Star-Ledger

Barringer 2019 QB Zamar Wise Wins MVP honors at NUC’s 3 Kings Camp

Todderick Hunt | The Star-Ledger | Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter
Barringer QB Zamar Wise
Barringer’s (Newark, N.J.) Zamar Wise solidified himself as one of New Jersey’s top quarterbacks in the 2019 class as he earned MVP honors Sunday at the National Underclassmen Combine’s 3 Kings Quarterback Camp and Competition – East Coast. Held at Parsippany high school, the camp featured some of the top quarterback talent throughout the region, putting them through various drills and competitions for upwards of five hours — as the camp spanned from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Following the camp, NJ.com caught up with NUC founder, president and CEO Dave Schuman for a breakdown of Wise, whom he considers the top quarterback at his event.

“He’s got a great arm. He’s unbelievably accurate,” Schuman said. “When that ball comes out it slides out of his hand and it’s on target. The last half of the day is a lot of competition. We do like five different drill sets that they compete in. And I think he was top three in four of the five drills. And he was No. 1 in both accuracy drills. So he was really good. He gets the ball there with great velocity. He’s athletic, he’s got nice size (measured 6-3, 182).”

Schuman also raved of Wise’s coach-ability and knack for making corrections on the go.

“He really takes to coaching well, too,” Schuman said. “As you’re going through it and you’re showing him things that he can work on to get better, he really kind of takes to that and continues to improve. So I thought he was just really really a guy completely under-served in the recruiting space. I don’t know his academic situation or anything like that, but as far as his ability he is no doubt a scholarship quarterback. If he’s not at the highest of highest levels, which he might be, he’s definitely a division 1 level guy.”

Schuman is as impressed with Wise as any sophomore quarterback he’s seen this year. And a lot of that has to do with his poise, despite not attending many camps in the past.

“I just think he’s got a great way about him. He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s collected and he just approaches things really well. But I wasn’t surprised. When he came in there, he looked the part of a Division 1 quarterback,” said Schuman. “And there were some really good quarterbacks there, too. But as he started to feel his way through, it was really cool to see somebody generate that confidence as he’s realizing, hey, I could end up being the top guy. And as he started going through it, he just got better and better because of that.”

Wise is a pro-style quarterback who can also run, coming off of an explosive sophomore campaign where he generated 1,489 passing yards and 15 TDs (to only five INTs) on 62 percent passing, and 540 rushing yards with five additional scores on 61 carries. He also converted six two-point conversion attempts.

Already a two-year starter, Wise had just as explosive a season as a freshman in 2015, throwing for 1,898 passing yards and 18 TDs (to only six INTs) to go along with 119 rushing yards and two additional scores. Wise trains throughout the off-season at the Lucien Pass Academy and plans to continue to prove his worth competing at camps this summer.

Although he has yet to field his first offer, he’s being recruited by Rutgers, Penn State, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Temple and a number of other Power 5 schools throughout the region.

Notre Dame could potentially get in on the action as defensive coordinator Mike Elko is expected to visit Barringer this week to inquire more about Wise, who has also received camp invites from Florida State and Clemson.

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Newark’s West Side HS is a Special Champ to Morristown-Beard Coach Who is Fighting Cancer

Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger | Email the author | Follow on Twitter

The Newark basketball team wearing pink socks, sneakers and T-shirts had Coach Eddie Franz on edge, as he nervously watched to see if they could close out the championship game on Sunday.

“All right boys, guard up,” he said, seated in section 202 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway.

His playoff season at Morristown-Beard School ended last week, but Franz was channeling his thoughts to West Side High School, his second-favorite team, for good reason.

The team was wearing its pink ensemble in his honor. Franz, 60, has lung cancer.

He appeared to be calm as the Rough Riders were clinging to a two point lead with 1:13 remaining in the Group 2 NJSIAA final against Camden High School.

Internally, though, he was rooting hard because the team has been helping him through a tough period in his life.

Although pink is the color usually used to denote breast cancer, kids don’t make a color distinction, they just see cancer and they wanted to do something for Franz, who has been a part of Newark basketball for 13 years.

“It really hurt me,” said Yasim Hooker, an 18-year-old senior who has known Franz since elementary school. “I was in a lot of pain.”

The socks and sneakers are plain as day, but the T-shirts they wore on the layup line and on the bench crystalized their thoughts.

“Pray for Franz” was written on the back.

“Another Day. Another Chance” was on the front. The logo belongs to Fam Eternal, a Newark apparel company that made the shirts and whose co-owner knows Franz, too.

Since the coach’s diagnosis in January, pink has become the teams lucky color for an unlucky disease. West Side has gone 9-0, but it needed one more victory to claim its second consecutive Group 2 title and to win for Franz.

“The thing about the disease, you feel like you want to do something to be a part of the fight,” Franz said. “I think that’s what these kids felt like they needed to do.”

