CHERRY HILL NJ–The Albert Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey has announced their selections to be inducted into the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday, February 9 .  Bill Hiltner, Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, said the ceremony will begin at 5:30 P.M. at the Crowne Plaza, Route 70 and Cuthbert Blvd., Cherry Hill, NJ.

Tickets are available for the event from Jack Mongulla (856-461-8800) or Jason Lewer (609-706-7069) or by sending payment ($35.00 per ticket) to 41 Emery Way, Delanco, NJ 08075. Reservations are required and need to be made prior to Wednesday, February 5th. Credit cards (Amex, VISA or Mastercard) may be used to secure your reservations.

Mike Androlewicz

This Paul VI 1982 graduate was a 3-letter winner and a member of the 1980 State Championship Team. He played for legendary Coach Art DiPatri.

Aside from being a stellar athlete, most remarkably in basketball, Mike excelled in other areas as well. He was part of the National Honor Society, Senior Class Vice-President, and the recipient of the Christian Spirit Award.

Following an outstanding career at Paul VI where he was selected to the All-South Jersey Teams in 1981 and 1982 and the Philadelphia Inquirer All-Area Team in 1982, Mike moved on to Lehigh University he was a 4- letterman. He was a part of Lehigh’s NCAA Tournament Team in 1985.

During his senior year (1986) Mike was named to the All-East Coast Conference First Team as well as the Albert J. Carino Boys Basketball Club’s Small College Player of the Year.

Following graduation Androlewicz received his MBA degree from Lehigh University in 1988. While in graduate school Mike was a Graduate Assistant Basketball Coach during the 1987 and 1998 seasons and a member of the Coaching Staff on the NCAA Tournament Team (1988) when Lehigh lost to Temple.

Following graduation, Mike worked for several multi-national Fortune 500 companies in accounting and finance positions, and had the opportunity to travel internationally. Mike is now a business partner and Vice President of Business Development for Education Management Corporation, a leading provider of academic and career technical training services. Androlewicz resides in Haddon Heights and he remains a very active part of the alumni community at Paul VI.

Kevin Eastman, Haddonfield High School

Kevin Eastman is a 1973 graduate of Haddonfield High School and has checked all of the following boxes: State Champion,All-South Jersey,Division 1 College Player,College Coach,Professional Coach NBA Executive

Eastman is a member of the Haddonfield Hall-of-Fame. He was a two-time Captain and a three-year starter for the Bulldawgs scoring 1,162 points.

He went on to play for the Spiders at the University of Richmond where he graduated in 1977 and was subsequently inducted to the University’s Hall of Fame.

Kevin has coached the game at the college and professional levels over a career spanning 35+ years. He has been a student-athlete, a rookie coach, an assistant coach, a head coach and a college athletic director. He has been around the best players and coaches in the game while serving as coach and executive in the NBA, and has studied what makes the best The Best.

Eastman has coached on the collegiate level at Washington State, UNC-Wilmington, Tulsa, Virginia Commonwealth, Colorado State University and Richmond.

Jay Flanagan, Rancocas Valley High School

Jay played at Delran High School as a two-year varsity player before he headed off to Kutztown University. Upon graduating in 1986, he was hired by Riverside High Hall of Fame coach, Harry Johnstone. After serving three years as an assistant at RHS. At the age of 25 Jay was named head coach of Moorestown Friends School. At MFS, he coached current Colgate coach and HOF member, Matt Langel, before he left for Moorestown High.

Next Jay left MFS to become an assistant for Hall of Fame coach, Ken Faulkner, at Burlington Township, He was then elevated to head coach in 1996, after serving as an assistant for two years. His teams qualified for the NJSIAA tourney for all 10 of his years and won the BCSL Freedom Division in 1999. Flanagan then moved on to Rancocas Valley in 2006.

In his first year, the program started 20-0 and finished as BCSL Liberty Division Champs with a 24-3 record. His 2007-2008 team carried on its winning ways from the year before by winning the BCSL Liberty Division, Central Jersey Group IV sectional title, and NJSIAA Group IV championship. It was RV’s third state title in school history (1996, 1998). His team finished the season as the #1 ranked team in South Jersey with a 27-5 record. For his team’s accomplishments, Flanagan was named Burlington County Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Albert J. Carino Boys’ Basketball Club, NJ Coaches’ Association State Coach of the Year, and National Federation of High School Coaches Northeast Region Coach of the Year (includes 8 states).

