Three catalysts, Connor Saker, Brian Specht and Eric Kelly, have graduated from the Jackson Memorial High School basketball team that notched a school record 21 victories in 2010-11. That was the most wins by a Jackson Memorial team since the 1970-71 season.
The 2010-11 Jaguars reached the finals of the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional tournament for the first time in 40 years.
The returning Jaguars are spending time this summer working on their game as they try to keep their recent success on the hardwood going.
One player who figures to play a key role in any success the Jaguars may have in the 2011-12 season is Brandon McDonnell, a 6-6 rising senior. In addition to leading the Jaguars, Mc- Donnell will be trying to capture the eye of college recruiters as he seeks to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Jimmy, a sophomore who is expected to play for the Temple Owls in 2011-12 after redshirting his freshman year at the Philadelphia school.
Brandon McDonnell said he has been in touch with the University of New Hampshire, the University of Pennsylvania and Colgate, while Jackson Memorial coach Joe Fagan said Davidson, Lafayette, Colgate, Bentley and the New Jersey Institute of Technology also are in the mix with Mc- Donnell, although none have offered a scholarship yet.
“The seniors we graduated are hard to replace, and Connor was, I feel, the best allaround athlete in the Shore Conference,” Fagan said of Saker, a gritty workhorse under the boards who also excelled in soccer and recently finished third in the discus at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. The Jaguars’ basketball team found ways to win in 2010-11 as 15 victories came by five or fewer points, many of them in an unbeaten Shore Conference A South Division season, also a first for the school.
Fagan said the 2011-12 season, as with past campaigns, is a building process.
“Last year they were successful with something bigger, definitely, and now they know to work hard. And these kids do work hard,” the coach said.
For players like McDonnell, July is prime time.
McDonnell will play in four summer showcases with the AAU Shore Shots that are coached by Fagan. The Sure Shots will be in King of Prussia, Pa., for the Summer Classic on July 11-12 and then go to West Virginia on July 14-16 for the Jamfest.
From there, the Sure Shots will head to Orlando, Fla., on July 23-27 for the Summer Showcase in Disneyworld that attracts about 200 teams. They will be at a one-day hoopfest at Albright College in Reading, Pa., on July 31.
“Success definitely comes from the summer,” said Fagan. “Championships are not won in December, January and February, but in June and July with the work put in now.”
“This time of the year is huge. I saw that with things that happened for my brother,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell, who averaged 11 ppg., and his teammates who are back from last year, rising seniors Brandon Holup, a 6-6 forward, guard Elliot Bell, and 6-3 forward Anthony Skwiat, are playing in a summer league at Rebounds in Neptune. They also will be playing in a team camp Aug. 8-12 sponsored by the Hoop Group that runs the Rebounds League.
Eric Carter, a 6-6 rising sophomore who played on the junior varsity last season, will be joining the returning players in the Neptune games and will look to get an opportunity for the upcoming season. Twin brothers Mike Specht and Nick Specht will look for playing opportunities at guard as juniors next season.
“We are trying to help Brandon get better athletically, a stronger finish inside with some better moves to the basket and more agility, not just being the three-point shooter that he showed last season,” said Fagan.
“I’m looking to get stronger inside, to get a good step to the basket,” McDonnell said .
McDonnell also needs improvement in his defense and rebounding, which were solid last year, as he will have an even greater role in Jackson Memorial’s outcomes this coming winter.
“This team will be big [in height] next season,” Fagan said.
Fagan also is looking for a little more from Skwiat, a 6-3 rising senior who was one of the first players off the bench last season.
Holup, at 6-6, is a “tweener,” said Fagan, as he looks to test the waters in baseball, where he had a fine season on the mound during the spring, and weigh that with his options in basketball. Holup had a 5-5 pitching record for the Jaguars in 2011.
But a lot will be determined and become clearer over the next six weeks when next season’s Jackson Memorial basketball players will have their roles more defined and fine-tuned.