by Alex Schwartz

St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey breeds talented basketball players the way USC breeds first round NFL Draft picks. With Kevin Boyle, the 2007 USA Today Coach of the Year,  at the helm, the Celtics has been ranked in the top 25 in the nation for 18 consecutive seasons, while churning out McDonald's All-Americans such as Al Harrington, Shaheen Holloway, Corey Fisher, as well this year's selection, North Carolina-signee Dexter Strickland '09 (not to mention two likely future McD's picks on the current roster, Michael Gilchrist '11 and Kyrie Irving '10). Other great players who have put on the green, yellow, and white of St. Pat's include Samuel Dalembert, Jeff Robinson, Grant Billmeier, Mike Nardi, Derrick Caracter, Winston Smith, Jerome "Circus" Holman, and Robert Hines. There have been some fantastic teams in St. Pat's history, including the 06-07 squad, which ended the year ranked #2 by USA Today, and this year's team is right up there with the best of the best. I spoke with the Celtics' assistant coach Rae Miller, who has been at the school since 1993, a few days ago to get his thoughts on how this season went and what his outlook for 2009-2010 is.

The rankings do not say it all. Sure St. Pat's finished the year as a consensus top five team in America (#3 on ESPN Rise, #4 on USA Today, #4 on Rivals High, and #5 on PrepNation), but there were many more accomplishments for this team than just some numbers."I thought we accomplished a lot this year, including winning the Tournament of Champions, the state [championships], the county [championship], and the [tournament in] South Carolina, [the Beach Ball Classic], . . . coming in second [to Mater Dei of California] in Florida [at the City of Palms event] . . . when they were like 12-0 and we had played [just] three games," said Coach Miller, who also pointed out that the team did very well against squads that were nationally ranked this season, with wins over Lincoln (NY),  Wheeler (GA), St. Benedict's (NJ), Paterson Catholic (NJ) twice, and just two losses against top 25 teams, Oak Hill Academy (VA) and Mater Dei. The Celtics, who finished the year at 30-3, were severely hurt by injuries and other things that caused players to miss games. So how would the squad have faired this season had it been at full strength from start to finish? "I think we would have definitely won [the tournament in] Florida [by beating Mater Dei in the finals]. . . . The second game we lost was to Life Center Academy [of New Jersey]. . . . We did not come focused . . . [and we] lost by two at the buzzer. . . . We would have been in better position to win two of the games that we lost," said Miller. The only loss the Celtics had at full strength was against Oak Hill Academy, which finished the year ranked #2 in all of the aforementioned polls, with just one loss. The loss to Life Center was a major shock, and in fact, the Celtics crushed LCA when they met for a second time. One thing that should not be overlooked in addition to missing players during the season was the one player the Celtics did not have at all: "Going into the season, we thought we had Markus [Kennedy, a 6'8 junior power forward/center], . . . [but losing him] helped the guys get closer," Miller said. Kennedy, the only true low post big man that would have been on the St. Pat's roster, transferred to Living Faith (NJ) early in the year in order to be closer to his home in Philadelphia. In Kennedy's absence from start to finish, some less heralded players had to pick up the slack, and did just that. Chase Plummer '10 averaged 6.0 points per game off the bench, Derrick Gordon '11 added 8.5 ppg, while Kevin Boyle, Jr. '10 ended at 5.5 ppg, giving Coach Boyle about 20 points off the bench a game. The starters were also very impressive: Dean Kowalski '09 accounted for 3.0 ppg; Dexter Strickland scored 13 ppg, along with 4 assists and 5 rebounds; Michael Gilchrist put in 15 ppg, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 3 shots per game; Kyrie Irving tickled the twine for 17 ppg, while dishing out 4 apg, and reeling in 5 rpg; George Mason-signee '09 Paris Bennett added 11 ppg and 6.5 rpg (stats are from Coach Rae Miller).

