Groups II and IV Predictions-First Round

Unfortunately, I fell behind in my previews so I'm just going to jump forward to the predictions. Not like the previews missed much. Obviously Non-Public A and B's front runners are predictably Seton Hall Prep and St. Ant's/Pat's. In Group IV, the favorite is Linden. Group III is seemingly a tossup with Neptune, Kingsway, Plainfield, Newark East Side all having shots. But anyway, today starts the state tournament and here are my predictions for each game. In parentheses is a -number which indicates how much the team is favored by on Born Power Index, the site I said gives high school spreads. I'll give a game of the day and upset I can see happening too. I'll update the standings after each day.

North I, Group II
1) Pascack Hills-20.5 over 16) New Milford
8) Englewood-22.5 over 9) North Warren
5) Hopatcong-18.5 over 12) Pompton Lakes
4) Elmwood Park -7.5 over 13) Westwood
3) Mountain Lakes-18 over 14) Newton
6) Manchester Regional-11.5 over 11) Ramsey
10) Lenape Valley-12 over 7) Wallkill Valley
2) Pequannock-11.5 over 15) River Dell

North II, Group II
1) Newark Central-27.5 over 16) Parsippany
8) Cliffside Park-8 over 9) Garfield
5) Rutherford-3.5 over 12) Lincoln
4) Orange-14 over 13) West Essex
3) Ridgefield Park-8 over 14) Caldwell
11) Hanover Park-7.5 over 6) Hacksettstown
10) Newark Tech-28.5 over 7) Bernards
2) Madison-16.5 over 15) Fort Lee

Central, Group II
1) Raritan-29.5 over 16) Johnson
8) Matawan-23.5 over 9) Middlesex
5) Shabazz-13 over 12) Delaware Valley
4) Governor Livingston-18 over 13) North Plainfield
3) Rumson-28 over 14) Spotswood
6) Carteret-16.5 over 11) Robbinsville
7) Roselle-5 over 10) Shore
2) Ewing-28.5 over 15) Hillside

South, Group II
1) Lakewood-14 over 16) Bridgeton
8) Haddon Heights+0.5 over 9) Pt. Pleasant Boro
5) Medford Tech-9.5 over 12) Pleasantville
4) Collingswood-11.5 over 13) Overbrook
3) Cinnaminson-15 over 14) Sterling
6) Haddonfield-31 over 11) Barnegat
7) Willingboro+2 over 10) Lower Cape May
2) Middle Twp.-36.5 over 15) Pennsauken Tech

North I, Group IV
1) Livingston-12 over 16) Morristown
9) Paterson Eastside-10.5 over 8) Bloomfield
5) Hacksensack-5 over 12) North Bergen
4) Roxbury-8 over 13) North Bergen
14) Ridgefield+2 over 3) Memorial
11) Montclair-5 over 6) Vernon
10) Paterson Kennedy-3 over 7) Morris Knolls
2) Passaich Tech-8 over 15) Passaic

North II, Group IV
1) Columbia-17.5 over 16) Watchung Hills
8) East Orange-13.5 over 9) Bayonne
5) Franklin+2.5 over 12) Bridgewater-Raritan
4) Piscataway-8.5 over 13) Westfield
14) Ridge-17 over 3) North Hunterdon
11) Woodbridge-6.5 over 6) Dickinson
7) Union-13 over 10) Perth Amboy
2) Linden-28.5 over 15) Hunterdon Central

Central, Group IV
1) Middletown North-6.5 over 16) Freehold Twp.
9) Manalapan-5.5 over 8) West Windsor North
12) Howell-6 over 5) Jackson
4) West Windsor South-6 over 13) Brick Memorial
3) North Brunswick+7 over 14) Pennsauken
6) Trenton+1 over 11) Montgomery
10) Rancocas Valley+1.5 over 7) Hillsborough
2) East Brunswick-13.5 over 15) South Brunswick