In 2009, Flanagan was awarded the NJSIAA Sports Award Recipient, given to one high school basketball coach in the state annually for his recognition of service and contributions to interscholastic athletics. Jay also led Rancocas Valley to the NJSIAA Group IV state final as an 11th seed in 2011, after winning another Central Jersey Group IV title and defeating Shawnee in the state semifinal matchup. In both of his trips to Rutgers to the state finals, RV played St. Anthony during that season, both of which the legendary program finished as the #1 team in the country. RV also won the always difficult BCSL Liberty Division in 2013.

Flanagan entered this season, his 14th at Rancocas Valley, with 438 wins, ranking him highly amongst South Jersey coaches historically. In his first 13 years at RV, his teams won 256 games, three BCSL titles, two sectional championships, and one state crown.

Paul Gause. Schalick High School

Paul Gause played basketball for Arthur P. Schalick High School from 2001-2005. A four-year starter, Gause averaged over 25 points per game as a freshman, 27+ as a sophomore and 30+ per game his junior and senior seasons. He set a school single game scoring record on February 26, 2004 when he dropped 52 points on Overbrook High School in a 94-80 win.

During his senior year, Gause led Schalick to a 25-5 record and its first ever boys\’ basketball South Jersey Group I championship, as well as its first trip to the state final. For the season, Gause averaged 33.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.7 steals per game.

Paul finished his high school career at the top of New Jersey\’s all-time scoring list. His 3,144 career points rank third in state history and second in South Jersey history. Additionally, Gause is only one of two South Jersey players to ever score 1,000+ points in a single season.

He was named as an All-State selection by New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, and also the consensus South Jersey Male Athlete of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Camden Courier-Post and the Vineland Daily Journal.

An all-state cornerback and running back in football, he led his high school team to two straight South Jersey Group I championships in 2003 & 2004 (the latter being an undefeated 12-0 season). Paul set a South Jersey single season scoring record during his senior year after amassing 236 offensive points. As of March 2008, this point total ranks fourth all-time in New Jersey history. He also set a South Jersey single sea-son touchdown record, also done in 2004, by reaching the end zone 39 times.

Gause chose to play basketball at Seton Hall University. He tied the Seton Hall Pirates\’ single game steals record in 2006-07 when he recorded eight steals against St. Mary\’s. He also totaled 90 steals in the year, a new Seton Hall men\’s basketball single season record. Gause averaged 3.10 steals per game which topped Big East play and ranked second nationally. For his on-the-ball defense he was nominated as a candidate for the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

Flanagan is an accomplished girls’ soccer coach as he recently surpassed 200 wins during his years at Burlington Township and Rancocas Valley.

Gause went on to play in the NFL for the Jets before returning to his first love, basketball. He then began his professional career playing basketball overseas in 2010. He speaks at schools to motivate and inspire kids when he\’s home in New Jersey with his fiancé.

Trish McNutt Green, Gloucester Catholic

Trish McNutt-Green, a 1982 GCHS graduate who has been part of seven state championship girl’s basketball teams as both a player and coach,

Trish played for Gloucester Catholic from 1978 to 1982. She was the starting point guard on two Group I state championship teams. Driven to make her teams succeed, Trish was an exceptional leader and demonstrated unselfish play at all times. Although she had very talented players around her, her style of play made them better. Players such as Mary Klinewski, Michele Jensen and Lisa Angelotti all enjoyed enhanced careers due to the point guard skills that Trish possessed.

Trish was known for her scoring but for her amazing court vision that enabled her to feed passes to teammates for wide-open layups and jump shots. She could score when called upon — she was the leading scorer in her final game in winning the 1982 Group I state championship against Morris Catholic.

The Courier-Post named Trish as the South Jersey Player of the year for the 1981/1982 season. She accepted a scholarship to Fresno State University due to her excellent play and accomplishments at the high school level. Unfortunately, her college career ended too soon with a devastating knee injury.

Trish is also the most successful girls’ basketball coach in South Jersey history. As head coach, she won five state

championships at Haddonfield Memorial High School – 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999. No other girl’s coach in SJ history has won five state championships. Additionally, Trish’s teams won six Colonial Conference Championships, and seven South Jersey titles.

