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The Ballgame! State Tourney Predictions + Felician's Ivan Lewis · NorthJerseySports.com

0:08
Back. On the ball game.
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North Jersey sports.com's. Original.
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Multimedia series talking all things hoops across North
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Jersey. I am Corey Dovic and we just
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can't get enough of this state tournament preview predictions
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coming today and a special interview with our Co host boss.
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So first of all, let's welcome in the Felician assistant coach.
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He is Brad Forest theory. Brad, how you doing?
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Where are you and what's going on?
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Anything new in your life? So, as always, we're on the
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road, going to watch my niece, Coach Lewis's daughter, in her
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conference semifinal game in the CI AA down in Baltimore.
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She plays for Claflin. They hope they they play against
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Virginia State today in the semis.
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So we're going down to watch that.
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Got married on Tuesday to to my girlfriend of the last 5 1/2
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years. So she's put up with a lot of
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stuff. So we made it official the other
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day. Just a small little thing in my
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house. Just to make an official but.
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Yeah, a lot of things going, No work is good, coaching is good,
1:20
family life is good. So yeah, a lot of stuff going in
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the month of February for us. All right, so in this episode,
1:26
we are going to give our predictions for the state
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tournament, which got off to rough start with the snow.
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There was a one or two games played, but that doesn't matter.
1:36
We can still get our picks in there.
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And then we're going to do an interview with coach Lewis.
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I mean, Felician, all kidding aside, is having a a year for
1:45
the ages for the program, so, you know, we'll get to all that
1:48
stuff in a second too. But I I can't just let you, I
1:51
can't let you off the hook that easy, Brad.
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So wait a minute, you just said you got married on Tuesday.
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Yeah, got married Tuesday, went to work Tuesday night, We had a
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game Wednesday. It's just, you know, it's, it's
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grind that she, she, she understands this.
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She's she's put up with it for all these years and.
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And your boys back there taking it.
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All in too, on the road trip. That's right.
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Married on Tuesday in the car with his boy driving to watch a
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basketball game on. Thursday.
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That's awesome. Everybody's talking.
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He's like, it's my, you know, I'm going to make predictions
2:26
too. Tell him, all right, let's
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start, let's get, we'll get our predictions out of the way.
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And there's, you know, there's, there's, you know, big stakes on
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the line here. And I use the term stakes AKES,
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not Eaks. But it it's going to be dinner
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at the Park Tavern in Rutherford because I already owe a guy from
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that neck of the woods. And whoever loses this is going
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to have to join in paying the bills.
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So let's just start N one, Group 1, the former home of the great
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Brad Forest Theory and the Elmwood Park Crusaders all those
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years ago. Let's talk about we got
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Cresskill as the number one seed.
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You have your brackets up there, Brad.
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Who are you going? To win N one Group 1.
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So, you know, just a quick peek, you know, I think you know, it's
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a strong bracket, you know, with, with, you know, Cresskill
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as the one, Emerson as the two, you know, Waldo's as a as a
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tough three. You know, Midland Park at A5 is
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tough. So they have a, you know, 2000
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point score and JT Grand. But I think when it's all said
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and done, I think I think Cresco's going to get a, you
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know, cut down the net, even though we don't cut down the
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Nets in high school, But I think Cresco's going to take it with
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their with, with fans over and Kopchinsky.
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I I think they just have a lot. So I think Cresco takes it.
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But I do think that in that that final four, I wouldn't be
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surprised to see Cresco, Midland Park, Waldwick and Emerson.
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Yeah, the four NJIC teams that have been banging heads all year
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long. I mean, yeah, it's true.
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I mean it it is a great bracket for like small school scorers.
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I mean, it's been a great year for 1000.2000 point scorers in
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that bracket all year. So and who are we talking about
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it with in the last show? I mean, they're they're all
4:17
running together. But I think you were talking
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about it that you know, and now it's finalized and it should be
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good to you got Emerson. Listen, it's tough.
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Emerson as the number two seed they're going to have if they
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get past booting and I know nothing about booting
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basketball. I don't know if they're
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overseeded undisputed or whatever.
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But if Emerson, as expected as the number two seed gets passed,
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I mean the winner of college achieved Patterson against
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Patterson charter, it's certainly going to present a
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problem in that second round match.
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Even though Emerson will be at home, that will be a big
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advantage for him. But I can see what you're saying
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here. Well, that's the that's the
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biggest game for them. You know, they got, they got to
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get past one of those Paterson schools.
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I mean, you know, and luckily enough, they're going to,
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they're just, you know, they're going to, you know, have a, a,
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a, a tough match up against each other.
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But yeah, I mean, the, the home game helps them.
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But yeah, I mean, if they can get past that one, you know
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they're going to contend for for a section title.
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All that being said, I'm going chalk as well N one Group 1,
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Brad Cresskill, Me Cresskill. Let's move on to North one Group
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2. Go ahead, You take the first
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shot at it. So, you know, Ramsey's the one
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and you know Ramsey, Yeah, just lost, you know, a tough one,
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obviously in the VIT final to Richfield Park.
5:31
You know, Jefferson's the 2 Jefferson's got something to
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play for. You know, I, I haven't seen them
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play. Obviously they're, they're out
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in, you know, Morris County. But apparently Jefferson with
5:45
their fiscal issues, are looking to cut the athletics program
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altogether from Jefferson. Crazy.
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So this, this may be the last year of Jefferson athletics.
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So they're definitely looking to go out on a high note before
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these kids have to find somewhere else to, you know,
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call an athletics home at least next year.
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Yeah, I mean, I hope it doesn't come to that, but there is
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certainly a big fiscal gap that they that they have to cover
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because Jefferson on the girls side too has been a great
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program for the last decade or so.
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But yeah, that would suck if that happened.
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But I'm sorry, continue. So obviously Westwood at three,
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you know. As we said.
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In our previous episode that we had just released, very partial
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to that coaching staff over there with with, you know, a
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good friend and and alum over there.
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But he, he sees, you know, they're going to have a, you
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know, once if they get past Leonia, they're going to have a
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tough match, you know, moving forward, you know, with, with
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DuMont, which I expect to get past part Hills.