South, Group IV
1) Williamstown-12.5 over 16) Vineland
8) Atlantic City-2 over 9) Clearview
5) Winslow-8.5 over 12) Toms River South
4) Lenape-13 over 13) Triton
3) Oakcrest-5 over 14) Millville
6) Eastern-17.5 over 11) Southern
7) Shawnee-9.5 over 10) Absegami
2) Cherry Hill East-21.5 over 15) Egg Harbor

Game of the Day:10) Rancocas Valley at 7) Hillsborough
Honorable Mention:12) Bridgewater-Raritan at 5) Franklin

Upset of the Day: North Brunswick over Pennsauken

So there are my picks for today. Tomorrow I will be back picking the first round games for Groups I, III and Non-Public A.

Groups II and III Preview

Back again with a preview of Groups II and III today. I never gave my predictions for the GMC Semis yesterday, but I would've went 2-0 with St. Joe's and Piscataway advancing to the final tomorrow night at Rutgers. Anyway onto Group II...

The Favorites

North I, Group II-No one
North II, Group II-Newark Central
Central, Group II-Ewing, Raritan
South, Group II-Middle Twp, Haddonfield, Lakewood

Dark Horses

North I, Group II-Manchester Regional
North II, Group II-Newark Tech, Orange
Central, Group II-Rumson-Fair Haven
South, Group II-Cinnaminson, Lower Cape May

Long Shots

North I, Group II-Pascack Hills, Englewood, Hopatcong, Pequannock, Mountain Lakes, Elmwood Park
North II, Group II-Madison, Ridgefield Park, Rutherford, Cliffside Park
Central, Group II-Shabazz, Matawan, Governor Livingston, Carteret, Roselle
South, Group II-While there are a couple clear favorites in South Group II, the rest of the bracket perhaps might be the most contentious in the state. There are 8 teams ranked within 8 points of each other. Those long shots would be Lower Cape May, Willingboro, Pt Pleasant Boro, Bridgeton, Haddon Heights, Collingswood, Pleasantville, and Sterling

No Shot

North I, Group II-Wallkill Valley, North Warren, Lenape Valley, Ramsey, Pompton Lakes, Westwood, Newton, River Dell, New Milford
North II, Group II-Hackettstown, Bernards, Garfield, Hanover Park, Lincoln, West Essex, Caldwell, Fort Lee, Parsippany
Central, Group II-Middlesex, Shore, Robbinsville, Delaware Valley, North Plainfield, Spotswood, Hillside, Johnson
South, Group II-Medford Tech, Barnegat, Overbrook, Pennsauken Tech

Most of the favorites in Group II are very similar. They all ahve decent guards but the area where they most stand out is their height. Teams like Lakewood have multiple guys 6'4 or taller. Newark Central blew out most of their Essex County competition, but lost by 45 to a little above average team in Camden Catholic. They lost by 7 to Paramus Catholic, so they have experience playing good teams. They do have a loaded team though, with 5 guys having 177 or more points this season. Ramon Johnson, Patrick Cole and Daquan Jones are the stars of this team and ahve helped give Central a 22-5 record. They have a very very favorable sectional draw and shouldn't really receive much of a test from anyone. All three of them are seniors as well which will make them an even tougher out knowing there's no tomorrow. I would be shocked if they didn't represent North I/North II in the sectional final.

A team that has really come a long way in a short amount of time is Ewing. They have been one of the top seeds continuously over the last few years or so. Another interesting thing is the fact as far as I know, the coach is the only woman I've seen coach a boys high school basketball game, so she serves as a type of mother figure to the players, some of which come from broken homes and poorer families. They are another team who shouldn't get tested till Rumson in the sectional semis and who knows how much they'll have left in them after making an improbable run to the Shore Conference final as a 13 seed. Ewing is a very athletic talented team and matches up well against most teams they would see. Dontae' Jones and Darryl Griffin are their best players and are the main reasons they are 20-4. Jones is a 6-5 junior forward so I'm sure he's receiving division 1 looks and Griffin is a fast guard who is capable of having big games.

