Yesterday afternoon I took a ride over to the Fort Athletic Club to catch the 4pm game. I had heard that East Brunswick had a very talented freshman in Ava Catanho. But I hear that everyday so that means nothing to me. I also wanted to get a look at Brick freshman Ari Wissen playing with here high school team. What I discovered was that both players have big futures. More importantly both players are in good hands. That’s because they are surrounded by talented coaches and are in up and coming programs.
Parents, players and coaches have figured out in the age of social media, hype is the name of the game. So when a number of people told me East Brunswick had a talented player, no better yet a future D1 player. I took it with a grain of salt. That’s because I hear this everyday of the week about young players. But I live less than a half mile from East Brunswick High school. Both my children attended the school for two years. So I wanted to see first hand, what type player Ava Catanho was. Well this was one of the rare times, folks got it right. Ava Catanho, without question is a D1 player. In fact that’s not even worth a conversation. You’d have to be a blind man not to see this. She is highly skilled, plays with real confidence and has true presence. She is already a 5’9 guard and clearly still growing. In time she will be a 6ft multi dimensional combo guard. That’s because she can put the ball on the floor and run an offense or take over a game as a scorer. She is clearly a rare talent who one day will be the best player In Middlesex County. That my friends is a given. The real question is how good will Ava Catanho be in four years? If I was a betting man, I!d say as good as she wants and if I was a D1 program, I’m in with both feet now.
Ari Wissen, is very talented. Last week she attended the NBS invite camp. She got roughed up a bit. That’s a good thing for a young player always. But that was against some of the best players in the state. Kids 4-5 years older. Kids who are off to D1 and power 4 schools. Last night Ari Wissen put those lessons of a week ago to work. That’s because she had one of the best nights, if not the best night a freshman has ever had in the Fort summer league. She had 30 points and dropped a bucket of dimes to teammates. She also hit big shot after big shot. Here timing was spectacular. It’s clear she will be in the Freshman of the Year conversation in the Shore Conference. She went deep into her bag, with three balls, mid range, finishing the rim and then made show stopping plays it’s seems for shits and giggles. Ari Wissen was magical all evening.
Now these two mega babies have big futures. I like there chances of maximizing their full potential one day. That’s because both are clearly being coached up. It’s is so important that young talented players are held accountable and put in environments where they are responsible for playing the right way. Make no mistake East Brunswick Coach Travis Retzlaff and Brick Coach Kevin Stockhoff are talented coaches. Both are building emerging programs. Both have had to build from the bottom up. They both have real cultures that are impressive. Both coaches clearly have their own style. Travis Retzlaff, team plays a pressing, aggressive style. His team will give you different looks on defense and play a take what you give, unselfish style of offense. He clearly has define roles for each player. There are no surprises. For a young team with only two upperclassmen in major roles this was very impressive.
Kevin Stockhoff has brought the Brick program back to life. They have maybe the best young talent in recent years to attend the school. They were missing there other prize baby last night. But his team plays with a passion and confidence that is only instilled by a coaching staff. Every player was involved last Night. More importantly every player had his full attention. Kevin Stockhoff, knows he has something cooking. Both coaches made adjustments all evening. Both teams players responded to the adjustments without exception. Now this is impressive for many reasons. But none more important than it’s just the summer. Think where these young kids will be in 3 months. What about in a year or two? Yeah sounds scary, right.
Both East Brunswick and Brick have mega stars of the future in Ava Catanho and Ari Wissen. Both players are kids that move the needle, the type players that give your program pop and credibility. Both have kids buying into their philosophy and culture as well. The energy, on both benches told you all you need to know about where these programs are going. You can see the excitement in the East Brunswick parent’s eyes last night, they know what’s coming down the road. You could see the excitement of the Brick coaching staff, knowing what they have built. The leadership at the top of these programs is spectacular. There is no reason to believe these two programs in the near future are not going to be playing for CHIPS!