College of New Rochelle

Kurt Hughes - C

Team: College of New Rochelle Blue Angels [ID #688]

Location: New Rochelle, NY (Northeast)

Conference: VI.5 [Division 3]

President: None

Rating: 33.98 - Overall Position: #851

Fan Mood: 74.36

Alumni Mood: 75.85

Prestige: 66

Team Notes:

• Jan 21 2038: 1-star prospect Gorman Edwards committed.
• Sep 03 2037: Harvey Floyd was hired as the new assistant coach.
• Sep 03 2037: Tony Sutton was hired as the new assistant coach.
• Sep 03 2037: Frank Robb was hired as the new assistant coach.
• Sep 03 2037: Assistant coach Arnie Bentley was let go.
• Sep 03 2037: Assistant coach James Carver was let go.
• Sep 03 2037: Assistant coach Theo Hartmann was let go.
• Sep 03 2037: Quincy Byers was appointed as the new head coach.
• Sep 03 2037: Jon Hay was fired as head coach.
• Jan 22 2037: 2-star prospect Jose Moran committed.

Record:

Wins: 16 Losses: 20 Pct: .444 Conf Wins: 10 Conf Losses: 16 Conf Pct: .385 Conf Rank: 9 Last10: 3-7 Streak: L3

Pts Ave: 73.3 - 74.8 Pts Diff: -1.5 Team Power Index: 130.1

Press Releases:

Oct 24 2018: CNR Can’t Beat D1 Radar; Stay in IV.3 for 2018-2019 - by FlyBy on April 18th, 2021

The College of New Rochelle was so so close. Holding the conference lead with two games remaining, the Blue Angels were shot down, losing the last two games of the season to Biola, who demoted, and Morehead State, who ended up winning the conference. The skid dropped CNR to 4th and just outside of promoting. The Blue Angels were able to rebound and make it all the way to the conference playoff championship, but lost to Arizona in the championship game and with it, their national tournament hopes. “We were close, but we couldn’t close. So we have unfinished business,” said president FlyBy. “To be honest though, we got lucky to be where we were, as we only had 10 injured games and our opponents had 25! Now, we lose the heart of our team, but I think what remains is a great group of players that I think has the potential for big things.”

The Blue Angels must replace starting center Craig Hammond, who was arguably the best big man in program history, and Marvin Stephenson, a legit playmaker off the bench. With two of the program’s best players graduating, the Blue Angels have to reload. “Having to replace Marvin and Craig is a tough task. They were huge for us, not just last year, but for several seasons,” said head coach Miguel Perez. “That said, we have some amazing talent still here who we hope can mesh quickly in this new configuration.”

Through the early games, it appears Robert “Gumbo” Mobley is sliding from power forward to center to replace Hammond, with last year’s starting small forward Vincent Hostetler moving to the four. Defensively, it appears they can hold their own. But there is minor concern from within the coaching staff about stopping the true trees of D1. Offensively, Hostetler and Mobley are two players that have historically spent a lot of time roaming on the perimeter hunting for 3s. It remains to be seen if they stay with that and spread the floor or move their offensive focus inwards for better offensive balance. “With Craig, he was kind of tied down to the middle. Vincent and Gumbo bring versatility and dimensionality to both ends of the floor; they can pick and pop, rumble down low, switch on defense, attack and protect the basket. And we plan on using all of those skills,” said assistant coach Tom Grimes.

Rodney “Moonshine” Emmons and Andre “Revvin’” Evans return as starters in the backcourt and will be looked upon to be more of leaders this season. Emmons could be the most talented player in program history, and having the ball in his hands a lot will be a big part of the plan. As a senior, Evans in particular will be crucial after struggling with his shot all of his junior year and seeing his minutes decrease, a trend that may continue with 4-star redshirt freshman Jeffrey warranting playing time off the bench. “Going into last season there were high expectations on me because of the year before. But things just weren’t clicking. There's more pressure on me now, but Moonie and Wheels can take some off,” said Evans. “Moonie was really coming into his own late last season, so I think it’s gonna be tough for teams to plan for us both.” Emmons chimed in, “Sometimes he’ll go off, sometimes I’ll go off. We both share the ball well. I’m looking forward to it.”

Entering the starting lineup is redshirt sophomore Alphonso Banning, a 6’7” forward whom the coaches feel has the highest potential on the entire team. After coming off the bench last season, Banning brings his crafty scoring and well-rounded defense to the starting lineup for the first time.

