Is College Achieve charter the next great Jersey Shore high school basketball program?

NEPTUNE – The smell of the resurfaced hardwood floor permeated the gym at what was once Holy Innocents School, as players from College Achieve Asbury Park, a charter school with a startup basketball program, appeared to glide over the shiny surface, with its dark blue lines and “CA” logo at center court.

As he watched practice from the sideline Monday afternoon, head coach Dave Boff was nine months removed from leading national power Roselle Catholic to the NJSIAA Non-Public B championship, topping St. Rose in the final.

Now, the Tinton Falls resident is working on building a powerhouse in the heart of the Jersey Shore after a storied 15-year career that produced six state championships, four NJSIAA Tournament of Champions titles, five McDonald’s All-Americans and five future NBA players, including Asbury Park’s Naz Reid.

Boff has already assembled a roster loaded with potential Division 1 college talent, putting his program in direct competition with top Shore Conference programs such as St. Rose and Manasquan, which plays College Achieve Friday night. And the endgame for the school is to field the required 10 sports and become a Shore Conference member, with the Knights eligible to play in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 1 tournament this season.

“Shore Conference is the goal,” Boff said. “Next year we’re going to be adding more sports. I know maybe that’s a few years down the road, but ultimately we’d like to be there.”

For now, it’s about finding in-state teams willing to play them – College Achieve lost three scheduled games recently when the team's talent level became clear – since the NJSIAA requires 60 percent of regular season games to be played against New Jersey teams to be eligible for the tournament.

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The Knights take on Paramus Catholic Tuesday night at Georgian Court College in Lakewood.

Keyport native Nas Hart, a 6-8 junior with a Seton Hall offer, had 27 points in Saturday's season-opening 80-55 win over Universal Audenried Charter in Philadelphia, while Neptune native David Munro, a 6-8 junior who spent the past two season at Bergen Catholic, had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The Knights’ first-ever roster also includes senior guard Deuce Jones, a LaSalle commit who is one of several players that must sit out, either 22 or 30 days, due to NJSIAA transfer rules. This is the first school year College Achieve has a 12th grade class.

Junior guard Ron Richardson, who played two seasons at Ocean, and ex-St. Rose guard Ny’Sean Kennedy, a sophomore, each attended College Achieve before high school.

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“I think we have a chance to be really, really good,” Boff said. “One of our better players (St. Thomas Aquinas transfer) Jebron Harris is sitting out with an injury, and with a couple guys having to sit out early in the season we won’t be at full strength until mid-January. At that point moving forward we can be really good.

"But the young kids playing now are playing the right way, they’re working really hard, getting some game experience.”

'I have the best opportunity'

By Boff’s estimation, his commute is down to six minutes.

“That’s if I hit a light,” he said. “It’s been great so far. A super supportive administration. Kids have been fantastic We’re enjoying it.”

And there’s little doubt why he’s been able to ramp the program up at lightning speed.

“I mean, look who is the head coach is,” said Hart, who missed most of his sophomore season at Keyport with a torn hip flexor. “I just feel like I have the best opportunity. And look at the team. Everyone, they came from different schools and it has a really good feel.”

“When I was going into high school, it was either going to be Bergen Catholic or Roselle Catholic, it was between those two,” Munro said. “Now with Coach Boff in Neptune, it’s a perfect time for me to come home.”

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And there's been a steady stream of college coaches making their way to what was once a grammar school gym, with a stage at one end.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have a bunch of great players and had a lot of success on the court and also a lot of success in producing scholarship level kids,” Boff said, “and in today’s world that is something parents are interested in.

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“College costs are through the roof and parents invest a lot in kids when they’re younger, so they want them to be in a place where they could earn a Division 1 or 2 scholarship, or get to a high-academic Division 3 with a good package. Those are things parents looking at now.”

There are a lot of showcase games, including two each against the Patrick School, which won at St. Rose on opening night, and Gill St. Bernard, two of the teams willing to play them.

Shifting landscape

A year ago, Shore Regional reached the Central Group 1 final, where the Blue Devils lost to Eagle Academy, a Newark charter school. Now College Achieve moves into that section, turning it into one of the toughest anywhere.

“Where else are you going to put them?” said Harry Chebookjian, Shore Regional athletic director, who also serves as the Shore Conference president.

The Shore Conference recently added New Egypt High School, which begins playing next fall.

“After you have the 10 varsity sports,” Chebookjian said, “with a school like New Egypt we do a site visit, talk to people like the superintendent, board members, see if it’s the right fit for them and us. Then it has to be approved by the executive board, and the general membership.

“New Egypt reached out to us, we didn’t reach out to New Egypt. But when they reached out we thought it was a really good idea. And then we started the process and it took us well over a year.”

How College Achieve will be received if the school ever reaches that point remains to be seen. But on the basketball court, the Knights are poised to be a force for the foreseeable future, both at the Shore and around the state.

Stephen Edelson is a USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for over 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore basketball: College Achieve could be new local power