ON THE MARK: Mark Aziz of Ivy Inn heads to the basket in action last year in the Princeton Recreation Men’s Summer Basketball League. Aziz and Ivy Inn will tip off the 2016 campaign when they face Pediatric Therapy Solution on June 15 in an opening night triple-header at the Community Park courts. Ivy Inn won the 2015 title by forfeit when Bring Me Food didn’t have enough players on hard to field a team for the decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three championship series. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Over the last 15 years, the Princeton Recreation Men’s Summer Basketball League has generally been comprised of 10 teams.

While the league only has eight squads this summer for its 28th campaign, League Commissioner Evan Moorhead believes less will be more.

“The last time we had only eight teams was the summer of 2000 and if memory serves, it was a pretty competitive summer,” said Moorhead, the department’s assistant director of recreation.

“The talent is on fewer teams so it is going to make things a little more competitive. I am excited about it on that end. I think we have a lot of teams that are going to have some talent and could make some noise if things come together for them.”

As the 2016 campaign tips off on the evening of June 15 with a triple-header at the Community Park courts, defending champion and league stalwart Ivy Inn boasts plenty of experience and talent.

“They have their usual characters, Bobby Davison, Buddy Thomas, Shahid Abdul-Karim, Mark Aziz, and Tommy Soulia,” said moorhead of Ivy Inn, which won the 2015 title by forfeit when Bring Me Food didn’t have enough players on hand to field a team for the decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three championship series.

“They also have Sherm Brittingham, he is always one of the leading scorers. It looks like they also picked up Skye Ettin (former Princeton High and The College of New Jersey standout and current Princeton University men’s hoops assistant coach). Since the high school team is not in the league this year, he is allowed to play. It looks like they may have picked up Justin Conway (a former Princeton University star) too. With him and Skye, they are going to be really tough. They have the experience, they have some size, and they have some scorers.”

Another team that is stocked with veterans is Dr. Palmer, that picked up some big guns from former league power Winberie’s.

“There are a lot of Winberie’s guys with Dr Palmer guys sprinkled in,” noted Moorhead.

“Kurt Simmons is there from Winberie’s as well as Chris Edwards and Cliff Pollard. They have a ton of size because they also have Gary Wilson, who plays with Dr. Palmer and is a real big guy at 6’9. There is also Tony Dixon, a 6’10 guy that Dr. Palmer had last year and played for Towson about 10 years ago. They are going to have size, it is a matter of whether they are going to have the guard play. These are guys that have been playing in the league for years; they will be strong no matter what name is on the jersey.”

The Majeski team will be the TCNJ entry in the league, boasting young legs and the advantage of being a unit throughout the school year.

“Bobby Brackett is still heading that group and they are going to be good too if Bobby is back healthy,” said Moorhead.

“Bobby missed last summer and winter season with an achilles injury. If he is back at full strength, he is a force in the middle. They have a couple of good guards, Eric Murdock and Eric Glacik. Glacik was first-team all-summer league last year and Murdock was a second-team selection. If they have those two plus Brackett, they will be tough. They have youth on their side as well and team chemistry from
playing together year round.”

Former Ursinus standout Jesse Krasna has starred for a couple of teams in the summer league over the years and is now leading his own squad, Jesse Krasna Hoops Training.

“Jesse will be player-coach and they also have Tim Guers, who goes to Saint Anselm and was a first teamer last summer,” said Moorhead.

“He is a guard; he is a real solid player. He can shoot it and drive to the basket. He has a nice inside out game. They have Pennsylvania kids who are D-2, D-3 college players at places like Ursinus, DeSales, Babson, and Salisbury. They are in the same boat as Majeski group; they are all current college players for the most part. They are not all from the same team like those guys but they definitely have some talent.”

King’s Pizzarama, which advanced to the title series in 2014, is another team to watch.

“It looks like they lost Anthony Gaffney (former Pennington School star and Princeton University football standout) to graduation but they picked up Terrance Bailey from Winberie’s; he is always one of the leading scorers,” said Moorhead.

“They also have Kris O’Connor who played on Winberie’s and plays at Rowan. He is a solid guard. They have a couple of guys who have been with them for a few years, including player-coach Kenny Holzhammer (a 1,000-point scorer at Princeton Day School).”

The league includes three new entries, Rogue’s Gallery, Clarke Insurance, and Pediatric Therapy Solutions, each features some familiar faces.

“Rogue’s Gallery is actually a re-creation of the Clearview Window Cleaning group from a couple of years ago,” said Moorhead.

“The kid that sticks out the most is Nick Santalucia who led the league in scoring in 2013. Clarke Insurance has a lot of local guys, they have Davon Black and Lior Levy (former PHS standouts) playing for them so there is a little bit of Princeton flavor with that group. They have Austin Hill, who played with Hopewell. Pediatric Therapy’s manager is Greg Korngut, who was a Lawrence High guy. They have Bert McCallum. Nick Brackett is playing with them and so is Mel Weldon, Jr., who was a Trenton Christian Academy guy.”

With every team looking competitive due to the concentration of talent, Moorhead believes some surprises could be in the offing this summer.

“We have some teams that will have some talent and young legs but how well they will mesh together and be able to compete against the old guard remains to be seen,” said Moorhead.

“This year is the 10th anniversary of the Where2Ball run to the finals. That was one of the biggest underdog seasons in league history so who knows, maybe that bodes well for one of those unknown teams to come out of the woodwork.”