By: Lance Manion
By season’s end, the Monroe High School boys basketball team will have played in more games than an NBA team over the past six months.
With 68 summer- and fall-league games under their belt, the Falcons should have no trouble adjusting to new coach Bob Turco’s system. Hired last April, Turco will have coached more than 90 games for Monroe before the start of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament tips off in mid-February.
"By the time we get through out preseason games,"’ Turco said, "we’ll be up in the 70s and we haven’t even had a game that really counts.
"But since day one, their effort has been tremendous," added Turco, a first-year head coach who previously served as an assistant at Carteret and South Brunswick. "We’ve thrown a lot at them and we’ve played a lot of games in a relatively short period of time, but they come to work every day. These kids bought into it hook, line and sinker."
Turco has high expectations for the season, setting goals that few Monroe teams in the past have accomplished. The first is to eclipse the school’s record for wins (17) in a season.
"Everything we do is centered on 17,"’ Turco said. "It’s on our shirts, it’s on our shoes. In practice, we’ll do 17 touches, 17 minutes of distance drills, everything 17."
Other goals Turco has set for his 12-man varsity team are winning an NJSIAA Tournament game and advance to the GMC quarterfinals.
All three are attainable thanks to the return of leading scorer A.J. Rudowitz, a 6-foot-6 forward who has his eyes set on a record of his own – the school’s all-time career mark for points. A three-year starter, Rudowitz has totaled 868 points and needs 202 more to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. After averaging 16.2 points in a 9-13 campaign last season, Rudowitz accepted a scholarship offer to play at Division II’s Stone Hill College in Massachusetts next year.
"A.J. is what makes our team go,"’ Turco said. "Over the course of the summer I think he’s become an even more complete player by putting on some weight and extending his shooting range. It’s no secret he’s the guy teams will try to stop, but the good thing is we have other weapons, too."
The backcourt will be manned by 5-8 junior point guard Vinnie Mahmoud and 6-1 senior Bernard Mitchell, while 6-1 senior Kyle Horsch and 6-4 junior Colin Horsch figure to team with Rudowitz in the frontcourt.
Turco, a defensive-minded coach, may feature a 10-man rotation, with 5-11 junior Ryan Cushman, 5-8 junior Mark Gulick, 6-1 junior Shamil Graham, 6-3 junior Gabe Lawrence, 6-2 sophomore Justin Mitchell, 6-2 senior Jonathan Franklin and 5-11 junior Joe Costa vying for minutes.
"Our motto is basic: To compete every day not just on the basketball court but off it as well,"’ Turco said. "You have to strive to walk higher and just realize that on and off the court these kids will be looked up to so they need to be accountable. It’s very important to grow as a program here. We’re tackling things that are life altering."
Every Saturday, Turco brings his team to the township’s Academy of Learning Center to work with kids that suffer from autism and multiple disabilities.
"We did a voluntary hour-clinic the first Saturday and had 22 of my kids show up," Turco said. "One thing these kids have down is the respect and the understanding of life because of how they’ve experienced dealing with people who are a little less unfortunate. I couldn’t be prouder of them.
"I don’t think anyone is going to the NBA, but they’re becoming better people."