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I expect my crusaders to get past Vernon in a home game on
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Thursday. And then they'll meet Jefferson
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at, you know, at Jefferson, which is always tough.
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We have to travel, you know, 40 minutes to an hour away
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depending on traffic. But, you know, I, I see, I see,
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I see Ramsey and Jefferson meeting in, in the final.
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I think Westwood's going to end up in that.
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Final four also. And you know, Glen Rock, Glen
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Rock has been a, you know, a staple also in their area.
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They've been playing well the last.
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Couple years, you know, they had a really good.
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Run last year with Mangione, so you know, I expect them to to
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play well as well. But I think, I think I'm going
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to go with Jefferson to to take this one playing inspired
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basketball. All right, so Jefferson for you.
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And you know, North Jersey sports.com covers Bergen, little
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bit of Hudson, some Passaic. So I never picked teams from
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outside that area because if I pick Jefferson, what good does
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that do me, everybody? Does none.
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None. So they're out.
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But you know what? Pascack Hills, the Champions of
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the Challenger Cup in the Bergen County third tier county
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championship game. They won.
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They're going to pull the upset on the road at Jefferson and I
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think they'll win by 20. So, Brad, I can taste the
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Anyway, I am going to say I saw the Ramsey Ritual Park game.
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It was one of the most entertaining games I've seen
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this year. I love Quinerly, the Ramsey
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point guard also, you know, like their zone can be very tricky
8:18
for teams who haven't seen it. And I will say too that Pascack
8:22
Valley, they're the number 5 seed and they've played that,
8:26
you know, tough schedule, 2 games against Demarest, two
8:29
games against Teaneck. They've seen high level
8:32
competition. So I think I think they could be
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dangerous too if they are mentally into it.
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I like Glenrock. I mean, let's not forget that
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Glenrock did beat Cliffside Park, which was the 17 seed in
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the first round of the Bergen County Tournament.
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You know, it was a NJIC team popping up and and grabbing a a
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good win there. I think they're dangerous.
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I do like Westwood and I love Rob Carson and his pension.
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If if you haven't yet, go back and listen to the episode that
9:00
we dropped earlier in the week where you know, he's played some
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of the craziest state tournament games.
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He's coached in some of the craziest state tournament games
9:09
that I've ever covered. But not even that I've ever
9:11
covered. A5 overtime game is one of the
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greatest playoff games ever played.
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So he obviously has his teams prepared all the time.
9:19
You know, Dumont's going to have a home game.
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DuMont Westwood is the interesting second round match
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up. I think all of this is to say
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that I think it's going to be Westwood coming in as I think
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it's going to be a Ramsey Westwood final.
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And I am going, I'm going to say that, yeah, I'll say Ramsey
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because, you know, in post season play you like the point
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guard and I like Ramsey's point guard.
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He boy, he controls the game. But this this bracket for me,
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like I'm picking the number one seed, but almost like in an
9:53
upset kind of fashion, you know, like it's not a no brainer that
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#1 Ramsey is gonna walk through here.
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So I wouldn't be surprised. Glen Rock.
10:01
I wouldn't be surprised if it's Westwood.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it's Jefferson.
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All kidding aside, but I'm taking Ramsey to win N One Group
10:09
2 and then I'm going to start in North One Group 3, which year
10:13
in, year out is my favorite tournament bracket to cover now
10:16
before Ramapo and we had Nick Beer on the episode earlier this
10:20
week before they went on the run of winning six straight state
10:23
sectional championships in this bracket.
10:26
This was a toss up every year. You never knew who was going to
10:30
win there, you know, but even in Ramapos run, it's not like
10:34
they've done it out of the number one seed every year.
10:37
As we had Nick on, he was saying last year they were the seven
10:40
and won it. So you know, you would say
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Tenafly, which got off to a 19 and oh start, made the Burton
10:45
County Jamboree semifinals. They're the number one seed,
10:48
which they earned by being 18 and O at the cut off.
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The loss of Aiden Goldschneider has, you know, it's going to
10:56
affect them eventually. Obviously during the semi
10:58
finals. They've had some time to
11:00
practice and prepare without them.
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They have a favorable, in my opinion, a favorable draw with
11:06
Bergenfield in the first round and then home against either
11:09
Wayne Valley or Morris Hills. Richie Barton covered the Wayne
11:12
Valley, DePaul, Passaic County final on Saturday.
11:16
I think Wayne Valley, they scored like 30 points, something
11:19
like that. Again, that was against a good
11:21
DePaul team, but I, I would say Tenafly is strong there.
11:24
Now the first round game tomorrow night, Demarest against
11:27
Wayne Hills. That's a good game and Highlands
11:31
as the three is certainly dangerous.
11:33
The round pole Highlands game in the semi finals, should it come
11:36
to pass would be great. Old Japan Riverdale in Round 1
11:39
is a toss up and then you got Teaneck at the bottom of the
11:42
bracket. So I am going to say that the
11:45
final is going to be number who who's going to win, Teaneck or
11:51
Northern Highlands? I'm I'm really struggling with
11:52
that one. I am going to say a fully
11:56
healthy Northern Highlands goes through at the bottom of the
11:59
bracket and at the top of the bracket Tenafly is going to find
12:03
a way through. It's going to be top seeded
12:05
Tenafly and it's going to be a great story because they're
12:08
going to be playing without a first team all county player and
12:10
they're going to play against Northern Highlands and Northern
12:13
Highlands is going to win N one Group 3.
12:15
Your opinion, Sir? Very interesting, very
12:18
interesting. You know, first of all, this
12:20
this this section, this N one Group 3 is a gauntlet.
12:27
Yeah, I there's there's definitely some disagrees here,
12:30
you know, and and and you know, I feel bad.
12:34
I feel bad for for kind of fly tigers, you know, losing gold
12:38
side. Yeah, they had time to prepare.
12:39
They get by the first game. I think, I think Wayne Valley
12:44
clips him in the second round. Wayne Valley has some size.
12:48
You know, they're coming off of a county title.