What could be the Shore Conference Champs a day from tonight is Raritan. Winning the Shore Conference is a hell of an accomplishment yet they still seem like they are flying under the radar and people are underestimating them. Looking at their draw however, I feel their chance for an upset is higher than Ewing's. The emotional run to the championship for Raritan has to had take a toll on them and I think they could be prime for an upset in the second or third round vs. Matawan or Shabazz. On paper, you have to like their chances to potentially win it all. But teams who win counties rarely go deep in states and I just think this team may fall on its face.

North I, Group II
North II, Group II
Central, Group II
South, Group II

Group I Preview

Before I preview the state basketball tournament in Group I, I just wanted to say I went 2-2 predicting games in the GMC Tournament the other day. Cardinal McCarrick wound up pulling the 6 over 3 upset as they defeated East Brunswick 64-62 as time expired on a layup on freshman Marques Townes. I actually uploaded the clip to YouTube so you can see it there. I did get the middle 2 games right at St. Joe's defeated Perth Amboy 72-62 and Bishop Ahr beat JFK 69-57. Piscataway won the last game over South Brunswick 52-43. So the semifinals are #1 Piscataway vs. #5 Bishop Ahr and #2 St. Joe's vs. #6 Cardinal McCarrick. Groups I and III do not start play until next Tuesday, but up until Sunday I'll preview with a group a day and since these are the smallest schools, we'll start from here. I'll categorize the teams in 4 different ways--the favorites, the dark horses, the long shots, no shot. Keep in mind this is for the entire group, next week I'll give my individual game predictions which will talk about the 4 sections a little more.


The Favorites

North I, Group I-None

North II, Group I-None

Central, Group I-Point Pleasant Beach, Asbury Park, New Egypt

South, Group I-Pitman, Paulsboro, Penns Grove


The Darkhorses

North I, Group I-None

North II, Group I-Hoboken, Newark University

Central, Group I-Florence, Burlington City

South, Group I-Salem, Woodbury, Lindenwold


Long Shots

North I, Group I-None

North II, Group I-Bloomfield Tech, New Providence, Dayton, Weequahic, Newark Vocational

Central, Group I-Bound Brook

South, Group I-None


No Shot

North I, Group I-I use a website which gives "high school spreads" for games and there are 18 teams in Group I higher than the top team here. This section has no chance for a group title. The teams are Wood-Ridge, Verona, Cresskill, Wallington, Saddle Brook, Bogota, Park Ridge, Emerson Boro, Palisades Park, Becton, Midland Park, Leonia, Sussex Tech, West Caldwell Tech, Ridgefield, and Hasbrouck Heights.

North II, Group I-Dunellen, North 13th Street Vo-Tech, Weehawken, North Arlington, Roselle Park, Whippany Park, Glen Ridge, Secaucus, Arts

Central, Group I-Piscataway Tech, South Hunterdon, East Brunswick Tech, Academy Charter, Metuchen, South River, Keyport, Perth Amboy Tech, Highland Park, Palmyra

South, Group I-Gloucester City, Audubon, Haddon Township, Camden Charter, Schalick, Wildwood, Clayton, Maple Shade, Glassboro, Gateway

Just letting everyone know I spent the last hour and a half typing or so previewing the 6 favorites and of course, it had trouble saving so when I left the page thinking it had automatically saved. It took me back to just this. I will be back tomorrow with more elaborate previews of the other Groups.

GMC Quarterfinals Preview

Over the next few weeks, my blogs will be primarily previews and predictions of the upcoming New Jersey high school basketball tournament, Conference Tournaments in the NCAA and finally the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I actually heard some pretty cool news the other day that I'm looking forward to and that is because the NCAA Tournament is now on 4 seperate stations, other channels besides CBS can air games and not have to worry about regularly scheduled programming, so what that means is now in the Round of 32, games instead of stopping around 9 or 10 on Saturday and 7 on Sunday, are now going to midnight. The second round is usually way too rushed to me and I've always hated the national early game followed by 3 in the second window then 4 in the final window on Sunday. Fortunately over the last couple years, that window hasn't had great games but a few come to my mind-the Purdue-Texas A&M game last year, Kentucky-UAB a few years back, etc. but if there was ever a day with a lot of great games, we wouldn't be able to see it because they can only show you one game at a time. There is no more of that fortunately, and you can view any game you want. Anyway, this is the new configuartion of Saturday/Sunday viewing times.



Saturday-12, 2:30, 5, 7:30 on CBS, 6 and 8 on TBS, 7 and 9:30 on TNT

sunday-12, 2:30 and 5 on CBS, 6 and 8 on TBS, 7 and 9:30 on TNT, 7:30 on TRUTV



I personally love the idea that as of 6PM Sunday, only 3 games will be completed or so and those will be games everyuone can watch since those are the only ones going on then. Then with the 5 and 6 PM ones you can go back and forth, as with the 7, 7:30 and 8, before finishing up watching the late night 9:30 game.



Obviously, as you can tell by now, I'm a big fan of basketball at all 3 levels-high school, college and professional. I still scorekeep relatively frequently for my high school, film, announce and scorekeep for Monmouth and watch college basketball frequently as well as the pros. About now each year is the county tournaments across the state and here I will preview Middlesex County's Elite Eight. The quarterfinals are Sunday and whoever's around should drop by. The games will be a lot of fun. Here's the schedule...



12:00-#3 East Brunswick vs. #6 Cardinal McCarrick

1:30-#2 St. Joe's vs. #7 Perth Amboy

4:00-#5 Bishop Ahr vs. #13 John F. Kennedy

5:30-#1 Piscataway vs. #9 South Brunswick



#3 East Brunswick vs. #6 Cardinal McCarrick-To people around the county, this is probably the best game on paper. Both teams have done phenomonal in conference--East Brunswick went 17-3 while Cardinal McCarrick went 13-5. Cardinal McCarrick, however, has stumbled to the finish line winning just 3 of their last 6, although those losses were to the 1 seed Piscataway, the 4 seed North Brunswick(who was upset last night), and a much improved Roselle Catholic team. East Brunswick, however, plays in the Red Division, which is overall stronger with 5 of the remaining 8 teams still alive residing in that division. McCarrick remains the only team left in the White Division. Bishop Ahr and JFK are the remaining teams in the Blue. I also believe this is one of the stronger teams for East Brunswick in recent memory. A deep run in this tournament will likely make them a top 20 team and as it is they are currently ranked 4th in the state in Group IV, which is always loaded with great teams. McCarrick has also had great teams recently and have become one of the powerhouses in Non-Public South B, but they are far from the team they were a couple years back when they had both Mike Burwell who's playing at South Florida right now and Vince Rosario, who's playing at Central Connecticut State. Both teams are similarly experienced, but I believe East Brunswick is just a deeper team this year and will find a way to pull it out, especially after Cardinal McCarrick just had a thrilling double overtime win against Colonia on Thursday night, I'm not sure if they have it in them to pull a close one out today. Going in if they'd have won in regulation against Colonia I probably would've picked them, but East Brunswick this year has a deep enough team and scoring from enough places to get the job done here in a big spot. I think a key player in this game will be East Brunswick's Rob Ukawuba who is only a sophomore but has come a long way this season and really has had great numbers in some games. He is one of the taller players on the team and gives East Brunswick the inside presence they need for a predominantly guard oriented perimeter shooting team. Cardinal McCarrick has relied on guys like Charlie Gorman and Ahmid Williams all season to lead the Eagles to victory and I expect it to eb the same way this game. Ahmid Williams has to play one of the games like I've seen him play at Monroe and I think McCarrick can win. The problem in this game though I see for them is that McCarrick is a traditionally higher scoring team while East Brunswick is a lower scoring team. I think East Brunswick will play a better defensive game and find a way to beat Cardinal McCarrick. Their lowest point total this season is 49, followed by scores in the mid 50's or higher. I think EB advances to the semis in a close one.

