Player of the Year: Daryll Hill, Cardozo, 6-0, Sr, G
He calls himself “Showtime.” You’ve got to be pretty good to go by that nickname and not have people laugh at you. And Hill took it one step further, he had it tattooed on his arm.
Even more obvious than the Showtime on his arm was the showtime on the court, where the senior dominated, averaging 27 points, six assists and six boards for a team that was severely lacking in talent.
But the Judges did make the postseason, getting the ninth seed, while relying almost entirely on Hill. On four different occasions Hill scored more than 40 points in a game and almost single-handedly brought Cardozo to another 20-win season.
Hill is being recruited by several Big East schools, where he would likely have to sit out his freshman year. He may spend a year at prep school.
*
Michael Clarke, Grady, 6-5, Sr, C
Grady won the PSAL championship largely because of its guard play, but while many of its guards were almost interchangeable, there was one constant: Clarke, in the paint, by himself, doing the dirty work. Clarke averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds, but his importance was far greater than those numbers indicate. Clarke’s toughness willed the Falcons to many of their victories, particularly in the championship run. In the final game, he outplayed 6-foot-7 Kenny Adeleke of Robeson to give Grady the title.
“If someone on the perimeter struggled, we could survive,” said Grady head coach Jack Ringel. “But every game, we needed Mike to do it for us and every time he did. If he ever disappeared, we would have been lost.”
Clarke never let that happen. He is going to SUNY Albany.
*
Tommy Eddie, Boys & Girls, 6-5, Sr, F
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more versatile big man in the city than Eddie.
“All the other coaches that I talk to tell me the same thing,” said Boys & Girls head coach Ruth Lovelace. “They say that Tommy is almost impossible to guard. It’s true, he can do everything.”
That may be saying a little much, but it’s not far off. Eddie is strong enough to bang around inside, but he is equally effective on the perimeter. He has surprising range on his jump shot and is never afraid to show it off. Eddie averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds a game, but he impressed Lovelace the most defensively.
“He was a varsity player for four years and I couldn’t get him to play defense,” Lovelace said. “Finally, this year, he did and it completed his game.”
Eddie is being recruited by Hofstra, UMass and Manhattan, among others.
*
Gary Ervin, Robeson, 6-0, Jr, G
Go to any Robeson game and it won’t take long to pick out Ervin’s relatives. They are the ones who erupt every time the junior makes a good play. They erupted a lot this year.
Ervin emerged as one of the city’s top point guards as the season progressed, finishing with 16 ppg and nine apg.
“He’s become the cornerstone of our team,” said head coach Larry Major, who watched Ervin guide the Eagles to the PSAL championship game. “At the very beginning of the year, he was feeling his way through games. But about five games in, he started taking over.”
And he didn’t stop.
“It got scary, how good he was playing,” Major said. “We’ve had some great point guards at this school, but he may become the best.”
*
John Quintana, Lincoln, 6-1, Sr, G
Amid all the hype surrounding freshman phenom teammate Sebastian Telfair, it was the other guard who had the best season. And while Telfair proved to be deserving of all the attention, the main reason the Railsplitters reached the semifinals this year was Quintana.
“John became a real leader for us,” said Lincoln head coach Dwayne Morton. “Leaders have to play well when it counts and John did. Most importantly, he made things easier for Sebastian.”
That’s because the St. Francis (NY)-bound Quintana gave Telfair someone to pass to. And while Telfair’s game developed, Quintana constantly found ways to score, from both inside and outside to let Lincoln win while it learned. He wound up scoring 24 ppg.
*
Coach of the Year: Jack Ringel, Grady
His team coming off of two straight years when it lost in the first round of the playoffs, Ringel was still confident going into this season. Senior point guard Tyquan Goode had returned from injury and Ringel expected his experienced squad to go far. Then he put the ball in Goode’s hands and let the senior and his teammates run to the title. Ringel didn’t let the Falcons get overconfident when they got off to a fast start and appeared poised to sprint to a championship as he consistently found ways to beat bigger teams. And in the playoffs, when he had the most time to prepare, Ringlet’s team was never seriously threatened in the fourth quarter.
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First team
Daryll Hill, Cardozo, 6-0, Sr, G
Michael Clarke, Grady, 6-4, Sr, C
Tommy Eddie, Boys & Girls, 6-5, Sr, F
Gary Ervin, Robeson, 6-0, Jr, G
John Quintana, Lincoln, 6-1, Sr, G
Second Team
Kenny Adeleke, Robeson, 6-7, Sr, C
Tyquan Goode, Grady, 5-5, Sr, G
Sammy Mejia, Roosevelt, 6-5, Sr, F
Woody Souffrant, Grady, 5-10, Sr, G
Sebastian Telfair, Lincoln, 6-0, Fr, G
Third Team
Ramel Bradley, Park West, 6-2, Jr, G
Sean Dantzler, Columbus, 6-4, Sr, F
Quincy Douby, Grady, 6-4, Jr, G
Knowledge Miller, Park West, 6-0, So, G
Kendal Provet, Wadleigh, 6-0, So, G
Honorable Mention: Johnny Carter, Newtown; Lashard Duren, JFK; Sam Edwards, Frederick Douglass; Marcus Garrick, Walton; Damien Herrod, Francis Lewis; George Jefferson, Automotive; Ricardo Knight, Sheepshead Bay; Anthony Lalor, Clinton; Devin Neckles, Canarsie; Michael Newcombe, Curtis; Nat Parker, Jamaica; Josh Puello, Van Buren; Devon Ray, Campus Magnet; Latwan Scott, Westinghouse; Mike Skyres, MLK; Kirk Spencer, Erasmus; J’son Stamper, Manhattan Center; Mike Thompson, Hillcrest; Chad Timberlake, New Utrecht; Dashawn Warren, Bryant; Anthony Williams, Robeson.