Her teams won twenty or more games during ten of her seasons and her team was named Team of the Century by the Courier-Post in 1997 and three times she was named Coach of the Year.

Trish previously has been inducted to the Gloucester County Hall of Fame (2007) and the Camden County Hall of Fame (2018).

Pops Mensah-Bonsu, St. Augustine Prep

Born and raised in London, Mensah-Bonsu attended St. Thomas More Roman Catholic School before he moved to the United States where he spent his sophomore year playing at the Hun School of Princeton. He then transferred to St. Augustine where as a senior in 2001–02, he averaged 15 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks per game.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu came to St. Augustine Prep with dreams of athletic stardom; however, those aspirations did not include a basketball as his sport of choice was track & field – most specifically the high jump.

Mensah-Bonsu’s academic and athletic career would continue to Washington, D.C. and George Washington University. Pops blossomed into a dominant power forward and became a household name as the Mensah-Bonsu-led Colonials appeared in back-to- back NCAA tournaments and also received their first top-10 ranking in 50 years following a school-record 27-3 run in 2006.

His success on the court would continue during a professional career which included time in the NBA (Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, New Orleans Hornets) and overseas in Spain, France, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Israel, and Greece. He would continue to thrill crowds with his patented play above-the-rim along with his high-defensive IQ and dominant rebounding. His most memorable season would come in 2011-12 with Besiktas of the Turkish Basketball League. This landmark season included the team winning the League championship, Turkish Cup, and EuroChallenge and was capped by Pops being named the TBL Player of the Year. The magical year would continue into the summer, as he was selected to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Summer Olympics playing alongside fellow Hermit, 1999 graduate Andrew Sullivan.

Jennifer Natale, Washington Township High School

This 4-Year player and 3-year starter and 3-Year All Conference 1st team selection while at Washington Township High School scored 1,033 points for the Minutemaids. Jennifer has garnered a tremendous number of accolades during her career.

She led her team to four Olympic Conference titles (1993, 1993 and 1995) and in 1994 the Minutemaids were the number 1 team in South Jersey (25-1). During her career at Washington Township, the Minutemaids had an astonishing record of 100-12.

In his four-year career, he played 112 games (71 starts) while averaging 11.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 23.8 minutes per game. As a sophomore in 2003–04, he was named the Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player of the Year; as a junior in 2004–05, he was named to the All-Atlantic 10 second team; and as a senior in 2005–06, he was named to the All-Atlantic 10 first team and Atlantic 10 All-Defensive team.

The 2005-06 season ended with a knee injury and he did not return until the 2006 NCAA Tournament, where the injury lessened his production.

In October, 2015 Pops announced retirement from professional basketball. and began working as an Advanced Pro Scout for the San Antonio Spurs. Pops was named general manager of the Capital City Go-Go, the NBA G League affiliate of the Washington Wizards.

Jennifer then moved on to Fairfield University receiving a full athletic scholarship. She played in every one of their 115 games (starting 93 of them). Fairfield won the 1998 MAAC Championship and was invited to play in the NCAA Tournament against the Huskies from UCONN.

Jennifer, following graduation, was a member of the Quinnipiac University Women’s Basketball coaching staff from 1999-2001 and came home to Washington Township to coach the Minutemaids JV Basketball Team from 2002-2006.

Natale took the reins of the Varsity squad at Washington Township in 2006 and she still holds that position. Her teams have an overall record of 243-117 and she was named Coach-of-the-Year in both 2018 and 2019 by the South Jersey Times. Her teams have wone four Olympic Conference titles (2007, 2012, 2013 and 2014).

She was also named Coach-of-the-Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer (2011 and 2012) and by the Gloucester County Times (2010-2011).

She was inducted into the Washington Township High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2016

Sabra Wrice, Riverside High School

Sabra currently holds the Riverside High School scoring record with 2,014 points including 773 points in her senior season. She scored 45 points in a single game and holds the school record for most steals (451), career assists (381) and assists in a season (137).

In 2004 Wrice set the New Jersey scoring record by averaging 28.8 ppg. She was named the Player-of-the-Year by the Al Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey and the Defensive Player-of-the-Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

She also was selected to the New Jersey All-Star Game and the Carino Basketball Club All-Star Games.

The Rams were Freedom Division Champions and South Jersey Champion before being upset in the New Jersey Championship game. Wrice was selected to the 1st Team All-Freedom Division squad in 2004.