Prediction:East Brunswick 56, Cardinal McCarrick 51

#2 St Joe's vs. #7 Perth Amboy-As a St. Joe's alum and still their scorekeeper, this game scares me. Just 3 weeks ago, on our home court, we faced a chance to lose to this Perth Amboy Panthers team and ultimately prevailed in overtime. But just like the 38-35 win for the Patriots over the Giants to end the regular season back in 2007, it made Perth Amboy realize they can win against us. We are however, a stronger team than them, in pretty much every area but depth and experience. Our coach, Dave Turco, to me, is one of the best coaches in the state and his level of preparation and knowledge for a high school level is staggering. I don't know if he's done them this season, but over the past few years, he prepared elaborate scouting reports to his players talking about strengths, weaknesses, etc. I think Perth Amboy's coach, Edwin Santana, is a pretty solid coach too and because all of his team is Spanish he communicates with them that way, which I definitely believe is an advantage. This may be a game, however, Perth Amboy's seniors have been anticipating for a while. The last few years they haven't been very good but this year, they are over .500 again and have a decent seed in states though it is against the Union Farmers. So they may have been waiting for this day to come when they have a chance to pull off the upset in a big spot. They have 9 seniors while St. Joe's has just 4. However, 2 of the players, not seniors for St. Joe's are all GMC players Danny Brix and Quenton DeCosey. They combined for 43 points the other night in their 83-40 win vs. Metuchen and will continue to be integral components in the county and state tournament. I just don't think Perth Amboy has an answer for both Danny and Quenton. Quenton's as good as a player I've seen on the high school level taking it to the hoop and getting second and third rebound chances. The sky is really the limit for him as long as he keeps his head on straight and doesn't act selfish. He is a junior right now but he is getting some very high profile looks from Syracuse and Notre Dame I've heard. Danny also I think is definitely good enough to go division I as well and it is this combo that will make St. Joe's tough to beat this time of year. To me, they have 2 losses rather than 4 on the year. The East Brunswick game the first time was atrocious--awful officiating. How do you not put Quenton at the line one time when he averages a few free throws a game and seemingly is always near the basket? That game was also 2 days before Christmas so the focus might not have been there. The Colonia loss too I don't really count because it was made up on very short notice which we never play well in, and Colonia's a tough place to play at in general. Piscataway was probably one of the worst games I've ever seen St. Joe's play and we still almost won. The tide would have turned if the refs didn't make an egregious error and noticed the 6 men on the court which would've given St. Joe's the ball and 2 free throws on a technical to cut the lead to 3 from 5. And the Hun loss just the other day was a bad one. We looked good for the first 3 quarters but forgot to seal the deal and lost by 4. A big problem with Perth Amboy is their lack of big men. They have good guards like Kearny Canella and Jorge Jimenez, but outside of Wancel Arias and David Rogers, they are lacking in that spot. I just think St. Joe's defense will be too much to handle in this spot and even if Brix or DeCosey are off, expect guys like Kevin Waitikovich, Nick Straughn and Jimbo Long to pick up the load for us. We never start out well in the quarterfinals and I expect the same today, but ultimately we will eventually pick up the pieces at some point in this game, cruise to a relatively easy victory and make a statement to show we're more than ready to defend our county title from last year.

Prediction:St. Joe's 63, Perth Amboy 46

#5 Bishop Ahr vs. #13 John F. Kennedy-I find it particularly interesting here Kennedy is 12-6 and a 13 seed. Remember Piscataway is the 1 with a 13-6 record although the teams they've played are far better. Kennedy has 2 awful losses on paper, the 31-28 loss to Middlesex at home and the 23 point loss at Carteret after beating them by 9 earlier in the season. First time around this season, Bishop Ahr won by 20. The second time around, Bishop Ahr won by 3. The bottom line is prior to last game, the highest seed in the county that Kennedy beat was the 12 seed. In addition, Bishop Ahr is a parochial school and there's just no reason a parochial school should ever lose to a team with as many flaws as JFK. I'm expecting this somewhere between more scores probably a 10-15 point game, but would be shocked if Bishop Ahr didn't win. JFK's win over North Brunswick was totally unexpected and I think was more a fluke and them underestimating JFK and being over confident themselves than anything. Don't expect a reprise today.

