The Rebels AAU basketball team recently captured the seventh grade New Jersey Shore AAU Shootout.
They’re at it again!
The Rebels seventh grade AAU team, part of the Rebels Basketball Academy, recently captured the championship of the New Jersey Shore AAU Shootout. While the faces may be new, some of the names are very familiar.
Chris Arcidiacono, brother of former Neshaminy star and Villanova standout Ryan Arcidiacano, was named tournament MVP. He averaged 21 points a game.
“Chris demonstrated great leadership on and off the court for the team,” Rebels coach Adam Bowen said.
Mark Anastasi, Ryan Campbell and Matt McAllister led the team in rebounding. Interestingly, all three had older siblings – Charlie Anastasi, Chris Campbell and Billy McAlister - who played at Council Rock North. Anastasi is now playing at Harvard University and this year became the first player in Council Rock history to play in the NCAA Tournament.
“When (Charlie) comes to practice, the kids admire him,” said Bowen, who coached Anastasi, McAlister and Campbell when he was an assistant at Rock North. “Ryan Arcidiacono showed up to our first tournament in King of Prussia and was signing autographs in the stands. It’s a great opportunity for me to remind the team how hard they worked academically and athletically to get to where they are now.
“These kids on my team now used to hang around the team and their older brothers all the time and come to our practices and games, bring them water, rebound, doing whatever was asked just to be part of what we were doing. Now they are trying to emulate their older brothers.”
Bowen replaced Bill Irvin - assistant coach at Council Rock South and President of Boys’ Operations of the Rebels Basketball Academy - at the helm of the Rebels squad when Irvin stepped down for health reasons.
“When he asked me to coach the team, I respectfully declined,” Bowen said.
Bowen, it seems, wanted to take some time away from coaching after seven seasons as a Council Rock assistant – four at Rock North and three at Rock South - and five years of coaching at the AAU level. He not only wanted to attend Arcidiacono’s home games at Villanova, he also hoped to attend as many Binghamton University games as possible since his former CR North teammate and childhood best friend Ben Luber, who played collegiate basketball at Penn State, is now the Associate Head Coach at Binghamton.
But Irvin wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
“I remember he said, ‘Wait till you hear the roster because you might change your mind,’ and I started to hear, ‘Arcidiacono, Anastasi,’ and I interrupted him and quickly said, ‘I’m in,’” Bowen said. “Those are two of the most special and successful kids I have ever been around, and it was an absolute honor to be asked to coach their younger brothers. Players this talented have many options when choosing a high school or elite AAU team, and I am thankful the families trust me.”
So far, so good for Bowen and his young squad – a squad that appears to be following in the footsteps of the PA Playaz team that included some of top young talent in Lower Bucks County and advanced to the final four of AAU nationals and won AAU Middle Atlantics four consecutive years. Members of that team included Arcidiacono, Aaron Morgan (UMBC), Aaron Goodman, Tyler Katz, Dan Brown, Billy McAlister and Owen Rice. Two other former PA Playaz members are also playing at the Division One level. Donovan Jack, who attended Reading Catholic High School, is playing for Penn State, and Brendan Kilpatrick (Malvern Prep) is playing for the University of Vermont.
“The two most unique attributes about the PA Playaz that I want to emulate is giving elite Bucks County players national exposure to college coaches as well as the family-like relationships we were able to build over time,” said Bowen, who coached the PA Playaz. “Gene Rice planned and executed the perfect strategy, and the results were unbelievable.
“My job is to do it again, and hopefully we can keep it in the family.”
Other standouts on the team are Anthony Papeo and Josh Bush, who both averaged 10 points a game in the New Jersey AAU Shootout. Christian Jabbar led the team in assists, and Trey Irvin was the team leader in three-pointers made. Pat Wilcyzski led the team in steals.
Basketball fans can expect to see these promising stars showing up on rosters of several local teams. Mark Anastasi, Matt McAlister and Ryan Campbell are projected to attend Council Rock North while Christian Jabbar, Josh Buck, Trey Irvin and Pat Wilcynski will be enrolled at Council Rock South. Chris Arcidiacono and Anthony Pepeo are ticketed to play at Neshaminy
To learn more about the Rebels Basketball Academy, please visit the academy’s web site by clicking on the following link: http://www.rebelsbasketballacademy.com/Rebels_Basketball_Academy/Home.html
The Rebels Basketball Academy has sponsored the above article.
- Log in to post comments
