WEST CALDWELL- Two seasons ago St. Benedict’s was the top dog in the area while winning the Essex County Tournament championship to commemorate its return as a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).
Last winter, as a first-time member of the Super Essex Conference, all did not go as well during a rather pedestrian 15-14 campaign that included just a 3-7 ledger in the SEC-American Division.
The bulk of that team’s rotation, along with its veteran head coach Mark Taylor, left the Brick City school for new challenges which meant that when first-year head coach Chris Simpson arrived back at the school on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. last spring he had plenty of work ahead of himself in assembling a new-look team with players from several different locales, and one which is certainly now appearing to be an ECT title contender this season along with perhaps challenging for a strong finish in the Non-Public, North A state tournament bracket when that NJSIAA event takes center stage in late February and early March.
St. Benedict’s (4-0) came into West Caldwell on Monday afternoon for a SEC crossover contest vs. the Chiefs (3-1) and dominated from the start. Following guard Joe Diorio’s driving layup in the game’s first half minute for a quick 2-0 Caldwell lead it was all Gray Bees after that as the Newark school went on a 15-0 run which ballooned into a 27-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and that was basically all she wrote as the visitors cruised to 61-32 victory.
Junior Terrance Jamison is one of the few holdovers from last season’s team and he acknowledges that the changes with new personnel, including a new head coach, has been an adjustment for all.
“It was tough in the beginning but Coach Simpson has helped us get closer together in and out of the gym while promoting that brotherhood that a team needs,” said the 6-foot-3 swingman from East Orange, who is the highest returning scorer from last season at 4.0 ppg. “Our goal is to bring back St. Benedict’s basketball to what it was, and we’re determined to do just that with a talented group of guys who enjoy working together to achieve our goals.”
The Gray Bees bid adieu to some talented players including the national recruit Michai White, who already has offers from schools including Louisville and Stanford as he is currently at Brewster (N.H.) Academy, while his fellow sophomore and former St. Benedict’s teammate Chase Bray is now in the rotation at Roselle Catholic.
Taylor, who directed the St. Benedict’s program for 15 years, is now coaching at St. Joseph’s of Metuchen.
Enter Simpson, the well-traveled 33-year-old rookie head coach who grew up as a Gray Bee while serving as a student manager from 2006-2010 for current UConn Coach Danny Hurley when the latter was guiding St. Benedict’s.
The new Gray Bees coach had worked in a variety of roles prior to his 2025 return to the Brick City, including as a grad assistant at Loyola Marymount, a head coach at a public high school, Dymally High, in Los Angeles, as a director of basketball operations at Wagner College, and also at two different locations with longtime college coach Steve Lavin, first as a video manager at St. John’s and then – most recently - as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego.
“We’re all new to each other,” said the young St. Benedict’s first-year head mentor, who also works as a counselor at the school. “I just got here in April and I’ve spent a lot of time prioritizing what we want to do as a program in terms of discipline and development.
Leading that wide array of talent in addition to the holdover Jamison are newcomers including 6-1 junior guard Jack Martinez from the Dominican Republic, 6-5 junior forward Daniel Hinkov, who played for two different schools in his native Bulgaria, 6-9 senior forward Arouna Coulibaly who spent last year in Spain, and three exciting freshmen in starting point guard Naz Hilario, rangy 6-5 guard and emerging national recruit MJ Postell, and quick 5-11 guard Jalen Chase.
