJSR football analyst Marcus Borden’s audio tribute to Greg Tufaro.

Joseph Ward, Woodbridge H.S. Athletic Director:

“I know everyone is going to say Greg was the nicest guy they ever met, and they are right.  They would be 100% correct to say that of course.  Greg was so kind, caring and sincere in the way that he treated people.  When he was talking to you, whether in person or on the phone, he made you feel like you were the most important person in the world.  He didn’t want to talk about himself, he wanted to hear how you were doing.   I am smiling as I write this, but if you were around Greg enough, you got to see another side.  Greg could lose it at times.  It may have been his computer not working, or not being able to connect to the internet, or pressure from his bosses to meet a deadline, etc.  He could hold his own in the language department in those moments, but then apologize to you 100 times for having to witness that.  I believe that it is what made Greg the exceptional husband, father, friend and writer that he was.  He was, even more so than he was nice, he was passionate! I know he was NOT this way so that he could say he was the best at anything, but so he could give you the very best that he felt you deserved.  He always made it about others, never himself.  I will miss my friend, but I take comfort in knowing that he is reunited with his beautiful daughter, Marisa.”

Marisa Tufaro Foundation Board of Trustees member, former East Brunswick H.S. Athletic Director, Frank Noppenberger:

“It was an honor and privilege to refer to Greg as a dear friend. His unending altruism and kindness to everyone was one of his many positive contributions to our society. An ideal role model for those contemplating a career in journalism, and his everlasting sincerity and caring will be remembered by all who knew him.  Greg, thanks for being a friend.”

READ MORE: A few personal thoughts on the loss of a great reporter, and an even better man, Greg Tufaro

Former Spotswood H.S. teacher and cheerleading coach Colleen Meyers, who led the cheerleading squads for the Snapple Bowl, and later the Marisa Tufaro Bowl senior football all-star game:

“I find myself at a loss for words with the news of Greg’s death.  My heart is shattered for Cyndi, and all who knew and loved him.  Greg touched many lives as a loyal and steadfast friend, and extraordinary husband and doting father, an exemplary journalist, and a champion for children in need.  The world was a kinder and gentler place because of Greg Tufaro.  I was greatly blessed to call him my friend.”

Edison H.S. football coach Matt Yascko:

“Greg was a great friend, I will always cherish our relationship. He was always so thoughtful and supportive of all the kids and teams he covered.  I will always remember how serious and thoughtful he took the all area teams; we would spend hours debating who the 3rd team linebacker would be and he would always find a way to recognize all who deserved it.“

From the Piscataway Football family:

“Greg Tufaro was the kind of reporter who was able to give recognition to a third-string fullback on an 0-9 team, along with giving due recognition to the all-state quarterback on the undefeated team which won the game.  Having been on both ends of that football spectrum, it was that kind of fairness and thoroughness which we came to love and respect at Piscataway. The efforts of Greg and his wife Cyndi through the Marisa Tufaro Foundation have produced a profound impact on so many lives, including those of many Piscataway student-athletes. While Greg’s life has come to an end, his unselfish giving to others will be an eternal lesson from which we can all draw.”

Former St. Joseph-Metuchen H.S. head coach, current Bound Brook assistant Rich Hilliard:

“I am at a loss for words.  We lost a great man , a great writer, and even more… a great friend to all.  My deepest heartfelt condolences to his family.  You will never be forgotten.”

by Mike Pavlichko

After nearly a decade, and a half-million dollars donated, Marisa Tufaro Foundation wraps up its charitable mission

Ten years would have been a nice round number.

But so is a half-million dollars.

That’s what the Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated has donated to families and pediatric patients, charitable organizations and scholarship efforts around the state since its founding nine years ago, on July 30, 2017.

But all good things must come to an end, and the group’s founders have announced the end of the Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s charitable mission.

It was created by longtime Home News Tribune/MyCentralJersey sportswriter Greg Tufaro and his wife, Cyndi, in memory of their daughter, Marisa, who tragically passed away in January of 2017, on what would have been her 14th birthday.

