Andre Barrett enjoyed taking himself out of his comfort zone.
While the former Rice and Seton Hall star took the floor for the John Strickland Memorial All-Star game, he spent the rest of his afternoon on the sidelines as an assistant coach for the Bronx team in the Battle of Boroughs at Gauchos Gym on Sunday. His squad eventually fell to Harlem 84-70 in the final.
“It’s more difficult when you are a player and you are coaching,” Barrett said. “Some of the things you want to do you can’t do. I think it was a great experience for me.”
He said he tried to pass on some insight about what things are like in college, being a professional and helping to refine player’s skills. Barrett saw some the things he and head coach Artie Green taught the kids was used in the game. He pulled them over to give instructions during timeouts and even got on the refs a little bit.
“He knows what he is taking about because he played in the NBA,” Wings guard Justin Jenkins said. “He made us work hard and taught us a lot of different stuff.”
Barrett’s chance on the bench meant a little more that it took place in an event where he also played in memory of his former Gold’s Gym coach at Nike Pro City, streetball legend John Strickland. Stickland died of a heart attack in October at the age of 38.
“It meant a lot to me that Nike made a special game for Strick,” Barrett said. “Sttick was somebody in our community that everyone knew whether you loved basketball or not. He made wherever he was at fun.”
Sanders returns in memorial game: Junie Sanders made a one-day return to the streetball circuit for a very special reason.
The Brooklyn native was a legend and started playing on the New York City blacktops at the age of 14. He laced up his sneakers again to honor of John Strickland during the all-star game. Sanders scored 11 points in a 63-61 win for white team.
“I missed the streetball crowd, the guys,” he said. “It’s more special with it being for Strick.”
The 39-year-old’s last contest was the Nike Pro City championship game last August where his Nike 1 team lost to Gold’s Gym, coached by Strickland. Sanders scored 20 points on that night. He said he would be back if Nike continues to remember Strickland with a game at the TOC.
“He was just a real upbeat guy,” Sanders said. “He was fun loving, always playing to the crowd, just a real good guy.”
Wiggins suits up for Strick: Rah Wiggins usually spends streetball games coaching the Sean Bell All-Stars from the sideline. At halftime of the Strickland memorial game he walked on to the court with a No. 21 jersey and took part in the action for the Black team he was coaching earlier.
“John Strickland is about entertainment,” Wiggins said. “So anything involved with John Strickland, I had to bring entertainment.”
He showed off some fancy dribble moves with some hop in his step. Wiggins, who coached Queens during the Battle of the Boroughs, tried to guard streetball legends Mike Campbell and Junie Sanders. He couldn’t connect on a few tough layups, but did bury a 3-pointer from the left corner. Late in the game he tried to guard Adris (2 Hard 2 Guard) DeLeon, who eventually stuck a jumper. Wiggins put his own moves on DeLeon, including a hand in his face, only to have a miss slammed home by Vern Goodridge.
“It was fun,” Wiggins said. “It made me feel like an old man. My ribs are hurting right now.”