While Stephenson’s graduation leaves a gaping hole at the backup guard spots, two talented redshirt freshman are available. D’Angelo Russell will take the backup point guard minutes and has shown a solid ability to deliver pocket passes to set up his teammates. The top recruit of 2017, 4-star Jeffrey “Wheels” Barrow, will garner the minutes at both the wing spots. “Wheels is going to be quite the option off the bench” said assistant coach Douglas Pritchard. “He’s a fantastic scorer and has shown the ability and willingness to be the main option when he's on the floor. He needs some refinement, but that only comes with playing time and experience.”

Redshirt sophomore Dillon Shields remains on the bench, but is joined by redshirt freshman Vicente Gomez. The two are quite similar to the starters, being a tad undersized, but very skilled and versatile. “Having two versatile bigs gives us depth we haven’t really had in the past. They’re going to get good minutes and give us security and options,” said newly hired assistant coach Otis Gates, who quickly received a call from Perez and FlyBy after a mistaken report of being hired as head coach at Redlands. Gates, renowned for his offensive mind, recruiting, and especially his teaching skill, replaces Kendall Hayes after 3 seasons at Hofstra that gave him familiarity with the recruiting scene in New York.

Two recruits join the ranks with wing Laurence King from Freeport, New York and big Jesse Barr coming from Jacksonville, Florida. King is a quick, 6’6”, smooth shooting wing with long arms and solid defense to go with them. Barr is a classic big man, standing 6’10” and 225 lbs, showing solid inside play on both offense and defense. According to coaches, both are going to redshirt.

With perhaps the most talented team in program history, the Blue Angels might have enough fuel to soar. But Conference IV.3 looks very strong at the top, with many talented teams joining the conference like Wash U, SUNY Oswego, North Carolina A&T, and Marquette joining UNC Asheville and Dayton. While CNR looks strong too, it may not be enough to garner promotion or a national tournament bid. “We have unfinished business. To get that promotion that we lost last season,” said the president. Fuel up, Blue Angels, it’s going to be a crazy season!

Mar 17 2018: Homage to The Hammer - by FlyBy on April 4th, 2021

“Craig was just awesome here,” started a visibly choked-up head coach Miguel Perez. “While I didn’t recruit Craig, he trusted me and stayed and worked his tail off to push this program forward. He's meant so much to this program. We aren’t where we are today without Craig.”

Craig “The Hammer” Hammond came from the Lake Erie-adjacent city of Dunkirk, New York, to the NYC-adjacent college. He was not accustomed to the big city, something his 2013 classmates and NYC natives Julian Rojas and Marvin Stephenson loved to point out. Hammond “would just get lost in the city sometimes and he’d call at like 4 PM, late for practice, asking for directions,” Stevenson recalled with a chuckle. What Hammond was accustomed to was the simple life on the basketball court. Hammond may not ever have been a household name, but he became the identity of College of New Rochelle basketball from 2014-2018, years that saw the Blue Angels rise into Division 1 for the first time in program history.

Hammond grew six and a half inches after signing and he became as big a piece of CNR’s stout defense as could be. Hammond graduates as CNR’s all-time leader in total rebounds, field goal and free throw percentages, and Player of the Game awards, as well as just six blocks away from the all-time leader in that category, tied for second in steals, third in plus-minus total, and fourth in points. There’s an argument to be made that Hammond is the greatest big man in CNR history. Hammond graduates with his bachelors in environmental policy and is heading to law school, hoping to make a difference in saving the world, longing to see Lake Erie as beautiful as his grandpa used to say it was.

Oct 05 2017: Blue Angels Now In Division 1 Form - by FlyBy on February 14th, 2021

In Division 1 for the first time in program history, College of New Rochelle head coach Miguel Perez and his staff were a bit nervous about their chances to finish above the demotion line in 2016-2017. “Going into the season, it was close. We had three new starters and not a lot of depth. There was potential to get knocked right back down because IV.3 is a strong conference.“ The Blue Angels went on to finish in 8th, going 15-15 in conference (24-20 overall) and made a surprising run to the IV.3 conference tournament finals. “I’m just pleased we stayed up. Because now, I think we have a chance to make some noise.”