I mentioned in the first paragraph how there have been so many great St. Pat's players and teams, so I asked Miller how he thought this year's team stacked up with some of the great squads in Celtics history: "In terms of talent, I think we've had many more talented teams, . . . specifically the 2005 team. . . . [There was] just so much talent on that team. . . . Al [Harrington's] 1998 had two future NBA players, Al Harrington and Sam Dalembert. . . . Mike Nardi's 2003 team [was also great]. . . . This year's team was probably the most complete team we've had in terms of chemistry, work ethic, desire to win, [and] it was probably the most fun team to be around." The coach added, "This was probably our most versatile team. This was a hard-working team. They just loved each other and played for each other. [They were] very unselfish." In the spectacular season, was there any single game or moment that stood out to Miller as the best of them all? "Probably the [first] Trenton Catholic game. That was a game [where] we were down [by nine points entering the] fourth quarter, [but] . . . we were strong enough and determined enough to come back and win by 10 points, coming odd a terrible loss to Life Center. . . . That was a tremendous win."

Kevin Boyle used an eight-man rotation this season, with some talented players not getting as much time as they may have thought they would have, or would liked to have had, as well as some players outside that rotation who may have thought they would be a regular. Miller mentioned that the team "played for each other" and was "very unselfish," but was there ever any controversy over playing time on this ultra-talented team? "I think every one of our guys are extremely competitive [and] . . . they all want to play," said Miller, who felt that the players handled it all very well, with just one kid getting much less time than he may have expected, Josh Daniell '10. The coach had high praise for the 6'6 wing though, saying, "Josh is a great teammate [and] does all the right things." Daniell, who holds an offer from Rider, is one of many players who will get a chance to step up next year and get many more minutes. Coach Miller specifically mentioned Dennis Green '12, Taylor Plummer '12, Jarrel Lane '11, Dana Raysor '12, Rich Dobin '10, and Daniell as kids who may well see some more action next year, adding that Onay Kinman '11 was another to watch out for. Green, Plummer, Raysor, and Kinman all spent the year on the Junior Varsity squad, gaining valuable experience. Lane was on JV too, but saw playing time at the City of Palms event, as Kyrie Irving was sitting out due to transfer and Dexter Strickland was involved with some minor disciplinary action that saw him miss a game and some time in others. In addition, Miller said, "We should have a pretty good freshman class."

While some players will be stepping into more prominent roles next season, some others will be greatly missed. How will the team deal with not having Dexter Strickland—in many ways the face of St. Pat's the past two years—next season? "Well, I think this was a great year for the adjustment, having a Kyrie [Irving] and a Kevin [Boyle, Jr.]. . . . Also, they adjusted to not having him this year because he missed five or six games. . . . We will be okay, but he will be missed," Miller told me. He went on to say, "Paris Bennett is the guy we'll miss most because of his leadership. . . [He] will be missed drastically." The coach added, "Another guys is Dean Kowalski, who was our best on the ball defender. [He] did all the little things." Those three were the co-captains of the Celtics this year and were all at the school for four years. During those four years—the weren't on varsity all four years—the Celtics won three Non-Public B state championships and three Tournament of Champions. There are two players who are set to take much of the burden on the shoulders next season: 6'7 sophomore combo forward Michael Gilchrist and 6'2 junior point guard Kyrie Irving. "Mike has a chance to be as good as he wants to be. . . . He truly gives you everything he has everyday. He truly loves to win," said Miller, who went on to reiterate his first point, while adding something at the end: "Mike has a chance to be as good as he wants to be, and he really wants to be good." What about Irving? How will be go doing in St. Pat's history when all is said and done? "In Kyrie's case, he only has two years [Irving transferred from Montclair Kimberley Academy in NJ to St. Pat's late in his sophomore year], but in comparison [with] his talents, I think he's up there with any guards we've ever had. . . . [Irving] has a chance to be one of the top guards to ever come through the state of New Jersey." So what does Coach Miller looking for Irving, Gilchrist, and Co. to accomplish next year? "I mean, we always want to win. I hope we can win more games than we did this season [30], because I think we have a very special team coming back. . . . We lost three games that were very winnable. . . . [I hope we can] win as many championships as are available to us."

Although the 2008-2009 season might not have met all of the Celtics' expectations—just check this interview with Paris Bennett from Box of M.E.S.S. for proof—it was a fantastic season nonetheless, one that included a dominant 20+ point victory over rival St. Benedict's (NJ), four championships (county, state, TOC, Beach Ball Classic), and much more. It was a season that will allow Dean Kowalski, Dexter Strickland, and Paris Bennett to leave on top. It was a season that will go down as one of the best in St. Patrick's history. Yet who knows, maybe next year will be even better. Only time will tell.