12:51
They have a 610 kit in the middle that that protects the
12:54
rim. I, I think Wayne Valley clips
12:56
them there. I think Demarest each out a
13:01
tough one against Wayne Hills. I think that's would be a very
13:05
good game. But I think Demarest takes that
13:06
one at home and then we'll beat Montvale in the next round.
13:10
I got Demarest and Wayne Valley in that final four and then down
13:14
on the other side, yeah, I have, I have Northern Highlands and I
13:18
have Teaneck. In that game.
13:20
I got Teaneck and I have Teaneck and Demers in the final with
13:25
Teaneck taking the section. I can definitely see that
13:29
happening too. Teaneck Demers will be a you
13:32
know what I think Demers, I think that.
13:33
'D be a very. I think that'd be a very good
13:35
game too. Yeah, you know what, You make a
13:36
great point because I think I, I know Demers beat them once.
13:40
I'm going to try to quickly pull up their schedule here.
13:42
They beat Teaneck the last time they played at Teaneck 7463 and
13:49
lost at home to Teaneck 8359. So comfortable wins on each
13:54
other's home floors. So that will be a crazy three,
13:58
you know, third time a charm for either one of those games.
14:00
That would be and. That's and that's gonna be a
14:02
game. You know, Pat Gabriel thrives in
14:04
those, in those pressure cooker situations.
14:08
He's got a couple sections, you know, at least at least one or
14:11
two, I think down under his belt.
14:13
But yeah, I think that's gonna be a very good game.
14:14
I got Demers Teaneck, I think. I think just you know, TNX shot
14:20
making abilities carries them to that title.
14:23
You know, another interesting thing is Kevin Grimes is the
14:25
head coach of Wayne Hills. He was the head coach at
14:30
Demarest when they oh, no, that was Joe Deniso who won the
14:34
sectional title. But Kevin Grimes was the head
14:35
coach before Pat Gabriel at Demarest, so he's going back
14:39
into his old stomping grams too. So, yeah, interesting there.
14:42
All right, let's move on. You got N one Group 4.
14:44
You go ahead, go first. All right.
14:46
So in North One, Group 4, obviously I know nothing about
14:51
Montana. I haven't seen them play out of
14:53
Essex County. Got to be the worst number one
14:55
seed in all of North Jersey. I mean, yeah.
14:57
I don't know if I'm yeah, I don't know if I agree with that
14:59
one seed, but I think a lot of this is based off of record and
15:03
everything else, but I think Hack attack is a very strong two
15:05
seed. They had a very good showing in
15:07
the in the Jamboree. You know, the three seed, the
15:11
three seed is Union City was always usually pretty tough.
15:16
You know, Patterson East side as a four I think is a bit of a
15:19
week four. I think East Orange is a strong
15:22
five. But you know, when it's all said
15:26
and done, I'm looking at, I'm looking at a Hackensack East
15:31
Orange final. And I think East Orange takes
15:34
this one. East Orange has a dynamic back
15:37
court duo and, and James Roberts and Elijah Caldwell.
15:40
Elijah Caldwell, who was transferred back home.
15:43
He was at Saint Mary's Rutherford his freshman year.
15:46
But they, you know, they just have dynamic guards.
15:48
You know, they, they play fast, they defend.
15:50
Hackensack's pretty good, but I yeah, I think East Orange is
15:55
going to be a little too much. So I got East Orange taking the.
15:58
North One, Group 4. That's a good choice, although I
16:02
know nothing about East Orange and I will not be choosing them.
16:05
I will, however, follow you with Hackensack going through as the
16:08
number two seed. Although should Hackensack beat
16:11
North Bergen and Ridgewood go on the road and beat, you know,
16:14
quote UN quote upset Morristown, even though I don't really
16:16
consider that wouldn't really consider that an upset.
16:20
I would say that Ridge Hackensack is going to go
16:24
through Union City is an interesting one because they
16:26
really got off to a great start this season.
16:28
And then I'm just looking at their results and like they've
16:30
had a couple of curious losses here, Like, you know, they lost
16:34
to Dickinson and Memorial, which, you know, there's 20
16:39
years ago. Those are two, you know, not bad
16:41
losses, but to lose to Memorial, which has been struggling in
16:45
recent years. I don't know.
16:48
I don't know what's going on with.
16:49
Yeah, and Dickinson and Dickinson's pretty good.
16:51
Dickinson has has 26 foot six kids that are, are pretty good.
16:56
You know, one kid down for two or three triple double S already
16:59
with points, rebounds and blocks.
17:02
And, and we'll talk about them when we get to North too.
17:05
But I wouldn't be surprised if Bloomfield makes a little bit of
17:07
a run. They've got a pretty good,
17:10
pretty good point guard as well. So you know, it's going to be,
17:15
it's going to be interesting. I don't even know.
17:17
I mean, I got to come up, I got to come up with a, you know, on
17:20
the top side of the bracket. I mean, I don't believe in
17:22
Montclair. I don't know anything about
17:23
Livingston or Mount Olive and I don't know anything about East
17:26
Orange or Memorial. Whatever I have seen Fairlawn,
17:29
I'm going to go with. How about Patterson Eastside
17:31
making a run out of the bottom of the bracket as the number
17:34
four seed. They'll host Fairlawn and then
17:36
they'll host, you know, all right, let's do that because I'm
17:39
going to take Patterson Eastside because that quarterfinal game
17:43
will go a long time, a long way toward deciding who's buying
17:46
dinner between you and I, as East Orange will probably be the
17:50
opponent in the quarterfinal round.
17:52
So I I for lack for lack of knowledge, I'm going with the
17:56
tradition rich ghosts of Patterson Eastside.
17:59
How about that? OK, OK.
18:02
And then I guess we should do, yeah, should we?
18:05
Do you want to do the parochials now or you want to go to North
18:07
too? And we should go through North
18:09
too real quick because, you know, a lot of them aren't in
18:12
our my. Area, right, right.
18:13
Let's, let's, let's, let's stay in and let's stay north too.
18:15
We'll go north too. And then we'll then we'll go
18:17
into the the losing parochials. Yes, all right.
18:21
N 1 and N to Group One, there is no doubt.