It all starts with redshirt senior center Craig “The Hammer” Hammond, the backbone of the defense, and given that Hammond led the team in scoring last season, maybe the offense too. With Hammond creeping up on Thurman Pauley’s school record for Player of the Game Awards (Hammond sits at 38, Pauley at 41), perhaps Hammond can nab his first All-Conference award in the process. “Honestly, I feel Craig’s been snubbed out of earning an All-Conference selection, at least once. Craig has been so good for us, starting for three seasons and being huge for teams playing at new levels throughout his career,” said Perez.

The backcourt will be manned again by Rodney Emmons at the point and Andre “Revvin’” Evans at the 2. As a redshirt freshman last season, Emmons hit many bumps in the road, especially with turnovers and getting lit up by opposing point guards. Emmons spent all summer working with assistant coach Tom Grimes to improve his game. Evans, on the other hand, looked mighty comfortable at shooting guard. With Evans likely playing heavy minutes, he could lead the team in scoring. With their height and improvement since coming to New Rochelle, the team is hoping they can impose their will this season.

Redshirt sophomore Vincent Hostetler and redshirt junior Robert “Gumbo” Mobley come back as well. Since committing out of Alabama, Gumbo has developed into the 3-and-D player the coaching staff envisioned. Very similar players, both players stretch the floor on offense with their deep range shooting and can defend inside and out with their size, strength, and speed.

Every player who started a game last season, even just spot starts off the bench, returns and this season’s Blue Angels are looking to fly higher than ever in the program history books. Only backup forward Julian Rojas, this regime’s first ever recruit signing, graduated. In his place, last season’s recruits Alphonso “Banhammer” Banning and Dillon “Agent” Shields will take their redshirts off and get minutes off the bench in the front court. The hope is that Banning develops into a dominant offensive force and Shields is the defensive weapon. Of course, their skillset is not just limited to that and both will hopefully continue to develop into well-rounded players. They will join the giant mountain William Hills to soak up the minutes in the front court. All three have been getting reps at all three of the front court positions, so it will be interesting to see where they fit best and eventually play.

A consummate leader and teammate, redshirt senior Marvin Stephenson will reprise his role as the combo guard off the bench, coming in to be an initiator for himself, his teammates, and the offense as a whole. “Marvin’s been awesome. When he first came here, we thought he’d be a typical New York guard - tough, smart, a shooter. And he’s been that. Just maybe in a bit different of a role. He might be the best scorer, maybe the best player on the team. But he sees the potential of the young guys as we do and ceded to them. He still gets his off the bench, but it takes a strong person to do what he’s done.”

The Blue Angels also took advantage of being in Division 1, bringing in the best recruiting class in the history of the program, let alone this presidency. Four-star shooting guard Jeffrey Barrow leads the group of three.

Another New York City kid, Barrow is the highest-ranked player to ever sign with the Blue Angels as the 58th-ranked prospect in his class, #2 in the state, and the #3 shooting guard. He started out slow in high school, but Barrow improved by leaps and bounds throughout the four years. He possesses immense potential offensive firepower and he started to show it in his junior and senior years.

Also coming along for the ride are D’Angelo Russell and Vicente Gomez. The three-star point guard Russell hails from New Jersey where he honed his skills as a floor general. Hayes thinks Russell "might be the best passer I've ever seen" and has already shown off several flashy and brilliant passes in practice. Russell, a goofy kid who wants to major in advertising, “is excited about the opportunity to play here. I’ll be sure to have my phone on me to take lots of pictures and videos.” Teammates within earshot quickly shot leery glares at him and reportedly have been slow to accept him.

The two-star prospect Vicente Gomez stays close to home too, and brings yet another versatile player to the front court. Gomez may be small and just a 2-star recruit, but he has a wing-like expanse, with arms spanning 7 feet, 3 inches wide as well as a craftiness and versatility to his offense new to CNR. “Vicente caught our eye early with what was being said about him. He’s not the most developed, but give him some time here to develop, and that’s what we do best, and we think he’ll become a really good player,” said Grimes. Wherever he plays, Gomez will be productive.

Now seemingly adjusted to the competition level of Division 1, everyone in New Rochelle is abuzz with excitement as hope abounds that the Blue Angels can fly high once again.