The relationship between Franz and Newark starts with Akbar Cook, the head coach at West Side.

Franz has known Cook since he was a 15-year-old teenager at Life Camp, an outdoor summer program in Pottersville where Franz has been director for 30 years.

“He’s been a mentor to me, almost like a father figure that I didn’t have growing up,” Cook said.

Franz hired Cook to work at the camp as a counselor. Years later, after Cook graduated from college and expressed an interest in coaching, Franz hired him to be junior varsity coach at Morristown-Beard.

Cook moved on to Newark Vocational School and the relationship between the two men strengthened. Franz would help Cook train his team, which would play a scrimmage game against Morristown-Beard before the season and a regular season game at the end.

The urban and suburban players became friends. They were around each other a lot, playing in the same summer basketball leagues and working as counselors at Life Camp.

“We called it Vo-Beard,” Franz said.

About three years ago, Cook was hired at West Side as head coach and the Vo-Beard connection might as well have been called West Side-Beard. The kids kept scrimmaging with each other on the court and working together at camp.

Since Franz’s shocking diagnosis, the relationship has grown even closer. The kids blew him away when he first saw them wearing pink during an Essex County tournament game last month.

Franz was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a cancer that usually afflicts smokers, but one the American Cancer Society said is prevalent in non-smokers.

Franz, who never smoked, thought he had pneumonia after exercising one morning in January. He had shortness of breath and went to the hospital for a chest x-ray.

“The first thing they (doctors) say to me is, ‘Are you a smoker?’ ” Franz said. “I knew at that point, there was a problem.”

It shook him up.

Cook was rattled, too. He wore pink last year when he coached West Side to its first championship. Pink tie, shirt and socks. Pink anything. He did it to honor his late mother-in-law and two aunts, who died from the disease.

Two weeks ago, West Side’s starting center, Quaion Taylor, learned that his grandmother had cancer.

“This is bigger than basketball,” Cook said.

When he got the call from Franz, that’s all he could think about.

“I was saying here we go again,” Cook said. “I’m not a crier, but I was on the phone crying with him.”

He told Hooker about Franz’s diagnosis and the two put their heads together.

“I thought it would be a good idea to wear pink to represent Franz and win a state championship,” Hooker said.

Quayon Williams-King, 18, said, pink is his favorite color and Franz is one of his favorite people because of the coach’s honesty.

“He always kept it real with me,” said Williams-King. “He would tell me if I was doing something wrong.”

Franz, however, said he doesn’t feel special. He’s gracious.

“To see kids supportive of somebody who is not their coach, it kind of shows the comraderie that basketball gives you, and how relationships develop over the course of time.”

Franz may want to change his mind about not feeling special. Cook wore his pink shirt for the first time Sunday.

“I just want him to know that he’s not alone,” Cook said.

Before the game, the message was clear.

“Franz is here, let’s do this for him,” Hooker said.

They defeated Camden 51-49, and did their small part in helping a man who means so much to them cope with cancer.

View the story on nj.com.

Newark Vice Principal Goes ‘Old School’ to Keep Kids Out of Trouble

Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger | Email the author | Follow on Twitter
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Akbar Cook doesn’t want this story to be about him.

Sorry, Mr. Cook. I can’t do that.

You’re hard to ignore when you’ve managed to keep 80 to 100 young people off the streets on which you grew up in Newark’s West Ward.

“I don’t do it for kudos,” Cook said. “This is what I signed up for.”

And he does it without much sleep, raising the eyebrows of those who know him, hoping the 40-year-old doesn’t burn out.

Cook, a family man who has been married 14 years and has three children, leaves his home in the Poconos early in the morning and drives more than an hour to Hunterdon County’s Pottersville, where he works as a program coordinator at a summer day camp for city kids.

By 4 p.m., Cook is on his way to West Side High School in Newark, where he serves as vice principal. He’s there with a small staff to open the gym – that’s where all of those kids who Cook saves from the streets go three nights a week.

From 6 to 11 p.m., the joint is filled, mostly with boys and young men, ages 10 to 25, with younger players competing on separate courts. Some he knows, some he doesn’t, but they come from all over the city to stay out of trouble.

“If I wasn’t doing this, I’d probably be on the block,” said Davon Nelson, 21.

The time period is crucial. That five-hour window is when idle young people can find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Too much of that happened last summer.

Each time that something happened involving a West Side kid, Cook said it was probably someone he knew or had counseled.

This summer, though, Cook made it his business to be sure that things would be different. He called on the West Side Alumni Group and the MCJ Amelior Foundation, which has adopted the school and funds some of its academic and enrichment programs.

Cook’s idea is simple – give kids something to do in a safe place, particularly at night. The concept comes from his childhood, when he was always at the West Side Boys and Girls Club.