18:24
I'm not even going to bother to break anything down.
18:28
I'm taking Shabazz. Very good.
18:31
I mean, they've been off to a really good, really good start.
18:34
They've been playing well all year.
18:35
Arts is the two seed, you know, I think, I think Arts, I think
18:42
in that final, I think I got, you know, Newark Tech is pretty
18:47
strong. Jimmy Salman's over there at
18:48
Newark Tech. They have some pieces over
18:50
there. I got Shabazz and Arts and
18:55
that's going to be a very entertaining game.
18:56
I think Shabazz does take this section as well.
19:00
All right, let's move on to North two, Group 2 and this one.
19:04
You don't want you don't want to talk about, you don't want to
19:06
talk about any run by the Palisades park #11 seeds, Yeah.
19:11
Do they upset? Do they upset cheater Groves?
19:13
Do they have a shot? Does Chris Kasparian gonna have
19:16
a shot at getting a state? State tournament wins.
19:20
Let's move on to North to dodgeball.
19:24
Dodgeball. All right, let's pick them.
19:26
Chris Kasparian goes for 35. Look for this story on North
19:29
Jersey sports.com. Or how about this?
19:32
If they win, we're going to have Eve Pavin and Chris Kasparian as
19:35
guests on the ball game on North Jersey sports.com.
19:38
If #11 they go. Palisades Park beat Cedar Grove
19:41
in the first round of the state tournament for their first state
19:43
tour. Put it, put it on the board for
19:45
pregame. That's good.
19:47
That's your receipt. No doubt about it.
19:50
Yes, let's do it. All right, N to Group 2, go
19:53
ahead. You you go first because there's
19:54
some, there's some interesting here.
19:56
Yeah, we had, we had talked about it.
19:58
You know we had, we had last guy on the on the phones earlier.
20:04
You know, I think Lyndhurst is a strong two seat.
20:06
Richfield Park is a is a strong three seat.
20:09
I see both of them clashing in the semi final.
20:12
I have. You know, Lyndhurst and
20:14
Richfield Park meet each other and they played each other in
20:16
the States before. I believe Richfield Park did
20:19
come out on top or maybe he's done a regular season game, but
20:22
I know they've played before and I think they both be looking
20:26
forward to a rematch. I got Newark, Newark Collegiate.
20:32
I have Newark Collegiate and Madison meeting.
20:34
I think Newark Collegiate wins that game.
20:36
So I'm going to have Newark Collegiate and I have Lyndhurst
20:39
in the final and I think Lyndhurst wins this section.
20:44
I think the Southern Bergen County school with Tsunami and
20:49
Mosca and Cano and Sam Ija in the middle, I think this team
20:55
wins this section. I think they they send out their
20:57
loan, one of their lone seniors who's scored a bunch of points
21:01
and that has been a, you know, a staple for them these past
21:04
couple years. I think they cut it down.
21:07
Sounds good. All right, this call is now
21:10
being recorded. All right, here we go.
21:14
Yes, I could not agree with you more about Lyndhurst and you
21:17
have converted me into a Lyndhurst Golden Bear fan this
21:20
season. Going back to the Jambo we had
21:23
coach Mosca on earlier this week and I do like, you know,
21:28
Richfield Park again. So I'm in the BIT final.
21:31
We had Coach Gasket on the show earlier this season.
21:34
They're playing as well as they have in a few years, let alone
21:37
this season. So that's a tough one.
21:41
I mean, you know, Richfield Park knocked out Lyndhurst last year
21:45
at the buzzer, late game buzzer beater.
21:48
And you know that Lyndhurst wants a piece.
21:51
So it's a tough one. This is a tough one.
21:55
You know, this is one of those personal things.
21:56
Chris Gaskin and I have been friends for a long time.
21:59
Karen Mosca and I just met this year.
22:01
But I'm a fan. I'm taking Richfield Park.
22:04
Taking Richfield Park, Yeah. You know, Gaskin's going to, I'm
22:07
going to be on the board again. There's another, it's another
22:09
receipt that Gaskin's going to going to have and, and it's
22:12
going to be a very good game. You know, it's a toss up.
22:14
It really is. You know, I, I just think, you
22:18
know, Lindhurst hasn't had success at all in the last 20
22:22
plus years. So I, you know, I, I think I
22:25
just, I just think this, you know, this is the, the year to
22:27
do it, no doubt. About it.
22:29
All right, so I'm going to take you know what?
22:31
I'm I, I don't know anybody at the top of the bracket.
22:33
Rutherford's in there, but they're the 13 seat on the road
22:36
against the good Madison team. I'm taking Richfield Park to go
22:38
through. So I got Richfield Park, you got
22:41
Lynn Hurst. And if I'm right, I'm bringing
22:44
Chris Gaskin to dinner, too. Yeah.
22:47
And like I said, I I think whoever, it's very possible
22:50
whoever wins that game wins, wins the section.
22:52
No doubt. All right, let's move on north
22:55
to Group 3. I'm looking at the participants
23:00
here. We got clip side of local
23:01
interests, Fort Lee of local interests.
23:03
They're both double digit seeds, but I'm going to Colonia no
23:08
longer in. I mean Colonia has not been able
23:12
to. They've been able to win the
23:13
section. They have not been able to get
23:15
past Ramapo in the North. I mean in the Group 3 state semi
23:20
finals. I think this might be their year
23:23
to do just that. Even if it's Ramapo or not, I'm
23:25
going to take Colonia to win N to Group 3 and to continue on
23:30
and get to the Group 3 state final.
23:33
I mean, they, they still do have a couple pieces there, but you
23:36
know, with the departure of of Aidan Dirkak, I you know, they,
23:39
they they've lost a lot of firepower.
23:42
I'm actually I'm I'm going with pain tech here N to Group 3, the
23:46
number 12 seed pain tech, I think takes this section.
23:50
I've. Barely even heard of pain tech.
23:52
What pain pain tech. So pain Tech has a six foot 5
23:56
kid and Jerry as well, who's, you know, a dynamic kid that
24:00
can, that can score from all three levels, you know, strong
24:05
kid, physical. They have a, a very good wing.