Following her career with the Rams, Sabra moved on to Fairfield University where she continued her collection of accolades. She is the 7th All-Time leading scorer after amassing 1,577 points and 4th All-Time steals leader with 220.

She was inducted into the Fairfield University Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Riverside High School Sports Hall-of- Fame (2015).

Sabra is currently coaching at the Walnut Street Middle School after stints at Riverside High School and Fairfield University where she was an Assistant Coach and Film Coordinator and at Fisher College where she was the Head Coach.

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History of the Club

The Basketball Club of South Jersey, a long-time dream of founder Al Carino, was organized in the fall of 1962 with the help of Courier-Post sportswriters Charlie Schuck and Walt Burrows.

During the first year, men such as Al Mattern, Sam Strauss, Bob Kenney, Dick Carpenter, Ben Mark, John Kling and the Rev. William Hart added their support. An All-South Jersey team and the Coach of the Year were honored at the first post season banquet and the Suburban Newspapers presented the Suburban Cup. State Champion coaches were feted.

In 1964 the Courier-Post started the Top Ten Award and in 1966 the Club selected the first South Jersey Collegiate Player of the Year and held its first South Jersey Invitational Tournament. In addition, the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO), Camden District Board 34 presented the initial Sportsmanship Award in memory of Kenneth E. Smullen.

In 1970, the Al DiBart Memorial Foundation began the top scoring award and named it the “Bob Elder” Award. That year the Club held its Unsung Heroes night for seniors who contributed to the team.

1971 saw the best foul shooting award. It now honors Tom Bowe and is presented by IAABO Board 34. In 1973 the Club honored its first woman coach for winning a state championship.

In the fall of 1974, the Club began honoring girls at the regular meetings and the 1975 banquet cited the girls’ scoring champion in addition to the girls’ Coach-of-the-Year. The Courier-Post added the girls Top Ten Award.

Charles Nash began honoring the South Jersey girls’ scoring champion and named it the Sara J. Taylor Memorial Award in 1975.

In 1976, the first Female College Player of the Year was honored by the Club with the aid of the women officials of West Chapter 5 honoring Ginny Whitaker, the former long-time Athletic Director at Cherry Hill East.

In 1977, the first Small College Player-of-the-Year was honored. A player from a Division 2 or 3 college is recognized. 1978 saw the first All-Star games featuring senior boys and girls from South Jersey.

The Major College Player-of-the-Year Award was named in memory of Samuel Strauss in 1980.

In August, 1982, President Albert J. Carino died as the result of an automobile accident and William G. (Bill)

Thomas was elected President of the organization.

Hall-of-Famer Tony Caracci began to sponsor an annual award to the Outstanding Guard in South Jersey in 2000. The “Most Courageous Award was renamed in memory of the late popular coach from Haddon Heights and Triton Albert “Butch” McLean, who passed away in 2012.

Jack Mongulla was named President in 2019 after William G. (Bill) Thomas was named President Emeritus of the Club.

Hall of Fame

Al Carino, The founder and longtime President of the Basketball Club of South Jersey, set the wheels in motion for the establishment of a South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.

Carino’s first step towards that goal was to call upon Doug Frambes, former Riverside High School coach and a sports writer at the Courier-Post to form and chair a committee for this purpose. Frambes along with Walt Burrows, Stan Mroz, George Pims, Dick Carpenter, Jack Harte, Al Mattern, Charlie Nash, Bill Thomas and Bob Viggiano met to set the ground rules and the format to be used in the selection process. In addition to selecting former outstanding coaches and players, the committee decided one inductee each year would be chosen for distinguished service to basketball in the area.

The first banquet and induction ceremony was held in February, 1981 when 13 inductees were welcomed into the Hall of Fame. Carino was the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award.

The following year the Hall of Fame was expanded to include women. Bob Kenney, Sports Editor of the Courier-Post and Ginny Whitaker, Athletic Director for Cherry Hill East High School were added to the selection committee for this purpose.

After five years of serving as Chairman of the Selection Committee, Frambes stepped down but remained active on the committee. In 1985 Viggiano, also a sports writer at the Courier-Post, was named the new chairman of the Selection Committee. Later Dick Carpenter served as Chairman and in 1996, Harry Beaudet assumed the role of Chairman until 2014 when Bill Hiltner (former Sterling coach) was appointed chairman.