November 12th was national early signing day and three area ball players made their commitments. Justin Crosgile of Depaul Catholic signed his letter of intent with St. Joseph University from the Atlantic 10 conference. Crosgile,the 5’10” guard, is a scoring machine who will be looked at as the point guard of the future for coach Phil Martelli’s Hawks. St. Joe’s is known for developing guards(Marvin O’Connor, Jameer Nelson and Delonte West) and Justin hopes to continue the tradition. Lance Brown of Paterson Catholic signed with Fordham University of the Atlantic 10 and will join Jio Fontan from St. Anthonys H.S. by way of Paterson. Brown is a 6’3″ swingman who is an all out gamer and a do it all type player and Coach Dereck Whittenberg should be thrilled to have this type of kid in his program. Lance is also a big time character person which is why he has a chance to be a success on and off the court.The third player to commit was Eastside Highschool’s Karon Abraham.The 5’8″ combo guard will join Robert Morris University of the Northeast Conference. Robert Morris was the N.E.C. champs last year and Coach Mike Rice feels that Karon can feel the void on the perimeter and also play some point. Abraham is a small player who plays much bigger than his stature and is a pure shooter who can knock it down from deep. Coach Rice said he was looking for a bigger player but fell in love with”this little pitbull’ after seeing Abraham on the a.a.u. circuit.Props also has to go out to Elmwood Park’s Jared Forestieri. The swingman has turned his attention to baseball as this dynamic lefthanded pitcher received a scholarship to the University of Arizona.

Javae Gilchrest has been given clearance to play right away at Teaneck Highschool. The former Queen of Peace star was allowed to play after transferring due to financial issues with the school.Looks like for once the right thing was done. Gilchrest arrival helps Teaneck make up for the loss of guards Chris Diaz and Walter Farrior.

The fall basketball league at Kennedy Highschool gave a peak preview of some of the northern N.J. teams heading into the 08-09 basketball season. The two division groups consisted of some of the top teams in the area as Paterson Catholic, Eastside, Kennedy,Don Bosco Prep,Teaneck, Paramus Catholic and Hackensack were a few of the teams that participated. Division A was won by Paterson Catholic as they beat Edison Prep 67-54 behind game m.v.p. Lance Brown who led them with 25 points. Ian Umpierre (21pts. 5treys) was the player of the game for the runner ups. The Division B championship belong to St. Peters Prep, who defeated Teaneck H.S. 43-39. Miles Davis was game m.v.p., while Javae Gilchrist was the runner up player of the game. The play throughout the 8 weeks was both intense and tough as teams were trying to establish what kind of unit they would be for the upcoming season. Players who were established highschool stars such as Karon Abraham(Eastside),Dave Robertson(Eastside),Fuquan Edwin(Pat.Cath.), Jayon James(Pat. Cath.), Shondell Stewart(Kennedy),Daquier Hayes(Kennedy), Javae Gilchrist(Tea.),Andre Blackwood(Par.Cath.)and Brown(Pat. Cath.) had to work hard to maintain their status, as up and coming players such as Miles Mack (Pat. Cath.),Vaughn Gray(D.B.P.),Brandon Beckford(D.B.P.),Kenny Click(D.B.P.),Alex George(Hack.),Shomari Barber(Tea.), Jermaine Peart(Pat. Cath.),Justin Harris(Par. Cath.)Manny Hernandez(Par. Cath.)and Isaiah Suber(Manchester H.S.) more than held their own. Miles Mack in particular, is a special player who seems ready to bust out this season.Vaughn Gray and Brandon Beckford will be looked upon to keep the winning ways that Don Bosco Prep has been use to. The fall league did what any person who loves highschool basketball would want. Wet the whistle and make you thirst for more.