Born with a cardiac defect, she survived six open heart surgeries and a heart transplant, but ultimately and heartbreakingly lost a valiant battle against a rare form of cancer.

Marisa Tufaro. (Photo courtesy Greg Tufaro)

Marisa had been hospitalized for more than two years, and yet was still able to be an honor roll student in Edison public schools and lived a “vibrant life that inspired,” the Tufaros said in a press release.

“We are eternally grateful and appreciative beyond words to all who have donated, volunteered, or hosted a charity event for our nonprofit, which has immensely benefited from the extraordinary kindness of thousands of supporters,” the Tufaros said in the release. “Through the remarkable generosity of others, we have been blessed and privileged to make a profound impact on countless lives. We have also been able to keep alive Marisa’s indomitable spirit and allow her legacy to be one of helping children in need.”

In all that time, there were toy collections, food collections, winter coat collections. There were school and baby supplies, children’s books, and many other physical donations that aren’t even included among the $500,000 raised and distributed.

Fundraisers included the large and small, from lemonade stands to GMC all-star games, and the Marisa Rose Bowl.

Greg Tufaro, who co-founded the Marisa Tufaro Foundation with his wife Cyndi, talks to Team Marisa and Team Rose after the inaugural Marisa Rose Bowl in 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Over the nine years of the Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s existence, nearly 60 high school seniors received $41,500 in scholarship money, and dozens more were able to spend a week at a summer art camp at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers in New Brunswick.

And the foundation gave back to many of the hospitals that treated Marisa, from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and more.

At home with Marisa Tufaro and the Tufaro family pup, Duncan. (Photo courtesy Greg Tufaro)

The foundation also was recognized as the Edison Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 “Organization of the Year,” was named a “Community Champion” in 2023 by the Metuchen/Edison/Woodbridge/South Amboy YMCA, and was a Hands of Hope Tee Off Against Hunger honoree in 2024 for “dedicated efforts in fostering positive change within the community.”

by Mike Pavlichko

JFK’s Grant Lorentzen proves you can do it all, and be very good at it, too

Hitting a major milestone in any high school sport is a big deal.

Often, the game will stop, the ball will come out of play, and there are balloons and photo ops, then the game goes on.

For Grant Lorentzen, who’s just graduated from JFK in Iselin last week, he hit key milestones in not just one, nor two, but three high school sports.

  • In football, he was one of the top receivers in the state this year, with 55 catches for 1,221 yards, and 22 touchdowns, seven shy of the all-time state record. In three varsity seasons, he caught 149 passes for 2,470 yards and 34 scores.
  • In basketball, he became one of the few 1,000-point scorers in school history, finishing a four-year varsity career with 1,246 points, 78 from beyond the arc. And he was reasonably close to the program’s all-time leader, Jay Jorgenson (1974), who scored 1,403 in his career.
  • And in baseball, he finished his dual career as a pitcher and hitter, reaching the 100-hit and 200-strikeout plateaus. Lorentzen had 102 hits over four years on the varsity squad, while fanning 220 hitters across four varsity seasons.
JFK’s Grant Lorentzen (#11) scores on a punt return for a touchdown at Carteret on October 29, 2005. (Photo: Marcus Borden)

In an era where more and more student-athletes are specializing – playing just one sport, and then training the rest of the year in that sport – Lorentzen is a throwback, but also an example.

Lorentzen says his coaches always supported him playing multiple sports, so much so that he will even get to do it in college, where he’ll attend The College of New Jersey. First recruited by their baseball coach, he told them right from the get-go that he also wanted to play football. So, they worked out a schedule, and the rest is just future history.

Particularly with pitchers, many believe throwing year-round leaves a teenager more vulnerable to injury. A number of GMC hurlers didn’t make it through the entire 2026 season this spring. But Lorentzen managed to play eleven varsity seasons – and pitched – across four years and three sports at JFK.

Many coaches encourage the practice, and would rather see them play another sport at their school than be out of the building, playing travel ball.