Oct 13 2016: To Division 1 we go! - by FlyBy on December 22nd, 2020

2015-2016 Season Review
After a season full of highs, it all ended in a crushing blow. CNR won a program record 38 games (38-7, 28-2) and also made it the farthest in the Conference Tournament than ever before, making it to the final. Unfortunately, once there, the Blue Angels were pasted by a strong South Florida team. Nonetheless, CNR earned a #2 seed in the National Tournament, where they were to face off with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Blue Angels knew it would be a tough matchup, with the top end talent that Nebraska held. Indeed, it was a tough matchup and the Blue Angels received a shellacking at the hands of the Cornhuskers. That ended the season earlier than expected, and ended the careers of five seniors. Still, the College of New Rochelle Blue Angels have risen to Division 1 for the first time in program history and that should be celebrated.

Hall of Fame Induction
One of those seniors is Chris McCrary. McCrary came into the program as the highest ranked recruit in program history (#122). However, he was most experienced at power forward. The staff at CNR was loathe to play him there with McCrary standing under 6 feet. They moved him to the backcourt to backup two seniors. That team had some success, promoting to D2 and winning a game in the National Tournament. McCrary himself earned the 2013 VI.11 Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, McCrary entered the starting lineup at shooting guard. There, he started to show his true calling - splashing threes. He continued that, and improved, to eventually become the all-time leading scorer in program history, earning V.6 All-Conference honors his senior year, and leading the team to this promotion to Division 1. We proudly induct Chris McCrary as the first member of the College of the New Rochelle Hall of Fame!

Season To Come
Being in Division 1 for the first time in program history, the College of New Rochelle Blue Angels have their work cut out for them. Having graduated 5 seniors, 3 being starters, the 2016-2017 edition looks quite young. Center Craig Hammond (redshirt JR) will be the anchor to the team, particularly on defense, the calling card of Coach Perez. Last season's battle for starting point guard doesn't look settled, as both candidates split starts and backed up at shooting guard. One of Marvin Stephenson (RS JR) or Andre Evans (RS SO) will move to and start at the 2, replacing Chris McCrary. The other will lead the bench crew. Entering the starting lineup are redshirt freshmen Rodney Emmons at PG and Vincent Hostetler at SF, and RS sophomore Robert Mobley at PF. Who will be the one to step up? Coach Miguel Perez is counting on all of these precocious youngsters to pick up some of the production vacated by the graduations, but doesn't "expect them to be as good as the guys who graduated right away. But I think with time, they will be, potentially as soon as this season. It’s a tougher level of competition, so I’m hoping we can rise to the occasion.”

Coaching Changes
The team brought in two new assistants in Kendall Hayes and Rodney Bair. Both appear to be strong in recruiting, which should help boost the efforts to stay in Division 1 and be a top program, eventually.

Recruiting Update
Coming in are two recruits, Alphonso Banning and Dillon Shields. Banning stands 6'6" and is renowned for his silky smooth interior offense and switch-ability on defense. Shields measures at 6'8" and shows a knack for hitting long-range shots and with his size and speed, also being a force on defense.

"Alphonso is an exciting prospect. He has a lot of potential and we think he can be the type of player that leads the team in scoring one day and has a huge impact on the defensive end. Dillon is downright scary. If you thought Stacy Fahey was a scary small forward at 6'7" and fast, meet the next version in Dillon. Both of these guys can be the defensive stopper that we love to develop. And they bring a lot else to the court. Alphonso and Dillon are going to redshirt and then come in next year looking to make an impact."

We're really excited about the new, and tougher, level of competition in Division 1! We really hope we can just stay afloat (for now).

Mar 03 2016: Blue Angels Flying High, But Late Turmoil Leads to Strife - by FlyBy on December 6th, 2020

During a dream season where the CNR Blue Angels (34-5, 27-2) have been amongst the top teams in Division 2 all season and have clinched the V.6 regular season title, a fight broke out following the last game at Lane. As a result, seniors Chris McCrary, Stacy Fahey, Ted George, and redshirt sophomore Craig Hammond will be benched for the next two games, which includes the first round of the Conference Tournament. This is particularly big for McCrary, who sits just 5 points away from becoming CNR's all-time leading scorer. While no comment has been made by the players, word is that slurs were said to them. Head Coach Miguel Perez stated that “They felt their brothers were being attacked and felt the need to protect them. I support our players in their right to stand up for themselves and each other. That said, there are consequences for their actions laid out in the bylaws of the conference, and so we will abide by those.”