“I wanted to create the same type of feeling,” Cook said.

With only one Boys and Girls Club left in the city, Cook figured the gym could be his own version of a community haven.

He calls it the Lights On Program, which started on July 5. The word spread from one ear to another that the gym would be open for activities through Aug 29. The next thing Cook knew, the gym was averaging 80 kids.

Inside, they play basketball, ping-pong, board games and card games. Those waiting their turn sip on water and eat free meals provided by the Amelior Foundation. Out front, there’s a knock hockey table and a medical van. The girls who come to the gym dance to Jersey club music pumping through a speaker. Some play games, too. At dusk, Cook sets up X-Box and PlayStation systems that project sports video games onto the school’s walls. It looks like a movie from a distance, but that’s Lebron James dunking on someone.

The gym is more than a magnet for kids. Adults come, too. While his two sons are shooting hoops, Abdul Cameron is in the weight room working out.

“It keeps my mind off the negative energy,” he said.

Without the gym, many of the fellas said they’re not sure what they’d be doing, heaping credit on Cook, who shies away from the limelight.

Mr. Cook, it’s okay to wear the community honor badge. You’ve earned it.

Alfonzo Anderson, who graduated from West Side last year, said you saved his life. Remember when you spent five hours talking to him, making him see the dead-end track he was on. The 19-year-old hasn’t forgotten that. He stopped fighting, getting in trouble and getting high.

Because of you, he gave up the street corner for a community college in Cheyenne, Wyo. He’s on the basketball team and getting good grades, an achievement he didn’t think was possible in high school.

“I look at him as a father figure,” Anderson said. “He showed me a different way.”

His athletes get it, too. They are members of the West Side High School basketball team, which he led to its first championship this year.

Yup, Cook, is the head basketball coach, too. And when he’s not at the gym program on those three nights, he’s coaching teams on Tuesday and Thursday nights as part of a Newark summer league.

His guys see the time he puts in with them, but they say it’s more about life than basketball. Cook’s message of manhood and personal responsibility sticks with them.

“He knows how to vibe with kids,” said Yasim Hooker, 17. “I’ve never met a hard-working man like (him) at his age.”

His example commands their attention, compels kids to listen to this role model.

“Plus he’s a big guy, so people are kind of scared of him,” said Quayon Williams, 17.

We laughed at that one. Yes, he’s 6 feet 7 inches tall, carrying 300 pounds. He can be strict, but Cook is fun and downright silly as he empties his heart into these kids.

It’s 11 p.m. Time to go home, but Cook has one more stop. There’s always extra food left over, unopened meals the kids haven’t eaten. Cook drives to Newark Penn Station and gives it to the homeless.

Now, he can leave.

Sheridan, his wife, calls him on the road to make sure Cook is awake, knowing he’s tired but understanding that’s he’s deeply committed to what he’s started, making it hard to see the family. His sons are 7, 9 and 18. They come to the gym, too, sometimes and his wife works with him at the summer camp.

“We have a jewel in the heart of the city and nobody knows about it,” he said, talking about the open gym.

You got that right, Mr.Cook.

That jewel would be – you.

Weequahic High School Track Teams Have Winning Season

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Weequahic 4 Man Shuttle Hurdle Relay Team Won the New Balance High School National Championships on June 19, 2016!
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In April the boys shuttle Hurdle team traveled to Arcadia California to compete at the Famous Arcadia Invitational. The boys not only won the race but ran the 3rd fastest time in meet history!

The time was a US #1 time for the 2016 season!

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The Weequahic Boys Team celebrating their big win with Queen Latifah in Beverly Hills, California.
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Weequahic Won their 2nd straight North II Group 1 state Championship

Jim Lambert For The Star-Ledger

The Weequahic boys inched closer to the state and national records in the boys shuttle hurdles with another blazing performance at the 46th East Coast Relays on Monday in Randolph.

Using a different order than usual, junior Ihmir Marsette led off with a 14.2, senior James Jean followed with a 14.3, senior Stephan Hughes then went 14.2, and sophomore Isaiah Greene anchored in 14.2 as Weequahic stopped the clock at 56.86.

The 56.86 is the second fastest time in N.J. history, No. 4 in U.S. history, a meet record, and the fastest time in the nation this season.

Weequahic’s 56.86 broke the meet record of 56.88 set in 1988 by Camden Wilson, just missed the state record of 56.63 set by Union Catholic when it won the New Balance National title, and is very close to the national record of 56.32 set in 2004 by Westside of South Carolina.

Weequahic dropped nearly a second off its previous best time this season of 57.82, which it ran at the Blue Devil Classic in Westfield last month.

“We wanted to touch 56 today and get a glimpse of what that feels like and then go back and work on some more things to get faster,” said Marsette.

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The Boys and Girls Track Team won the Group 1 Central Jersey Sectional State Championships in February!