24:08
And this left-handed kid, Dionne Armstrong shoots it very well
24:12
too. Yeah, they, they have a couple
24:14
of pieces there. The 12 seed is, is a, is kind of
24:17
a smokescreen because they had to kind of forfeit a few games
24:21
in the middle of the season due to some off the court stuff.
24:25
So that's why they're seated that low.
24:27
But yeah, I think, I think if none of that stuff happens,
24:29
they're probably a, a two or three seed.
24:32
Yeah, I think, I think pain tech is gonna is gonna take this one
24:36
home. All right, pain tech.
24:38
It is for Brad N to Group 4 you go. 1st you know, I, I said the,
24:45
the more out you get outside the north one right, the the less
24:48
you see a team, yes, the the less we know.
24:52
But at the end of the day, this is gonna come down to a this is
24:54
gonna be a Plainfield Clinton final.
24:58
Plainfield has, you know, the next, you know, elite score and
25:03
and point guard, you know, in the state.
25:05
And Michael Gordon, who's he's already got 2000.
25:10
He's already sorry, he's already scored well over 1000 on his way
25:17
to two. He's only a junior.
25:20
So I have I have Plainfield Linden in the final and
25:25
Plainfield just lost in the Union County final on the at the
25:29
buzzer to Rosa Catholic. So I, you know, they have a chip
25:34
on their shoulders. I think Plainfield.
25:36
I think Plainfield takes notes to report Plainfield for Brad
25:40
and. All of that stuff that you said
25:43
before, I guess I'll take Linden then, because I don't know
25:45
anything about anybody. So you say Linden Linden's got a
25:49
couple of guys and and they are coached by Mike Rice, so.
25:51
It's gonna be a pretty interesting matchup yes All
25:54
right, let's go now non public NA, which is where the big boys
26:01
play. Coach Lewis has a a vested
26:03
interest in this one. No, where is is Bosco in that
26:07
bracket? They are.
26:08
They have the 60s. I'm in the I got the wrong one
26:11
pulled up here because I got the the South Jersey.
26:13
All right let me go to non public.
26:16
Yeah, here we go yes, Bergen Catholic is the top seed.
26:18
They got the first round by or Tory the four first round by
26:22
Hudson Catholic and Seton Hall prep at the bottom of the
26:24
bracket of three in the 2 seeds. They both have first round buys.
26:29
I'm going to let you go first, but I'm going to see how I
26:31
should play this, you know, because I'm just about to talk
26:33
to the coach and I don't want to, you know, make any mistakes
26:36
before our conversation. So go ahead.
26:38
You know what? No, you know what, I'll go first
26:40
non public A I'm taking Don Bosco prep to win.
26:43
Go ahead. You have you have your fun.
26:45
I know I know where it's at folks loose.
26:47
You heard that right now that Brad give you all the reasons
26:50
why you can't win a section title with your boy.
26:52
So go ahead, Brad. I'm going to have to run some
26:54
sprints. Probably I'll be, I'll be, I'll
26:56
be on the line with running sprints.
26:59
You know, in the final four I got, I've got, I've got Bergen
27:04
Del Barton, I think Del Barton and the five gets to the the
27:06
semis. I got City Hall prep and Bosco
27:09
on the bottom side that seat, Hall prep, Bosco games would be
27:13
very good. There's a lot of familiarities
27:15
there. I don't know who's winning that
27:20
game. I I think, I think Bergen cuts
27:22
down the net At the end of the day, I'm I'm not sure you know,
27:27
Bosco, that Bosco she Hall prep game doing very good game at
27:31
Seahawk prep is always a tough place to play.
27:34
Bosco is very capable of winning that game as well.
27:37
You know, they've got you know JP scored, Jaylen Lewis has been
27:40
firing all similar now my. Favorite player in North Jersey?
27:45
Yeah, yeah. Me too.
27:48
So, so, yeah, I mean, I just, you know, whoever wins that
27:52
game, I think, you know, it's not going to be a walk in the
27:56
park for Bergen. I don't, I don't think, I don't
27:58
think they've walked through it. But I think whoever comes out of
28:02
that game is going to give Bergen at least a little bit of
28:04
a run. I still think Bergen wins the
28:07
section. Yeah, I mean, Bergen is going to
28:09
win everything. You know, they won the freshman
28:12
tournament in Bergen County. They won the JV tournament in
28:14
Bergen County. They won the varsity tournament,
28:16
Bergen County. And they're the obvious favorite
28:19
to win non public A. They haven't lost to a New
28:21
Jersey team all year long. So.
28:24
But, you know, hope springs eternal.
28:26
And I got the iron, man. We had Kevin Deverio on the show
28:29
earlier this year. We're going to have Coach Lewis
28:31
on the show very shortly. His son plays for Don Bosco.
28:34
Come on, Brad. It's not all about basketball,
28:36
though. You know, anything about local
28:38
high school sports, politics. Come on, man.
28:41
I mean. At the end of the day, you know
28:42
at the end of Jay Lewis is going to have great games all
28:44
throughout this market, so it doesn't matter, doesn't matter
28:47
to. Me, as long as there's great
28:49
games, MOP, most outstanding player.
28:51
All right, let's go non public B in the North Gill St.
28:56
Bernards is the one, Roseville Catholic is the 2 and our our
28:59
friends over at Saint Mary are the four and a live dog if you
29:03
ask me. But if I have to, well, you go
29:05
first. Yeah, they are.
29:07
And they're they're going to get to the, they're going to get to
29:10
the semi. I think.
29:11
I definitely think they get to the semis, although that you
29:17
know, that that Morris Catholic game would be a tough one for
29:18
them. So it depends on if they're
29:20
they're hitting shots, because Morris Kathy is very good too
29:23
with Austin Workman and and Donnie Gregory and you know,
29:26
those are two kids that were pretty good.
29:28
So that's could be a match up. You know, those two guys with,
29:30
you know, again, you know, Olkowski and Ellis and Kennedy.
29:33
So I think Saint Mary's gets that one and then I, I think at
29:39
the end of the day, they'll have a good run.
29:42
I think Roselle Catholic wins this section.