Prediction:Bishop Ahr 67, John F. Kennedy 52

#1 Piscataway vs. #9 South Brunswick-This could wind up being game of the day and it is the last one on the schedule. You have top seeded Piscataway taking on one of their divisional opponents. South Brunswick really stumbled to the end losing 6 of 8 after starting the season 8-4. Piscataway has shown weakness at times too beating Perth Amboy just 33-20, losing at home to Perth Amboy by 12, losing to East Brunswick by 15 and a relatively medicore Immacualta team this year by 23. Piscataway and South Brunswick are usually odd teams because you can see games with great defense or with a lot of scoring. The two games this year were 46-37 and 38-35 both going in Piscataways favor. Piscataway by no means is a dominant team for a 1 seed and I personally be shocked if they won this tournament. I think whoever wins the game between us and East Brunswick wins the tournament. You could make an argument how the hell is a 13-6 team the 1 seed? East Brunswick went 17-3 in conference and was co leader atop the toughest division so they could've been the 1. South Brunswick perhaps regained a bit of confidence from the 46-41 win Thursday night against New Brunswick and I'm sure just based on the two games this year, they know they can beat the top seeded Chiefs. Neither of these 2 teams do anything well besides play tough gritty defense. These 2 are not spectacular on any means on the offensive side which is why I can see an upset here. If Tajae Sharpe or Danny Cole is off for the Chiefs today, I think guys like Kory Sanders and Nick Muha can lead South Brunswick to one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far.

Prediction:South Brunswick 44, Piscataway 43

So based on my predictions, I have #9 South Brunswick vs. #5 Bishop Ahr and #3 East Brunswick vs. #2 St. Joe's. Those games are on Wednesday so I'll probably preview them sometime that morning. Over the next few days, I'll preview the state brackets. Here will be the schedule.

Tuesday-2/22-Group I
Wednesday-2/23-Group II/GMC Semis
Thursday-2/24-Group III
Friday-2/25-Group IV/GMC Championship
Saturday-2/26-Non-Public A
Sunday-2/27-Non-Public B

So that does it for my GMC Quarterfinals Preview and we can only hope we have a day like the Shore Conference had yesterday where all 4 games were settled by 3 or less and there was the huge upset of #8 Pt Pleasant Beach over #1 CBA as well. I'm looking forward to the games today and if you're around, you should definitely drop by.

The Rise and Rise of St. Mary's Basketball and How a Basketball Game Changed Lives

There's a phrase popularly said regarding the best high school team's in the nation, "They don't rebuild, they reload." There's a lot of colleges that do this too--like a Duke or a Michigan State. But sometimes the reloading is done in places you don't expect it to happen, yet it does time and time again. If you don't follow college basketball, most people throughout the United States are probably unfamiliar with the town of 16,755 people in California called Moraga. If you do follow the college game, however, you probably know that St. Mary's College is located there and that they're coming off a Sweet Sixteen season led by Omar Samhan, who led the West Coast Conference regular season in scoring with 21.5 ppg, rebounds with 11.1 per game, and block with 2.9 per game). He was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year and was a First Team All-WCC selection. He had a phenomonal first 2 games in the NCAA Tournament averaging 30.5 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 75 percent 24-32 from the floor. He also became the school's most prolific scorer in a single season. He's currently playing in Lithuania with BC Zalgiris.