And he still had the time to do some training in the off-season with Elite QB football training academy, under the tutelage of Matt Bastardi. He was often featured in Elite QB’s “Elite Performer of the Week” segment on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Lorentzen may not be a trailblazer. Many still play multiple sports. But he’s the perfect example of someone who not just played all three, but was damn good at all of them.

Click below to hear JFK grad Grant Lorentzen talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about being a three-sport athlete, and his future at The College of New Jersey:

by Mike Pavlichko

Karl-Anthony Towns’ historic NBA title with Knicks brings us back to his last ultimate championship: St. Joe’s TOC win in 2014

Karl-Anthony Towns has had a fantastic basketball career, whether it’s been with the Knicks, the Timberwolves, Kentucky, or in high school at St. Joseph-Metuchen.

The one-time Falcons star played in the Tournament of Champions all three years when he was in high school (he reclassified and graduated early) and won it all in 2014 with a core trio that also included Wade Baldwin (Memphis, Portland in the NBA, now in Europe) and Marques Townes (also now playing in Europe).

After a year at Kentucky playing for John Calipari – where the Wildcats went 38-1, won the SEC Tournament, but lost their lone game in the national semifinals to Wisconsin – Towns went pro.

He was the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft that year, chosen by the Timberwolves, and was Rookie of the Year in 2016. He’s been a six-time NBA All-Star, and was traded to the Knicks in October of 2024 as part of a three-team deal.

Now, in his second season in New York, he’s an NBA Champion – his first “overall” championship since that Tournament of Champions win in 2014, crowned the best high school team in New Jersey.

And so, we decided to take a look back at that title. This reporter broadcast that game live on WCTC in March of 2014, and interviewed KAT courtside after the game. Click below to listen!

by Mike Pavlichko

Tremarco’s steady hand guides Watchung Hills to promised land in SCT final at TD Bank Park

“We’re built to play.”

Those four words from Watchung Hills head coach Joseph Tremarco sum up perfectly his Hustlin’ Warriors.

The certainly came to play Friday night, as the second seed in the Somerset County Tournament, with a tall task at hand: beating not only the top-seed and defending champion Immaculata, but doing it with Ryan Auten on the mound for the Spartans.

Because, heck, all he’s doing next year is going to play in the ACC at Wake Forest.

But a funny thing happened as he and Warriors’ starter Lucas Sheehan – just a sophomore by the way – locked up in a pitchers’ duel.

GAME STORY: Watchung Hills takes down defending champ Immaculata, 1-0 in extras, to win first Somerset County title in 17 years behind Lucas Sheehan three-hitter

They made Auten work, and worked out several deep counts, eventually chasing him as the game went to extra innings, with two out in the eighth, already up 1-0.

Turns out that was all Hills would need.

And behind it all was Tremarco. He is never too up, never too down, and his team feeds off that. Even if they were very, very up when the final out was recorded, a force play at second base to end the game with Immaculata threatening.

While the win gave the Hustlin’ Warriors their sixth SCT championship overall – and first since 2009 – it was the very first for Tremarco, and well-deserved.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel talk with Watchung Hills head coach Joseph Tremarco:

by Mike Pavlichko

Shot clock is coming to New Jersey high school basketball, as NJSIAA measure for HS basketball passes narrowly

A well-coordinated effort to bring the shot clock to high school basketball in New Jersey just barely made it to the finish line Monday, winning approval by a slim margin in a vote of the full NJSIAA membership during a meeting at the Pines Manor in Edison.

The basketball proposal passed 170-166, and the shot clock will begin when the 2027-28 season tips off.

Use of the shot clock will be mandatory for all varsity games, but optional for JV and freshman contests.

A similar shot clock measure in lacrosse was defeated however, by a 166-149 margin, with 21 abstentions, according to Darren Cooper of the Bergen Record, and Varsity Aces on Twitter.

While many high school basketball coaches appeared to support the measure, saying it would be better for the game, and better prepare basketball players for college, there seemed to be less support among athletic directors. Mainly, the concerns have been about the cost on two different levels. The first of those was the initial purchase and installation of equipment, albeit a one-time cost.

What also has concerned them is the need to have an extra person at each game to run the clock, which is entirely separate from the game clock.