Barringer girls basketball sees two hit 1,000 in 75-20 win over Technology in ECT

By The Star Ledger on February 06, 2016 7:02 PM, updated February 06, 2016 7:56 PM

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Rianna Robinson scored 26 points and Latricia Adams added 22 en route to their 1,000th career point each as 14th-seeded Barringer defeated 31st-seeded Technology, 75-20, in the play-in round of the Essex County Tournament in Newark.

Robinson added seven rebounds and seven steals, while Adams had five steals and four assists. Taz Moore added 10 points and six rebounds for Barringer, which had 28 steals and 12 free throws. Barringer led 20-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Janari Newsome scored a team-high nine points for Technology.

Barringer will next host 19th-seeded Livingston in the first round on Feb. 11.

View the story on nj.com.

Campaign is music to Weequahic High marching band’s ears

Barry Carter | The Star-Ledger | Email the author | Follow on Twitter

The pep rally on Friday wasn’t for the football team. The season has already ended. And it wasn’t for the basketball team, either, even though its first game is just days away.

This midday celebration was for Newark’s Weequahic High School marching band, which was led into the gymnasium by the fire department’s Pipes and Drums band.

“I feel appreciated,” said Aryc Cuello, a 15-year-old sophomore who plays the bass drum. “I feel like people finally care about us.”

The band learned that the city’s fire and police departments, and the office of emergency management are joining a $30,000 fundraising campaign to help them get new uniforms and replace worn-out instruments.

All of this started after I wrote a column last month about the band. The football season was seven games in and the band had not not yet performed on the field because their instruments were in disrepair and there weren’t enough orange hoodie sweatshirts and brown sweatpants for the members to wear. This attire, some of it faded, has been the kids uniforms for the past five years after the actual band uniforms fell apart.

But despite their situation, the young people still wanted to play, encouraged by Darryl Taylor, the assistant band director who has been volunteering to teach the kids how to do so for 28 years.

Many of the band members were recruited by Taylor, some while they were still in elementary school. The students – most are from charter schools without a band program – show up faithfully after school at 4 p.m. every day and practice for two hours. They could have quit, but they didn’t. They see themselves as a family and no one lets members’ bail on the group, even if they felt like leaving.

It’s a good thing they stayed.

Myra Lawson, executive director of the Weequahic High School Alumni Association, said graduates have been calling and giving money after reading the story.

“They were horrified,” Lawson said.

Since then, $6,000 in donations has rolled in.

“It’s been heartwarming because our kids feel the stress of budget cuts around the arts and after-school and cultural programs,” Lawson said.

Readers also called, wanting to know how they could help. Many were directed to Taylor, who was a Weequahic band member during the 1980s.

He’s been the glue for the current band, helping director Michael Page keep the students focused on music, reminding them to be appreciative of the support coming their way. Taylor said his cellphone hasn’t stopped ringing. One reader, he said, purchased $3,000 worth of new drum equipment and had it delivered to the school.

“They (students) have yet to experience what it’s like to have on real uniforms,” Taylor said. ” We want them to experience it.”

Momentum for the band campaign received its biggest boost when Newark’s fire department pledged to get involved with four fundraisers. One of its employees, Patricia Bradford, a program development specialist in community relations, got things moving because the band’s troubles resonated with her.

In the 1980s, Bradford said West Side High School had the same problem when her kids were band members. She helped raise funds back then, and even though she’s not a Weequahic graduate, Bradford said she wanted to do something for those students.

“I couldn’t let it go and not try to do something,” Bradford said. “I have love for children and life.”

All of this fuss has the students giddy, smiling and relieved that someone is finally recognizing them.

“We’ve been working so hard,” said Stephon Waddell, 16, who plays the trumpet. “Usually, the band doesn’t get this much attention.”

The spotlight was on them twice Friday. There was the pep rally to start and producers from “The Meredith Vieira Show” were at the school all day to do a story about the band and the dedication of its directors, Taylor and Page.

Surprised. Wowed. Shocked. That’s how they’re feeling right about now.

This past weekend, the fire department pitched in with the first fundraiser. Four engine companies hit the streets collecting money from motorists in fire boots. You may have seen them on McCarter Highway and Murray Street, Route 280 and First Street, Springfield Avenue and Irvine Turner Boulevard, and Broad Street and Raymond Boulevard.

“Anything you can do to help a kid is a home run,” said Fire Chief John Centanni.

After the pep rally, the band retreated to the band room, where some of them continued to play, not letting up. They were singing and playing drums. One of them was on the tuba, blowing hard. The dancers practiced dance steps.

This is what they do. They play with Indian – the school’s mascot – pride, making as much musical noise as they possibly can, even though they didn’t think anyone was listening.

Somebody heard them and that’s why good things are happening.

View the story on nj.com.