Before Samhan, St. Mary's had Patrick Mills. Mills who now plays point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, signed with the Gaels in November of 2006. An important thing to note is Mills Australian heritage. He is one of the youngest players to suit up for Australia's national team and one of the first Indigenous Australians to play in the NBA. Mills became the 5th Australian player that coach Randy Bennett successfully recruited since arriving at Moraga in 2001. One of the other Australians to have played under Bennett at St. Mary's was fellow AIS old boy Daniel Kickert, the Gaels' all time leading scorer. Like Kickert, he became the first freshman to start for the Gaels since Kickert did so in the 2002-03 season. In the fourth game of the 2007-08 season, he entered the American consciousness when he scored 37 in an upset of nationally ranked Oregon on November 20th. They became nationlly ranked for the first time since 1989 after a 7-0 start and have not left the consciousness since. In their Christmas Tournament in Hawaii that year, the Gaels won and Mills was named tournament MVP. He won several accolades as a freshman and they went on to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round to Miami (Florida). Mills had 24 in that game and was the only Gael to score in double figures.

Randy Bennett took over a team in 2001 that had gone 2-27 in the 2000-01 season. In his 10 or so seasons, he has a overall record of 203-107 and a conference record of 86-49. His most impressive season was last year going 28-6 and making it to the Sweet 16. In 04-05, he went 25-9, 07-08 went 25-7 and 08-09 went 28-7. He has been to the tournament 3 of St. Mary's 6 times. They've made it in 1959, 1989, 1997, 2005, 2008 and 2010. Prior to him coming to Moraga, the Gaels were 1-3 in the tournament and have since gone 2-3 with him. So Bennett has led an underappreciated turnaround and one that stays off the radar when you think about programs who have become great overnight. In this case, it is probably because of the fact that Gonzaga is in their conference and are consistently on the national radar.

I thought this team would not be very good without the double double threat Samhan. The rest of the team were pretty much slightly above average Australian players who were good ball handlers and three point shooters. This was one of those cases I was wrong. As I said, some teams don't rebuild, they reload. Turns out that St. Mary's has the ability to reload too and this season's potential Omar Samhan has a interesting backstory both personal and collegiate and is very fortunate to be both playing ball and alive.

A couple weeks ago, when I was watching St. Mary's epic win against Gonzaga in Spokane, a place where Gonzaga has gone 50-1 or so over the last few years, I noticed a familiar face. A couple years ago in a 4-13 matchup in the NCAA Tournament, the Connecticut Huskies played the San Diego Toreros and the Huskies were upset 70-69. One of the players on that team, Rob Jones, was a freshman at the time, yet played more like a senior on that day scoring 14 points and pulling down 6 rebounds in 29 minutes of play and was one of the key pieces to leading San Diego to an upset win that day. He wound up transferring out of San Diego after the 2008-09 season and went to Diablo Valley College in the 2009-10 school year where he did not compete in basketball. He completed his AA degree in Fall of that year before transferring to Saint Mary's for the spring semester. This season he has been playing very well, leading the team in scoring in 6 of those games--2 of those were BYU and at San Diego State, both of who are in the top 10. He has led the team in rebounding in 16 of the Gaels 24 games. He is second on the team in scoring with 14.3 ppg and leads the team in rebounding with 7.6 boards per game.

They only lost 4 players from last year, Samhan and Ben Allen were the 2 biggest losses by far. But they still keep Matthew Dellavedova and Mickey McConnell who are huge contributors to the team and more than enough to potentially get the Gaels a couple wins in this year's tournament. Add Jones and a couple freshman to the mix and they are still a very formidable team. I don't think Jones is as dominant an inside force as Samhan, but he clearly has talent and has made a difference for this Gaels team.

In his senior year of high school, Jones knew he was either going to San Diego or St. Mary's. Eventually, Rob's father was diagnosed with renal failure and would have to undergo dialysis for a failing kidney. Rob said 'I found out my dad was sick, and it was hard. I didn't really have a father figure down there at the time. It was a rough time for me, not being able to communicate with my dad as much as I wanted to with him being in the hospital". He informed the San Diego staff that he was going back to the Bay Area to be with his family. Rob's father is back in good health and Rob appears to be improving as a player. Rob said "my mom and dad are right up there behind the basket, my godmother comes to the games, my brothers come to the games all time time. It reminds me of high school and that family feel. It's good."