29:44
Like I said, they're just coming off of a, a county title, their
29:47
first in quite some years. And you know, they, their style
29:51
of playing, their temple of play.
29:53
I think I think Roselle Roselle Catholic gets back on top and
29:58
takes this this section as well. All right, and I will go with
30:02
for lack of knowledge again, I just have their record pull up
30:06
here. It's I'm going to go with Gil
30:09
St. Bernards.
30:09
I mean, they have two losses all year.
30:10
They lost to Saint Peter's Prep back in December and they lost
30:14
to Linden also in December. They haven't lost since.
30:18
Now, I know they don't play the same type of schedule, but they
30:22
do, you know, they do play a strong schedule, a lot of big
30:24
public schools and then they've gone out and challenged
30:27
themselves in some, you know, obviously in the out of
30:32
conference play. So why not be different?
30:35
Let's go with Gil. Saint Bernard's for me and South
30:39
Jersey, I don't even know. So you want to pick those two,
30:43
but they they don't. They don't.
30:45
I don't even know. Who's playing in in South, in
30:48
South, Yeah, South AI think in South a we're going to see a a
30:53
pull of a six and AI actually see it.
30:59
I think it's gonna be a CBA, OK, CBA final.
31:03
And I think, I think CBA gets it.
31:05
I think CBA under the the new guidance of Nick Marinello as
31:11
the athletic director there, I I think he goes down there and
31:13
gets the section title of his first year as the AD.
31:16
OK, I'm going to take CBA too because I like Rick Marinello.
31:19
So I'm going to do that two and then in non public B down South
31:23
and. Then the South B take Buckers
31:28
Prep Buckers Prep takes this one.
31:32
They have a pretty good score, 6 foot six kids.
31:38
I can't think of Will's last name.
31:40
Will Brunson. There you go.
31:41
Will Brunson. That's why.
31:44
That's it. It's just a dynamic player,
31:46
left-handed, shoots it score at all different levels.
31:50
So yeah, I think and Rutgers Prep has a 69 kid.
31:54
Well, I'm not sure if he's healthy now, but if he is, like
31:57
I said, with or without him, I still think Rutgers Prep gets
32:00
through on this bracket as well. And I'm going to do it just on
32:03
principle that this Rutgers Prep is the best team in New Jersey
32:06
with the name Rutgers in its name.
32:08
So this is the one Rutgers Prep for me too.
32:11
All right, so. This is the only Rutgers,
32:14
Rutgers team that's going to win any type of title.
32:17
Yeah, New Jersey. I don't know how, I don't know
32:18
how Rutgers Camden or Rutgers Newark are doing, but I'm
32:21
definitely going with Rutgers Prep with a chance because the
32:25
home school edition, the big boys.
32:27
Somebody keep Rutgers on just. Burning through money in the
32:31
athletic department and trying to make the Nathans hot dog
32:33
bowl. So let's go Rutgers prep there.
32:36
All right, that's dinner on the line for the prediction portion
32:40
of the boys basketball state sectional tournament getting
32:44
underway in the next few hours here all across the state of New
32:47
Jersey. Let's turn our attention now to
32:51
division two local college basketball as we welcome the guy
32:56
who's been with us the whole time.
32:58
Ivan, how's it going? It's great.
33:01
It's great. Entertaining.
33:02
Listen to you guys make mistakes.
33:05
Who do you? Well, let's Who do you think did
33:07
better? I mean, I know you like my
33:09
basketball. I'm going with your fix.
33:15
Good. All right, let's turn our
33:17
attention to Felician University here, which is having right,
33:22
it's safe to say the best season in the history of the program
33:26
here and you are at the head of it.
33:27
So first of all, congratulations on what you've done through the
33:31
1st 26 games of the season, 23 and 318 and one in the league
33:34
with one game to play. I mean, just talk about.
33:37
Yeah, obviously I know you're a head coach and you, you know,
33:40
you're thinking one game ahead and you're not thinking big
33:42
picture as of yet. But this has been some type of
33:45
run for Felicia. Yeah, it has been an actually,
33:50
you know, you know, we do take a game by game approach.
33:54
But you know, this, this has kind of been our goal, you know,
34:01
ever since we we lost in the first round of the NCAA
34:04
tournament a few years ago. Our our goal was to, you know,
34:08
turn this program into a national first, a regional
34:11
program in, in a national program.
34:13
So you know our goal. You know, at the beginning of
34:16
the year. Was was to get a large bid to
34:18
the NCAA tournament. So it's kind of why it's it's
34:22
all falling in place right now. But you know, this is the
34:25
expectations that we that we wanted to bring.
34:28
Yeah. And it, I mean, we could go into
34:30
I, I would be interesting to hear about that building process
34:33
and how you do it as a, you know, as a division two program,
34:37
small enrollment schools. Yeah, I'm, I've told Brad many
34:41
times, I'm a East Stroudsburg University guy and I follow, you
34:45
know, so I've been following Division 2 basketball very
34:46
closely. That PSAC is very competitive
34:48
too. And, you know, but those are
34:50
different, you know, state schools, state supported
34:52
schools, bigger facilities. Actually I, I, I'm not sure, you
34:56
know, wider recruiting range just because the state of
34:59
Pennsylvania is so much bigger. And you got, you know, Philly
35:01
and Pittsburgh and then some of the rural communities in the
35:04
beginning. But how you guys have done such
35:08
a great job of bringing in talent and, you know, would you
35:12
say that Felician is a harder job than some of the other maybe
35:16
more high profile divisions to schools?
35:18
Or is it an advantage where you can, you know, be regional and
35:22
because we're in a, you know, a basketball hotbed here in North
35:25
Jersey and then extending into Rockland County and places like
35:28
that. So I don't know, is it a tough
35:30
job? I guess it's my question.
35:35
Yeah, I would say it is I think it's important for us to to to
35:41
recruit, you know, locally and and within the state well you.
35:46
Know we got to yeah, you know we.
35:48
Got to win a lot of free medals in the state.
35:51
That's, that's, that's kind of what makes it work for us, you
35:55
know, as far as, you know, academic scholarship fund.
