7/24/2011 - Ungerman Classic Great For Hoops Fans
The sweat poured off Jack DeVries’ bald head and 6-fooot-5 frame like he just stepped out of a sauna.
The former Vernon and Kean College hoops star was still moving pretty well up and down the cement court at Ungerman Field despite the sweltering heat and the fact that DeVries is in his mid-40s and a father of two.
So why does he do it? Why does he lace’em up twice a week during the summer to bang bodies down low against players young enough to be his kids?
Very simple: He loves the game of basketball.
And that answer goes for everyone that plays in the premier summer league in Sussex County, the Ungerman Classic which is holding its semifinals this week and its best 2-out-3 finals next week at the ballpark where Sussex County’s basketball past, present and future come to meet all in the name of getting a “good run in.”
For Sussex County basketball junkies the league is nirvana. Where else can you see the county’s all-time leading scorer, Matt Tobin of Hopatcong, who just graduated, take a beautiful feed on the wing from arguably the best player in High Point history, 1992 graduate Shannon Sweeney?
Or watch 1984 Sparta grad Eric Jent play with his son, Mitchell Jent. The elder Jent, who played his college hoops at Colgate, is the coach of Team Jent, which features former Sparta star Jon Deeb, who led Sparta to the Group 3 final in 1989 before going to play at Pace, Brian Thomas another 1,000-point scorer for the Spartans and former Hofstra University player Mike Radzieski, who played for Jay Wright and Tom Pecora out on the Island.
Then there are the Brothers Tobin, Matt and Mike, who just wrapped up a fine career at East Stroudsburg where Matt will attend.
They play on Team Sweeney which also features Matt Sweeney, who was a starter on High Point’s 1995 Sussex County Interscholastic League championship squad.
That club sported a fantastic starting five of Sweeney, who went onto to play college football at Miami, Chris Dexter, High Point’s outstanding girls varsity basketball coach, point guard Kevin Cleary, power forward Greg Field and forward Jon Tallamy, who is the vice principal at his alma mater.
You want some young guns besides Tobin? Well, how about the nation’s leading assistman in Division III, Sparta grad and Ithaca star Sean Rossi for a county brand name. Rossi had a terrific career at Sparta and has led the nation the last two years in assists for the Bombers.
I was talking to Rossi about his exploits in college and he said playing for Sparta and growing up playing at Ungerman helped him in the transition to playing on a top-notch D-3 squad.
Rossi received several looks from higher division schools, but he said he absolutely made the right choice going to Ithaca and the Bombers are sure glad he did. He added that the ball played in Sussex County doesn’t get the respect it deserves and he is proof that guys from the county can go onto the next level and excel.
Former Pope John star J.T. Wilson also coaches and plays. He is currently playing at Susquehanna along with his former PJ teammate EJ Duncan and Sparta star Brendan Rezny.
This makes me really appreciate the recent talent that has played in the county. There is Derek Hall of Jefferson playing at FDU-Florham Park, Nick Lenker of Sparta playing at Bowdoin, Kyle Mascilak of Sparta is at Nichols College and Sam Mushman of Pope John plying his trade at Holy Family in Philly.
Who says they can’t play ball up in the hills?
Being a Sussex County sports buff, watching the games takes me down Memory Lane and it is fun talking about the old days with one of the league co-presidents, Sparta superfan and proud Marine (there is no such thing as a former Marine!), Charlie Collver.
Collver, who is retired from working in the insurance industry but still plays pick up games, took over the league from former Sparta star Matt McCann who moved to New York City and couldn’t run the league any more, according to Collver.
Since taking over the league he has tried to make it bigger and better and Collver has succeeded.
Deeb remembers when the court was packed every night 25 years ago but it was all pick up games. Now there are refs, jerseys, and although it is still a fun league, the players take it very serious when they hit the floor.
You can hear the players snapping at the refs and talking trash as those competitive juices never leave. The mind is still able but the body is not as willing for a lot of these guys.
In fact, for some of them, their trash talking is the only part of their game they have improved on.
I was watching a game last week with several former Vernon players and it was fun watching Jeff Moen, Matt Tintle, Dan Sledgeski light it up. Former Vernon star and Sussex County Community College coach Randy Jackson also plays in the league as does Blake English.
Current Vernon players Ethan Vallellanes and Dan Tintle also play as does current Sparta player Trey Smith. Playing with older and battled-tested players will only help their game.
Then there are the outstanding individual matchups. I was watching the other night Radzieski go at it with former Hackettstown and Moravian star Brandon Zaleski. The two are still in great shape and have their games intact. They were just a lot of fun to watch.
Another matchup that was fun was to watch was Smith, the rising senior at Sparta, trying to body up DeVries in the post. The only player Smith has seen that size was Angelo Mangiro, who played for Deeb at Roxbury and will play football at Penn State this fall.
It is those types of things that make the league so much fun for me and other county hoops fans to watch.
So if you want to get out of the house this week, head down to Ungerman and catch the semifinals with the games starting at 7 p.m. You won’t be disappointed.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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