So while that's his collegiate story, the personal story is a harrowing one I'm sure for both him and his dad and it's a part of their life they don't acknowledge and try to leave behind even though unfortunately for them, it will always be part of their family's history. Rob's father, Jim is the adopted son of cult leader Jim Jones who was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple. On November 18, 1978, more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana committed suicide by being poisoned by cyanide. The results of this day was the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11th attacks. Jones reason to commit suicide was because he was paranoid and believed that intelligence organizations were conspiring against the Temple and that "men would parachute in here on us", "shoot some of our innocent babies" and "they'll torture our children, they'll torture some of our people here, they'll torture our seniors." Jones also believed the hostile forces would convert captured children to fascism. Because of that reasoning, Jones and several members argued that the group should commit 'revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced grape flavored Flavor Aid along with a sedative. When members apparently cried, Jones said "Stop this hysterics. This is not the way for people who are Socialists or Communists to die. No way for us to die. We must die with some dignity". He also said "Don't be afraid to die", Death is "just stepping over into another plane" and that "death is a friend". At the end of the "death tape" that was made, he said "We didn't commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world." Another event that stands out with the Jonestown suicides is that in November 1978, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan led a fact-finding mission to Jonestown to investigate allegations of human rights abuses. His delgation included relatives of Temple members, Don Harris, an NBC network news reporter, an NBC cameraman and reporters for various newspapers. On November 17, Ryan's delegation reached Jonestown. The following day they left after Temple member Don Sly attacked Ryan with a knife. Congressman Ryan and his people succeeded in taking with them fifteen People's Temple members who had expressed a wish to leave. Upon leaving however, Ryan, three journalists and a defecting temple member were shot at and 9 others wounded. The murder of Congressman Ryan was the first and only murder of a Congressman in the line of duty in the history of the United States.

It's not everyday a person can say a basketball saved their life. In this case, Rob's dad can

and Rob would have never been born if not for the fact that Jim Jr. did not take part in the mass suicide because they were playing with the Peoples Temple basketball team against the Guyanese national team in Georgetown. After the mass suicide, Guyanese soldiers kept the Jones brothers under house arrest for five days, interrogating them about the deaths in Georgetown. Upon returning to the United States, Jim Jones Jr. was placed under police surveillance for several months while he lived with his older sister, Suzanne, who had previously turned against the Temple. Unfortunately, Jim lost his wife and unborn child at Jonestown and has returned to San Francisco where he has obviously remarried and has 2 other sons besides Rob.

I find Rob's personal and collegiate stories fascinating. To know that you're only alive because your dad had a basketball game the day the mass suicide happened has to make everyday a gift for both Rob and his dad. This is one of the best examples you can give for living life to the fullest, because you never know what can happen. It almost seemed to an extent the mass suicide was a spur of the moment thing. It almost seemed that the Peoples Temple knew that after the killing of Congressman Ryan as well as the others, they were pressed for time. Fortunately Jim Jr. had a good hand. For all the bad that came out of that incident, the fact that the remaining Jones' can still make a positive difference to their communities and to people around them are a great thing. Without Rob is St. Mary's a 20-4 team, leading the WCC and well on their way to making the NCAA Tournament for the 3rd time in 4 years? I doubt it. The fact that he has led rebounding in 16 of those 24 games and led scoring in 6 of them is a testament to that and how important he is for the Gaels. He seems to have found his comfort zone in Moraga and seems to be enjoying his time at St. Mary's and hopefully they'll continue to be a factor in the WCC race over the years. I expect him to have a great rest of the year and believe he is more than capable of at least putting up comparable numbers to that of Samhan last year. It is also a great thing to see how the Jones are still so often to come together as a family to watch Rob play games in Moraga and I think Rob did a great unselfish thing by being closer to his family so he could be near his dad during his sickness as well as so he could see his family more often. I look forward to seeing how Rob continues to develop and it'll be interesting to see where his journey goes from here.