35:58
So, yeah, recruiting the state locally and, you know, my
36:03
assistance, you know, as are you listening to Brad?
36:06
You know, he has his finger on the pulse of of high school
36:09
basketball, you know, knows these guys up and down.
36:13
And that's what you got to have. You got to, you got to know the
36:15
local and local schools, local talent and the talent in the
36:19
state you got to. Yeah.
36:22
No doubt. And Brad certainly has his
36:24
finger on the pulse. He's naming guys from, I don't
36:26
know, CBA and everything else. I don't even have it.
36:30
I don't even know where these places are.
36:33
So I mean, this has to be also gratifying.
36:37
I mean, I know you're a head coach with aspirations to do
36:40
great things and you, you talked about building this program and
36:42
all that stuff, but got to be a little bit sweeter too.
36:44
That Felician is where you got your degree from.
36:46
You went there, you went through it.
36:48
And you know, it's like, you know, it's a high school coach
36:51
winning at his alma mater, a college coach winning at his
36:54
alma mater. You want to win anywhere, but
36:56
when you can do it at quote UN quote on your homecourt, that's
36:59
got to be great too because you can go through this as a fan as
37:02
well as a participant. Yeah, it's, it's, it's home,
37:07
it's home. And you know, you definitely
37:10
want to pay back, you know, or pay forward.
37:13
You know, I had an extremely my experience as we definitely was,
37:22
was a was a positive and and you know, I just want to pay that
37:26
back and, you know, afford these same opportunity I had.
37:33
But yeah, it's a little bit more special when when it's home.
37:36
Brad, would you like to ask a question here, I mean?
37:40
It's. It's not like you guys are in
37:42
the car together 1,000,000 miles a year, so it's probably nothing
37:44
you. Have to talk to each other, you
37:46
know, And you know, we, you know, we, we kind of talk about
37:48
it often, you know, you know, me, me and Ivan were, were
37:52
teammates. I was a freshman, his senior.
37:54
Year when we. We were the Co champs of the of
38:00
the regular season back when we were players that won the EC AC
38:04
title. And.
38:07
You know, we both started coaching together.
38:09
I will park. So we, you know, we, we've,
38:11
we've been at this, this sideline game for, for quite
38:15
some years together. And you know, I, I just
38:18
recently, you know, get convinced me to, you know,
38:19
finish my degree as well. So I, you know, I, I finished my
38:22
degree at solution as well. So yeah, it's just, you know,
38:24
for us, you know, it's, it's just fun to, to to be a part of
38:28
the, you know, the ride because, you know, we've, we've been, you
38:31
know, as teammates, as, you know, coaches together, as
38:35
assistants together. And, and now to see him
38:36
succeeding as a head coaches, it's just cool to be a part of
38:40
it and fun to watch. You know, there's a lot of times
38:42
where you know, I'm on the bench and it's just, it's just fun to
38:45
watch the joy that we get out of out of, you know, bringing up
38:49
our home program to to success. So it's it's pretty cool.
38:52
Yeah, no doubt about it. And I mean #25 in the nation,
38:57
first time in the history of Felician University that has
38:59
been ranked nationally. I mean, it's like the same
39:03
question that over and over again, coach, you know, like,
39:05
how does it feel to be doing to go and do this historic stuff?
39:07
And, you know, I just want to get it out there and get it
39:10
listed. But, you know, talk about the
39:12
opportunities that lay in front of you, not the the ones that
39:14
are behind you. I mean, you got a real shot to
39:17
make a run in this NCAA tournament here.
39:19
And you know, you got to obviously you want to win your
39:21
conference tournament 1st and that goes without saying.
39:23
But it looks like a secure bid in the NCAA tournament with the
39:26
way things are going and, you know, chance to make more
39:30
history in front of you. Absolutely.
39:32
And and it's, you know, it's important to the to the program
39:35
too. You know, kind of make a run in
39:37
this tournament. You know, we, we, you know, our
39:40
last appearance wasn't, wasn't a pretty one that so we definitely
39:45
want to return and and make a statement.
39:48
You know what I want to ask him? It was funny because I ran into
39:51
Tim Pernetti the other day. He is the commissioner of the
39:55
American Conference. He's a Ramapo guy and I believe
39:59
it's his niece was playing for Ramapo in the Bergen County
40:02
girls. County final against Demarest.
40:05
So and and you know, his son Max was a good player.
40:08
I don't know if you remember him, he was a good player at Ram
40:10
PO went to Gettysburg College. So just, you know, shooting the
40:14
breeze with him quickly and and quickly turned to like, how do
40:17
things go with the portal? You know, they're at the
40:19
Division One level and they lose a lot of guys to the portal, but
40:23
then they get guys back from the, you know, group of four on
40:27
the football side of it. It's got it.
40:29
I mean, it's a whole new world. We know that.
40:31
But how is it affected, helped hurt, harmed, benefited Felician
40:38
University with the way the new world is?
40:40
I mean, it's, it's, you know, it's, it's a series of one year
40:42
contracts for everybody playing collegiate basketball right now.
40:47
Yeah, it's tough. I mean, this past year we, we
40:50
had to replace our starting front court graduated, but then
40:56
our, our starting back court, they were, they, they entered
41:01
the portal, one of them. Went up Division One and.
41:04
The other to a, to a, you know, probably, you know, considered
41:09
a, a higher division two as well.
41:12
So yeah, we had to replace a lot this past year and, and it's
41:15
kind of been like that the past three years with, with, you
41:17
know, the, the portal, you know, transfer portal picking up.
41:21
But I think it's benefited, you know, division two, you know, I
41:25
think we're getting a, a higher quality JUCO transfer.
41:31
I think we're getting a higher quality, we're getting higher
41:34
quality freshmen. You know, I, I, I believe we're
41:39
getting freshmen that, you know, 5-6, seven years ago, they're,
41:43
they're probably going Division One or, or at the least, you
41:47
know, to a higher, you know, division two, you know, NE 10 or
41:51
something like that. So no, I think it's, it's, it's
41:54
definitely help. I think the portal has has
41:56
helped us, you know, we're, we're in the market for, you
42:02
know, I think a, a more talented players now, but you know,
42:08
we're, we're replacing them every year.
