Early season analysis of the top Public Schools...

The best: Cherokee Chief’s
I know I will take a lot of heat for this, but I will go with Cherokee from South Jersey. For the North and Central Jersey basketball fanatics, Cherokee comes from a very powerful athletic regional school district that also includes other power houses, Lenape and Shawnee. This area of NJ has produce Olympians and multiple professional athletes in all three major sports. It seems that Cherokee has always been competitive and like the Plainfield Cardinals, seem to just come up short. This year may be the year that the Chiefs put it all together. Cherokee just came off an overtime upset victory over South Jersey Parochial power, Camden Catholic. Cherokee is currently ranked 6th in the state and is rated by the Star Ledger as the 2nd ranked public school in NJ and the # 1 rated overall school in Central/South Jersey.

The Chiefs feature 6’9” big man Ryan McKeaney. Ryan is a monster on the boards and controls the middle on offense and defense. Talented 6’2” Junior Bryan Cooper takes a lot of pressure off his upperclassmen class mates. Cooper takes advantage of the lack of attention to score in bunches. The threat from deep is 6’0” senior Christian Jordan. Jordan shoots at a high percentage from behind the arc and can be a zone buster to teams who would rely on such a defense. If teams decide to play man to man defense, the leader and head of the team, 6’0” Senior Willis Nicholson will take you to the hole with his elusive quickness and slashing type of play.


The Hungry Challenger: Paterson Kennedy Knights
What are they feeding those boy’s in Paterson. Last year Paterson Eastside was one game from the Tournament of Champions. And they had to upset their cross town rival Paterson Kennedy to get to that point. Paterson Kennedy may lack height but speed and tenacity is their game. Kennedy’s defense maybe second to none. They are able to alleviate their height and lack of rebounding with hustle and quick feet taking numerous offensive fouls. The top public school in North Jersey Section 1 looks like a team that is ready to visit the Tournament of Champions for the 1st time.

Who will take Kennedy to the promise land? 6’3” Senior Shooting guard Shondel Stewart will. One of the top scorers in the nation, averaging over 30 points a game. Shondel is a scoring machine. Stewart is probably the most explosive scorer in NJ since Dejuan Wagner of Camden. Teams design their defense to stop him and all have failed to stop the undefeated Knights of Paterson Kennedy. 6’3” Senior Zahir Young plays the role of big man, guard, shooting guard, carry the bucket, you get the point. Zahir does everything that does not show in the box scores and then he still shows up in the box scores as the second leading scorer for the Knights.


Keeping a low profile no more: My Plainfield Red Birds...
The Cardinals are coming out of no where. With one of the top guards in the State gone and committed to Pitt (Isaiah Epps) and anything from 30 ft is my shot Anthony Baskerville now at Raritan Valley Community College, the experts expected that Tyrone Johnson could not face the talented teams in front of him by himself. The critics were right. Johnson could not face them by his self, but arguably the best group of sophomores on one team seems to have his back. The talented sophomores are doing everything that a coach could wish for. But the sophomores are not the only ones on this team. One of the best man to man defensive guards in the state 6’2” Senior Mike Price takes on the dirty job of defending teams best guards. 6’4 Senior Nate Grant-Dewitt was the actually the best shooter (percentage wise) from last years team. 6’2” Senior Ricky Terry has a parachute on his back due to his incredible leaping ability. Coach Lubreski has brought defense to the Cardinals and arguably may have the best defensive team Plainfield has ever had. Coach Lubreski does have one problem... The team is loaded and Lubreski may be charged with having too much ammunition. The Cardinals are currently ranked #5 in the state and is the top rated public school according to the Star Ledger.

Just not enough: Linden Tigers
6’4” Senior Qadeer Lewis is one of the best big men in the state under 6’5”. He has an uncanny combination of strength and speed. Lewis is also an exceptional foul shooter shooting nearly 85% from the charity stripe. Oh, he is also the teams leading rebounder. Sky riser 6’3” Senior Trell Myers had a technical foul called against him due to his elbow hanging on the rim. Myers grabs a lot of rebounds and his athleticism leads an exceptional defensive Colicchio unit. 6’0” point guard Elijah Hodge comes from a long list of talented guards to guide the Tigers. Rarely makes mistakes and is another defensive specialist. One thing about the Tigers, they will not let you score. Their aggressive hard nose defense keeps them in every game (down only 2 at the half to the Nations best team). They are just one Lampley away from going back to the Tournament of Champions.

Outside looking in:
#12 Teaneck
#13 Newark Eastside
#15 Newark University
#16 Newark Shabazz
#17 Pennsauken
#19 Passaic Tech
#20 Passaic

Look for the Newark schools - Eastside, University, and Shabazz to make a push into the top 4 publics in NJ.