By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
You could say it was inevitable that Michael Hussong was going to be a coach.
Hussong, the new head coach of the West Windsor-Plainsboro High girls basketball team, is the son of successful coaches. His father, Dan, is a former basketball coach at WW-P, while his mother, Lori, is the head field hockey coach at Rider University.
“I have great resources in both of my parents,” said Hussong, who is also the head coach of the Pirates’ boys and girls volleyball teams. “If I ever have a question or concern I know I can go to them and they can help. They are both very successful in coaching. It’s funny because I am the only one of the kids that ended up going into the same field as them.”
Hussong played basketball at Hopewell Valley High and even then knew he would eventually get into coaching.
“I did not play in college, but I have been around the game for years,” said Hussong, whose team will open the season today against Princeton. “I used to help my dad with his AAU program. I have been around coaching a long time. We like to say basketball is in our blood. I love being around the game.
“I have only been out of school a year and a half. I didn’t expect to be coaching three varsity sports. But it has been a lot of fun and the kids have been great.”
Hussong coached the JV girls team last year so he is familiar with the players on the roster. That should help ease his transition into the job.
“It has been good so far,” said, who teaches elementary physical education in the district. “The girls have been extremely positive. We are trying to create this new positive type of culture where we value the hard-working kids and players who do things the right way.
“I know a lot of the girls from having coached last year. The JV would practice with the varsity. I think the continuity helps after having been through three or four coaches in recent years. The girls have been working hard and trying to get better every day.”
The WW-P South roster includes seniors Rebecca Case, Emma Popa, Kiara Sweeney, Morgan Tunstall and Yael Yonah, juniors Brianna Hodges, Seriah Barnes and Kayla Jackson, and sophomores Reva Grover and Anvi Agarwal.
“The attitude has been great,” Hussong said. “We are pretty young and do not have a lot of experience. We had seven or eight of our players graduate. So we do not have a ton of experience. But we have girls who are trying to get better every day and are trying to learn their roles within the team.”
While WW-P South is young and inexperienced, the West Windsor-Plainsboro North girls have plenty of experience as the Knights return four starters, including two who are in their fourth season as a starter. Jasmin Watson and Chrissy DiCindio are both fourth-year varsity starters. Natalie Everett is a third year starter who has four years of varsity experience, while sophomore Jordan Brown is a returning starter.
“We return six experienced, talented players, so we expect to compete and vie for the CVC Valley Division crown, Mercer County Tournament title, and we expect to go far in state play,” North coach Bob Boyce said. “Our weakness is depth. The newcomers will have to come along rapidly to help us in that area.”
Ciahni Hunt and Katie Laresch are returners who logged significant time last year. The newcomers include juniors Emily Garron and Eshita Sangal along with sophomores Maddie Russell and Nadia Elhossieni.
“The War Of The Worlds Tournament at North returns this winter,” Boyce said of the school’s holiday tournament that will be played Dec. 27 and Dec. 29. The tournament will include North, Steinert, Hillsborough, and Pennsauken.”
The Montgomery boys come into the season preaching the same core values that have led them to success over the last decade, which are chemistry, defense and sharing the ball.
“Thus, far we have had a great pre-season with the boys getting better each day,” Montgomery coach Kris Grundy said. “Our team chemistry has been very good and the boys are sharing the ball very very well. If we stay together and defend the way we usually do we should have a good season.”
The Montgomery roster includes seniors Matt Remsen, Matt Summers, Danny Engels, Matt Heidt, Akaash Patel and Chris Thomsen, juniors Aaron Thomas, Mack Bloom and Lawrence Levy, and sophomores Kevin Fromelt, Kyle Howard, Joe Elicone, Riley Greene and Rohan Prakash.
The WW-P North boys were hit hard by graduation but will be looking to build on last year’s success.
“We will be trying to replace a group of seven seniors that brought North back to the state playoffs for the first time in five seasons,” North coach Tim Stevens said. “Seniors Tristan Dunn and Saubhagya Balyan are the only returning players with serious varsity minutes. The team is working hard and excited to continue to take steps forward as a program.”
In addition to the two experienced returning players, the rest of the Knights’ roster includes seniors Scott Doherty, Manpreet Sidhu, Simon Brooks and Abhi Agarwal, juniors Jack Lichtenstein, Brian Murphy and Ben Goldstein, and sophomores Isaiah Cureton, Jaden Sands and Jaden Rege.
The WW-P South boys know whatever success they have this season will be determined by how well they play on the defensive end of the court.
“Our success as a team this season will be determined by how we defend,” South coach Mike Sheehan said. “If we defend for 32 minutes every night and improve on our defensive success from last season, I believe we will have a good year. We have some experience now that we will be relying on to set the tone defensively for the rest of the team, particularly our senior captains Jon Kline and Tyler Mathes.”
In addition to Kline and Mathes, the Pirates also return juniors Jack McNeilly and Folarin Okulaja. The rest of the roster includes seniors Akul Agarwal and Demetrius Worley, juniors Kush Bhatia, Luke Hansen, Keith Register, Griffen Sullivan, Anthony Taylor and Tim Wood, sophomore Luke Burston and freshman Krishi Dattani.