42:10
Yeah, yeah. It's like a catch 22.
42:13
You know, like my daughter went to the University of Vermont.
42:15
So I, you know, I've been I I've always liked the University of
42:18
Vermont. And then she went there and I
42:20
became a, you know, University of Vermont junkie.
42:22
And it's like almost now when a when a player comes in that's a
42:26
freshman, you don't even want him to do well because you know,
42:30
like, oh, he's averaging 16 a game.
42:32
He's gone. That's it.
42:34
You know, and when, when my daughter was at Vermont, they
42:36
had Anthony Lamb, who went on to play some years in the in the
42:40
NBA. And there's no chance that
42:41
Anthony Lamb stays four years at the University of Vermont, you
42:45
know, and that was less than a decade ago.
42:46
So if the whole, the whole game has has changed overall, but how
42:51
do you like this part of it where you know, the, the
42:54
balancing? Yeah, obviously all these big
42:56
games laying right in front of you and then, you know, working
42:58
the portal, trying to recruit, do all this kind of stuff.
43:00
I mean, it's crazy. I mean, Brad got married 2 days
43:04
ago and he's in the car with you going to watch basketball.
43:06
So it's got to be, it's all consuming.
43:09
That's obvious. Just talk about the stretch
43:12
drive here because this is what every coach who's in it is.
43:14
You know, this is the time of year they look forward to,
43:16
especially when you guys are on the kind of run that you're on.
43:20
Yeah, man, it's, it's you know, especially when you're you're
43:23
playing in March it, it, it has a different feeling.
43:26
You know, a lot of teams are, are, are going, you know, their,
43:31
their season has ended and they're they're kind of
43:33
transitioning into the offseason.
43:35
And, and while you're you're still, you know, grinding and,
43:38
and, and, and, you know, completely scouting reports and
43:41
film. But yeah, it's, it's, you know,
43:45
it's, it's why we do it. You know, it's, it's, you know,
43:49
it gets exciting around this time.
43:51
It also gets busy. You know, you got to, you got to
43:53
kind of start, start your recruiting towards, towards the
43:58
26th class, getting guys up on campus for official visits and
44:04
getting on the road in the spring, you know, after, after
44:07
this tournament and then, you know, and, and, and kind of
44:11
finishing up 26 and, and getting started with 27.
44:14
But, you know, This is why we do it.
44:16
You know, it, it's this kind of, you know, the schedule kind of
44:19
fuels us. So yeah, just looking forward to
44:22
it. And last one, unless Brad, well,
44:25
Brad, do you have anything else you want to add or I'll, I'll
44:27
give one more and we can you guys, you're probably almost at
44:31
your destination anyway, right? Yeah, yeah, I'm good.
44:35
All right, last one, coach, just talk about the the CAC a little
44:38
bit. I mean, you know, there's local
44:40
flavor with, you know, Dominican, which is right up
44:43
here by me. And then you have, you know,
44:44
Caldwell, your rivals, I imagine, and Felician.
44:47
So you have some good, you know, local rivalries.
44:50
And then you have, you know, Goldie Deacon, which I had never
44:53
heard of before. I came to see you play a couple
44:55
weeks ago, which was a new one for me.
44:57
So, you know, how about the competitiveness of the league
45:00
and the strength of the league as far as you know, being able
45:03
to recruit to it and, you know, draw players in.
45:08
You know, I think the league is. You know, we're, we're we're
45:11
making great progress. You know, I think for years in
45:14
the Northeast 10, you know, has been considered kind of the the
45:18
frame of the crop of. Of the East.
45:19
Region, But I think we've kind of closed the gap you know I
45:24
think there's a lot of you know talented guys, you know coming
45:29
coming into the CAC with the transfer portal and you know
45:33
higher quality, you know high school guys you know I think
45:38
it's high level guard play. You know, I think traditionally
45:42
we have at least two to three guards that transfer up to
45:46
division two every year. But and then it's.
45:52
You know it's it's. Covers, you know, every, every,
45:56
you know, it's got Philly in there.
45:58
It's, you know, Philly with, with it's with, it's rich, you
46:01
know, basketball ties and you know, you got your Delaware
46:05
schools and your New York schools.
46:07
So it kind of covers that, that metro area.
46:12
But it's a, you know, it's a, it's.
46:14
A it's a conference that's growing and and we're, we're
46:18
closing the gap on these other, other.
46:20
Division Two conferences. That they consider a little bit
46:23
higher than us. But very talented.
46:26
With, with guards and, and you know, you know, tough games, you
46:32
know, every night. Yeah, no doubt about it all.
46:35
Right, good stuff. Coach, thanks for finishing the
46:38
last couple of miles of your journey here on the ball game on
46:42
North Jersey sports.com and really it's been fun.
46:45
I mean, I pick this up, you know, with Brad, I've known Brad
46:49
for 100 years and we started the podcast last year.
46:52
We got a little bit deeper into it this year.
46:53
Next year is going to be great. I'm looking forward to it.
46:55
But part of the benefit of it is that I got to know a little bit
46:58
more about Felicia and I got to know a little bit more about
47:00
you. And it was great to, you know,
47:02
get to throw some shots at you today and, and just find out
47:05
more about what you got going on.
47:06
And congratulations on this run. I mean, 23 wins in 26 games and
47:10
18 and one with one game to play in a conference schedule, that's
47:14
pretty amazing. And congratulations, good luck
47:17
and drive safely. Oh, thank you very much and I
47:20
appreciate the opportunity to come on.
47:22
You guys are doing a awesome job.
47:26
Keep on going. Yes, we will and you are.
47:29
You will be welcome on again unless and until the time where
47:32
you cross paths with East Stroudsburg University and beat
47:35
them, then you will be cut off officially.
47:37
So just keep that in mind as we move forward in your journey.
47:39
And Brad, thanks bro. Good stuff anytime, anytime.
47:44
All right, well, we're going to do it again over the weekend
47:46
when results come in, but that's it.
47:49
See you next time on the ball game.
47:51
Follow the leader.