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Sophomores Chidi Nwigwe (24)of St. Benedict's and Kole Grandison of Immaculate were the top individual players in Essex County during the recently-completed hoops campaign, while Millburn's Pat Leonardis is Sideline Chatter's Essex County Coach of the Year to help cap campaign. (SC photo and also by Rich Graessle and courtesy of St. Benedict's)

St. Benedict's & IC Sophomores At Top
Of SC's All-Essex Hoops For 2023-2024

By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com

Player of the Year: Chidi Nwigwe, sophomore, St. Benedict’s
Versatile 6-foot-6 guard with a 7-foot wing span, the Gray Bees’ multi-talented sophomore averaged 17 points per game for the 22-7 Newark squad which won its first-ever Essex County Tournament title while entering the even for the first time in 31 years. Nwigwe also hauled down 5.3 rebounds per game and averaged 2 assists per contest while also being a steady defender. Rated among the best players in the Class of 2025, the young St. Benedict’s star wing already has offers from a number of Division I schools including Illinois, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Providence and Fordham.

Runner-up Player of the Year: Kole Grandson, sophomore, Immaculate
Strong and powerful yet with a deft touch from the perimeter, the Lions budding star averaged 16.3 ppg for his 23-8 team which captured a Non-Public, North A state sectional title. Improved as much as any young player in Essex County from last season to this one, and he dominated against most players on the interior.

Coach of Year: Pat Leonardis, Millburn
He learned from one of the best coaches in the state in Rodger Blind who he had served as an assistant for before his mentor retired in 2017. Leonardis’ 2023-2024 squad was a cohesive, senior-led squad which was the first Millers hoops squad to capture a state sectional title since the 2009-2010 edition led by point guard Joey Kizel and forward Alex Rosenberg. Leonardis had a terrific rapport with his players and they responded with a strong overall 22-7 season and a terrific run in the North 2, Group 3 tourney with a series of hard-earned victories over Summit, Payne Tech and Cranford.

Runner-Up Coach of the Year: Gabe Baltimore, East Orange Campus
The undersized but very athletic Jaguars were solid from start to finish under Baltimore’s adept guidance finishing 23-6 and a strong 10-3 in the SEC’s top division, the American. EOC posted three state tournament wins in reaching the N1G4 final where it was edged by Ridgewood, 57-54, but all told it was strong campaign for Jags who worked extremely well together under their impressive head mentor.

Team of the Year: Immaculate Conception:
The Lions lost in the ECT and Non-Public B state finals to a couple of highly-ranked teams in St. Benedict’s and St. Rose, but - all told - it was a superb overall Essex season for the Montclair parochials who always play one of the toughest independent schedules in the state and finished a perfect 10-0 while winning an SEC-American Division title behind the strong play of Essex Player of the Year runner-up Kole Grandison, fellow sophomore Jaren Barnett, who was an adept playmaker and other standouts including junior Summit transfer Myles Blakely. The Lions also accomplished what they did without their best player from the previous season, Louisville commit TJ Robinson, a first-team All-Essex selection in 2023, who missed all but the final three games of the season due to still recovering from a pre-season knee injury. IC’s best win came in capturing the Non-Public, North B state sectional title with a thrilling 72-70 comeback triumph vs. Morris Catholic as senior Manny Smith connected on a game-winning 3-point shot with just seven seconds left in regulation.

Runner-Up Team of the Year: Arts
The Jaguars had the added incentive of not being permitted to participate in the 2022-2023 NJSIAA state tourney due to being disqualified after a December, 2022 brief skirmish at Roselle Catholic and wielded their depth and talent to fruition this season finishing 24-9 against a strong schedule in and out of the SEC and capturing the program’s first-ever state sectional title with a hard-earned 59-56 win vs. Brick City neighbor Newark Collegiate in the North 2, Group 2 final. The team’s tremendous depth included forwards Shelton Colwell, Anthony Akande, Kevin Freeman, Savod Godwin and Zyaire Price along with point guard Jayden Holman. The ‘Jags’ also captured the Newark Holiday Tournament title.

Around Essex- Among the strong seasons turned in by Newark schools were the top-shelf performances of both Newark Collegiate and Newark Tech. Collegiate, behind the direction of coach Jyron Brooks, played a close contest in the North 2, Group 2 state sectional final with the deep Jaguars who proceeded to the Group 2 final where they ran into a very strong Camden squad. Collegiate captured the SEC-Colonial Division title while going undefeated in the loop behind the solid play of veteran guard Najee Graham and  Ja’Quis Davis and forward Beck’I Camara….Newark Tech won a second straight North 2, Group 1 state sectional crown and advanced once again to the overall Group 1 state final behind junior twins Malcolm and Marcus Bragg and junior forward Jalen Baker….Newark Academy, which moved to Livingston many years ago, won its first state prep B-Division title since 2006 behind first-year coach Danny Petrillo while its prep rival Montclair Kimberely Academy captured a second straight SEC-Freedom Division crown.

SC’s Essex County Top 10:
1-St. Benedict’s (22-7)
2-Immaculate (23-8)
3-Arts (24-9)
4-East Orange Campus (23-6)
5- Newark Collegiate (23-7)
6- Newark Tech (19-10)
7-Seton Hall Prep (11-14)
8-Millburn (22-7)
9-Payne Tech 17-9)
10-Columbia (12-13)     

Sideline Chatter’s 2023-2024 All-Essex
First Team:
Kole Grandison, sophomore, Immaculate
Shelton Colwell, junior, Arts
Chidi Nwigwe, sophomore, St. Benedict’s
Jaren Barnett, sophomore, Immaculate
David Johnson, senior, St. Benedict’s

Second Team:
Kaiyri Barkley, senior, East Orange Campus
Anthony Akande, senior, Arts
Gerard Edwell, sophomore, Payne Tech
Najee Graham, senior, Newark Collegiate
Malcolm Bragg, junior, Newark Tech

Third Team:
Eugene Byass, junior, East Orange Campus
Noah Ravitz, senior, Millburn
Beck’i Camara, senior, Newark Collegiate
Gino Romano, senior, Seton Hall Prep
Robert Foster, junior, Payne Tech

Fourth Team:
Kevin Freeman, junior, Arts
Myles Blakley junior Immaculate
Casper Pohto junior St. Benedict’s
Jesus Koudou senior West Caldwell Tech
Jalen Baker sophomore Newark Tech

Fifth Team:
Zach Benmorits, senior, Millburn
Malik Bass, senior, Central
Carlyle Adams, junior, East Orange Campus
Ja’Quis Davis, senior, Newark Collegiate
David Ekhelar, senior, East Side

Sixth Team:
Jaden Pearson, senior, Irvington
A’juwan Tiggs, senior, Orange
Andrey Laquindanum, senior, Belleville
Johnny Mayers II, junior, North Star Academy
Al-Zahkir Al-Qadir, senior, Eagle Academy

Seventh Team:
Jacob Javier, sophomore, Glen Ridge
Elisha Erukanure, senior, Science Park
Jahi Whitney, junior, Montclair
Jalen James, senior, Columbia
Ty Barlow, sophomore, Weequahic     

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East Orange Campus' Gabe Baltimore is runner-up as Essex County Coach of the Year and St. Benedict's sophomore Chidi Nwigwe (24) was county's best player while leading the Gray Bees to their first-ever ECT championship. (SC photos and also by Gene Nann)

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