Notable Essex Hoops Standouts
Among Multiple Sports Signings

As the fall sports season is very much in its stretch run, the winter sports campaign is soon to follow which the college signings and commitment announcements on Wednesday, Nov. 11, simply remind us of once again.

Among the notable college basketball verbal commitments for Essex County residents are Caldwell’s Addy Keenan to Lafayette and Millburn’s Chace Redler to the Leopards’ chief nearby rival Lehigh.

Making his Division I signing official on Nov. 11 was East Orange Campus star James Roberts (NJIT).

All the sports except for football – which has two upcoming signing days - had commitments formalized, including in another winter sport, wrestling, where West Essex’s Reid Clausi has made a verbal to Columbia University in the wrestling-strong Ivy League.

In addition, as the colder weather settles in, softball fans will soon enough be yearning for the 2027 spring season and one of New Jersey’s top high school pitchers in Mount St. Dominic’s Ava Kelshaw has finalized her college commitment when she officially signed with the University of Michigan to join their Big 10 Conference women’s softball program.     

Among the other girls basketball players from Essex heading to play at the next level are Eden Avery of Newark Academy to another Lehigh Valley-based college in Muhlenberg, while Gabriella Ervin of Columbia High School is headed to Bard College.

Other boys hoops players from Essex set to move on to the hardwood in college include Terrance Johnson of St. Benedict’s (Adelphi), Ryan Lawn of Glen Ridge (Gettysburg) and  Roberts of East Orange Campus, Sideline Chatter’s 2025-2026 runner up as Essex County Player of the Year now headed to play for Coach Grant Billmeier at NJIT.       

SC had caught up with Keenan before her final fall soccer season with the Chiefs as she had selected Lafayette as her next destination for women’s college basketball.

“It was always a dream of mine to play at the Division I level,” said the Chiefs’ veteran backcourt ace. “It was just a matter of finding the right fit.”

Enter Lafayette, one of the strong academic schools in the Patriot League.
In between this past July’s AAU tournaments with her United U17 squad in Ohio and in Kentucky Keenan had the opportunity to visit the Easton, Pa. school that is home to the Leopards, and she felt right away that it would be the right place for her.

Keenan had most of her early contact with Lafayette’s women’s basketball team through first-year assistant coach Hannah Angelini, who is a former star player at Scranton where he also later served on the coaching staff.

Lafayette has struggled with six straight losing seasons, including this past winter’s 11-19 record that included a 7-11 mark in the Patriot League.

Among the other new assistant coaches with the Leopards is former, longtime Chatham High School coach Joe Gaba, who also had coached Keenan with the United AAU program.

“I had most of my contact with coach Hannan during the recruiting process, but it’s good to know that coach Gaba will also be on the staff there,” added Keenan. “I feel that with the promising basketball program and the great academics that Lafayette checks a lot of boxes for me and I’m happy to have the college decision behind me now as I look forward to my senior year at Caldwell where we certainly have county and state championship hopes!”

Keenan was an SC first-team All-Essex selection last winter after averaging 18. 6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game while leading the Chiefs to the semifinals of the Essex County Tournament and a berth in the overall Group 2 state final vs. Manasquan. Caldwell also shared the Super Essex Conference-American Division title with West Orange.

Millburn’s Redler & EOC’s Roberts Hoops Stars l On The Rise

Millburn’s Chace Redler has continue to raise his game to another level each season with coach Pat Leonardis at Millburn. The 6-3 senior averaged 20.5 ppg last season for the 23-5 Millers and enters the upcoming 2026-2027 season with 1,271 points.

He should be a definite player to watch with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks where he should fit in quite effectively in the Patriot League hoops wars.
James Roberts, the East Orange Campus Jaguars’ relentless 6-2 guard James Robert was superb all season long while averaging 17.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 3.5 apg for the North 1, Group 4 state sectional champions.

He was simply dynamic in some of his team’s bigger games, such as scoring 31 points in back-to-back N1G4 quarterfinal and semifinal victories at Paterson Eastside and Montclair, and then poured in 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 7 assists in a hard-fought 82-69 setback to now 2-time defending Group 4 champion Plainfield in the Group 4 semifinals.  

West Essex’s Columbia Wrestling Commit One To Watch

In wrestling West Essex’s Clausi will enter the new season as one of New Jersey’s very best scholastic grapplers.

A second seed at 165 in the NJSIAA state tournament last March at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City he, finished 4-2 and won three straight bouts before being edged, 1-0, in the semifinals by St. John Vianney’s Ryan Gavrish. He then rebounded right away to decision Bergen Catholic’s Manny Gusfa, 7-1, in wrestlebacks before dropping a hard-fought 4-2 decision to St. Joe’s of Metuchen’s Manny Schwarz in the third-place bout.

Clausi, who has continued to get better each season for coach Mike Markey’s strong Wessex matmen, will almost certainly be a state title contender next season whether or not if he moves up a weight class in 2027.

Mount’s All-State Pitcher A Highlight Of Softball Signings

Kelshaw’s journey in finding her future college destination actually happened fairly quickly, beginning with her being noticed for impressive work in the circle while competing with her NJ Pride travel team at tournaments in July of 2025 both Colorado and Chicago.

Then, after being contacted by the Michigan softball team, there was what proved to be a very consequential early October, 2025, visit to the historic Ann Arbor campus on Alumni Weekend for the Wolverine family; and where Kelshaw experienced first-hand some very positive vibes generated by those donning the blue and gold colors of the Big Ten Conference team.

“I found it to be a really special place and I met some terrific people who made me feel at home,” she told SC. “I saw first-hand during their alumni weekend just how special women’s softball is at Michigan as they honored three teams that won titles in 1995, 2005 and 2015, and it was great to see how much they appreciate the rich history and success of the program going back nearly 40 years.

“If definitely felt like family to me with the softball team and the coaches, with a very positive culture, and I loved what I saw of the university itself and I know that it would be a great place to study and play college softball at the highest level.” 

Her high school and travel team coach is thrilled about the college news involving his young pitcher.

“Michigan is an amazing athletic and academic choice for Ava who is one of the top 2027 pitchers in the country, and certainly one of the best we have here in New Jersey,” said Rob Stern, the Mount head mentor and president of the NJ Pride organization. “Michigan is a ‘blue-blood’ in college softball and one of the best programs in the country for a long time.

“We are all so proud of her and can’t wait to see her throwing for U of M.

Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister