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Riverside making its way back from near extinction
By Marc Raimondi July 27, 2009
LAS VEGAS – Ten years ago and beyond, the Riverside Church AAU boys’ basketball program was a national powerhouse.
There were plenty of good teams from New York City, but Riverside, based out of upper Manhattan, was a top destination for the Big Apple’s elite. Tiny Archibald, Kenny Smith, Kenny Anderson, Malik Sealy, Chris Mullin, Rod Strickland, Ron Artest, Elton Brand and many more were Riverside Hawks.
Times have changed, though.
After a sex scandal involving former director Ernie Lorch and the spreading out of talent across the city, Riverside fell apart. When current director Mark Jerome took over four years ago, he basically saved the storied, 42-year-old program from extinction.
Now, there’s one goal.
“We want to bring the program back to where it was,” said Bronx native Tony Hargraves, a former Hawk who coaches the organization’s 15-and-under team.
Two weeks ago, his squad went 7-0 and captured the PNW Hoops Battle of Seattle. And this past weekend the Hawks made it to the semifinals of the Nike Main Event Platinum bracket in Las Vegas. They are carrying the banner for the rebuilding program.
“Right now there’s so many AAU teams throughout the country that spread out talent,” Hargraves said. “My team is a team that doesn’t really have that one great, D-I player that’s 12 years old and you know it right away. We have a whole bunch of grind-it-out kids.”
Jerome said the aim for Riverside now is a bit different than it was when he and Hargraves played for the organization years ago. They want to keep building the program back up incrementally. They also have creative opportunities for kids academically and socially in mind as well. The Riverside 15s have an average GPA of 3.4
“We’re a different program,” Jerome said. “We want kids who are committed. We want to be committed to our kids and we want our kids to be committed to us. And that’s a little difficult, because kids are always jumping from team to team.”
Aaron McBurnie, a rising junior at Boys & Girls HS and a star last year on the Kangaroos’ JV, is too young to remember Riverside in its hey day. He, however, knows how his program is viewed now by outsiders.
“I’m proud, because when we walk in a gym teams look at us as an ancient team, like we’re not good anymore,” McBurnie said. … “Teams laugh at us when we walk in the gym. It motivates me every single game.”
He said he is very happy with what he’s getting out of the program – and not just the basketball.
“Riverside isn’t like any other AAU team,” McBurnie said. “They worry about your grades. That’s what I really like and my parents really like about it. … Most teams worry about your skills. Riverside, they care about your grades and how you feel as a player, how comfortable you are.”
Skyler White, who recently moved from Seattle to the Upper West Side of Manhattan, feels the same way. He and his parents were looking for an AAU team for the 6-foot-5 rising junior at Bronxville HS in Westchester and he says he has certainly found a home.
Being from Seattle, White didn’t know a thing about Riverside’s past, but as soon as he joined up, he googled the program and saw all the success it once enjoyed. He was impressed.
“Some people on the street will ask me if I play basketball, because I’m so tall,” White said. “I say yeah and they ask me who I play for and I say Riverside and they’re like ‘Oh, Riverside.’ People know who the team is.”
And they might be finding out more about it soon as the program builds itself back up. Not that it’s an easy task.
“If we had a sponsor, it’d be a lot easier,” said Hargraves, who starred at Our Saviour Lutheran and Iona College. “You have teams like Team Izod, the Gauchos, the Metrohawks, they’re sponsored programs. God bless them. … We have Riverside. To my benefit, I have a bunch of good kids and that’s all I care about.”
mraimondi@fiveborosports.com
There were plenty of good teams from New York City, but Riverside, based out of upper Manhattan, was a top destination for the Big Apple’s elite. Tiny Archibald, Kenny Smith, Kenny Anderson, Malik Sealy, Chris Mullin, Rod Strickland, Ron Artest, Elton Brand and many more were Riverside Hawks.
Times have changed, though.
After a sex scandal involving former director Ernie Lorch and the spreading out of talent across the city, Riverside fell apart. When current director Mark Jerome took over four years ago, he basically saved the storied, 42-year-old program from extinction.
Now, there’s one goal.
“We want to bring the program back to where it was,” said Bronx native Tony Hargraves, a former Hawk who coaches the organization’s 15-and-under team.
Two weeks ago, his squad went 7-0 and captured the PNW Hoops Battle of Seattle. And this past weekend the Hawks made it to the semifinals of the Nike Main Event Platinum bracket in Las Vegas. They are carrying the banner for the rebuilding program.
“Right now there’s so many AAU teams throughout the country that spread out talent,” Hargraves said. “My team is a team that doesn’t really have that one great, D-I player that’s 12 years old and you know it right away. We have a whole bunch of grind-it-out kids.”
Jerome said the aim for Riverside now is a bit different than it was when he and Hargraves played for the organization years ago. They want to keep building the program back up incrementally. They also have creative opportunities for kids academically and socially in mind as well. The Riverside 15s have an average GPA of 3.4
“We’re a different program,” Jerome said. “We want kids who are committed. We want to be committed to our kids and we want our kids to be committed to us. And that’s a little difficult, because kids are always jumping from team to team.”
Aaron McBurnie, a rising junior at Boys & Girls HS and a star last year on the Kangaroos’ JV, is too young to remember Riverside in its hey day. He, however, knows how his program is viewed now by outsiders.
“I’m proud, because when we walk in a gym teams look at us as an ancient team, like we’re not good anymore,” McBurnie said. … “Teams laugh at us when we walk in the gym. It motivates me every single game.”
He said he is very happy with what he’s getting out of the program – and not just the basketball.
“Riverside isn’t like any other AAU team,” McBurnie said. “They worry about your grades. That’s what I really like and my parents really like about it. … Most teams worry about your skills. Riverside, they care about your grades and how you feel as a player, how comfortable you are.”
Skyler White, who recently moved from Seattle to the Upper West Side of Manhattan, feels the same way. He and his parents were looking for an AAU team for the 6-foot-5 rising junior at Bronxville HS in Westchester and he says he has certainly found a home.
Being from Seattle, White didn’t know a thing about Riverside’s past, but as soon as he joined up, he googled the program and saw all the success it once enjoyed. He was impressed.
“Some people on the street will ask me if I play basketball, because I’m so tall,” White said. “I say yeah and they ask me who I play for and I say Riverside and they’re like ‘Oh, Riverside.’ People know who the team is.”
And they might be finding out more about it soon as the program builds itself back up. Not that it’s an easy task.
“If we had a sponsor, it’d be a lot easier,” said Hargraves, who starred at Our Saviour Lutheran and Iona College. “You have teams like Team Izod, the Gauchos, the Metrohawks, they’re sponsored programs. God bless them. … We have Riverside. To my benefit, I have a bunch of good kids and that’s all I care about.”
mraimondi@fiveborosports.com