That person would also have to get paid, and trained – as it’s not as “simple” as running a game clock, which stops on an official’s whistle. (A shot clock operator and/or official would have to determine, for example, if a missed shot hit the rim, which resets the shot clock, but not always to the full amount.)

And with many schools squeezed from the latest rounds of budget cuts, the measure’s chances appeared to be tenuous, at best.

But, at the end of the day, enough ADs voted in favor of the basketball measure to get it passed by a scant four votes.

Montgomery Athletic Director and boys’ basketball coach Kris Grundy championed the measure along with Christian Brothers’ AD and former Hudson Catholic basketball coach Nick Mariniello. The two presented the measure to the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee, which passed it, leading to Monday’s vote.

Please check back later for an interview with Kris Grundy.

According to Cooper, additional concerns about lacrosse also included moving equipment to different parks if games had to be moved for any reason, such as field conditions, weather and the like.

In other news, the membership voted by a large majority – 318-13 with three abstentions, according to Cooper – to add girls’ flag football as a varsity sport. The “yes” vote means the NJSIAA will sanction the sport and hold state championships, starting next Spring, in 2026-27.

Tri-ops – a combination of three schools, rather than two for a co-op – also were approved for girls’ wrestling.

by Mike Pavlichko

Greater Middlesex Conference realigns basketball divisions for boys’, girls’ hoops in 2026-27

After its first year of breaking divisions into Red, White and Blue “American” and “National” groupings for girls’ and boys’ basketball, the Greater Middlesex Conference is staying with that format, but still making some adjustments to its alignments for the 2026-27 season.

The changes were approved by the GMC’s athletic directors on April 23rd.

Only six schools on the boys’ side will find new homes next season, while a dozen will move around on the girls’ side.

In most cases, moves down are teams that finished in last place in their division, while some that finished first moved up.

In boys’ basketball, Red National champion East Brunswick will move up to the Red American, while Old Bridge will take the Bears’ place down in the National.

The White American will send division champ Perth Amboy and second-place South Brunswick up to the Red National, while Monroe and Woodbridge will go from the Red National to the White American.

Timothy Christian will move from the White American down to the National, while no changes were made to the Blue American or National Divisions.

Here are the full boys’ alignments for 2026-27, with teams listed in alphabetical order:

  • Red American: Colonia, East Brunswick, Piscataway, St. Joseph-Metuchen, St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Red National: Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Brunswick, South Plainfield
  • White American: Edison, JP Stevens, Monroe, North Brunswick, North Plainfield, Woodbridge
  • White National: Carteret, JFK, Metuchen, Middlesex, Spotswood, Timothy Christian
  • Blue American: Dunellen, Highland Park, New Brunswick, Piscataway Magnet, South Amboy, South River
  • Blue National: Calvary Christian, East Brunswick Magnet, Perth Amboy Magnet, Somerset Tech, Wardlaw-Hartridge

There was a little more movement on the girls’ side.

The Red American Division stays mostly the same, with Red National champion Colonia moving up into the Red American. The last two teams in the American move down to the Red National: North Plainfield and South Brunswick, while White American champion Woodbridge comes up to the Red National.

White National champion Sayreville moves up to the White American, which sends South River and North Brunswick down to the White National.

And the only movement involving the Blue Divisions was Timothy Christian moving down two levels from the White to the Blue National.

Here are the full girls’ alignments from 2026-27, with teams listed in alphabetical order:

  • Red American: Colonia, East Brunswick, Monroe, Piscataway, St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Red National: Middlesex, North Plainfield, Old Bridge, South Brunswick, Spotswood, Woodbridge
  • White American: Edison, JP Stevens, Sayreville, South Plainfield
  • White National: Carteret, Highland Park, JFK, Metuchen, North Brunswick, Perth Amboy, South River
  • Blue American: Calvary Christian, Mother Seton, New Brunswick, Piscataway Magnet, South Amboy, Wardlaw-Hartridge
  • Blue National: Dunellen, East Brunswick Magnet, Perth Amboy Magnet, Somerset Tech, Timothy Christian, Woodbridge Academy