"RAVENS NEVERMORE"

How do you take a Bentley and run it into the ground so quickly? The Catholic school is still located in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, the name on the front of the jerseys remain the same, and there's even a glamorous new gym (The House that Gary Built), but the once proud and prosperous St. Raymond's basketball program no longer dominates like it used to. When you saw that orange, white, and blue on the court in the 90's and early 2000's-you knew what time it was. That Raven represented excellence and a perennial national powerhouse. The Ravens you have seen the last few years are a knock off- an average team in the CHSAA @ best. This point was made evident to me the last two times I went to see my Alma Mater play. (Unimpressive win vs Loughlin & a blowout loss to Xaverian) You may ask why an alum like myself would be so critical of the institution that taught him so many lessons on and off the court. The answer is simple: It's a disgrace to see what the program has transformed into! This mediocrity has been going on for years now. I'm quite sure former players and students feel the same way as well. I hope to ruffle some feathers, because it's time for a change. I deserve the right to be critical. After all, with the help of my teammates, coaches and players before us-our goal was to continue to elevate the program every year. That's what we did. St. Raymond's basketball has become a shell of it's former self. That Bentley is now a Hyundai and it's sad. No disrespect to the current players, because there is some talent there-but when you play @ St. Raymond's you're judged on how many championships you win, not individual talent. What went wrong and how do we fix it?

As I sat in the stands watching Xaverian pummel this version of the team, I said to myself this can't be happening. It's bad enough that Xaverian was beating us by 20, but on top of that they did it in front of the 91' City Championship team. (Honored @ halftime for this accomplishment.) Adding even more fuel to the fire was the realization that Gary DeCesare, the man who orchestrated it all, wasn't even in the building. How do you have a 91' City Championship reunion without Coach DeCesare? That's insane to me. When I played from 92'-94' Xaverian couldn't beat us on their best day. They couldn't beat us even if Kareem Reid, Tyler Brown and myself sat out due to injuries. Or even if we spotted them a 20 point lead. No knock on Xaverian, but that's how well coached and how good we were.

Oliver Antigua has been the Head Coach @ St. Rays for 9 seasons. Anything good or bad related to the team has to be directed towards him. I know Oliver from our time @ St. Rays together, but we don't currently have a relationship. My feelings about this situation aren't personal-I'm just calling it how I see it. I'm just opposed to the way Oliver does things. Legendary coach Gary DeCesare wasn't perfect, but he always had his sights set on advancing the program on all levels. Ultimately, you had to respect him because when he took over @ St. Raymond's they were an average team-he built it into a national brand. He didn't inherit anything, he put the work in. His blueprint produced tons of major D1 student-athletes. Gary DeCesare started the trend of H.S. teams having their own summer travel teams (Bronx Ravens), he directed the prestigious ABCD All-American basketball camp, and at one time he was one of the most powerful figures in basketball. When coach left St. Ray's, those were some huge shoes to fill! Shoes that Oliver or anyone else for that matter would be unable to fill.

When I break down the St. Raymond's teams over the past 9 years, these are the issues that I see. First and foremost the players aren't being developed like they should be. That starts with Oliver and trickles down to the assistants. Suspect ball-handling and passing led to numerous turnovers in both games that I watched. The inability to knock down open jumpers is also a glaring weakness. Without any shooters the defense is constantly going to double and triple Daniel Dingle and Nkereuwem Okoro-the teams two biggest threats. Visionary Gary DeCesare never had these major problems with his teams. We were 10 deep and we worked on these areas constantly in practice which prepared us for game situations. If he couldn't get it done, he would find someone with the credibility to get us better. Players 6-10 challenged the 1st 5 and took our game to the next level. I don't know what the hell Oliver is doing in practice. His teams make the same mistakes over and over again.Watching a 93' game against Rice H.S. (Felipe Lopez, Reggie Freeman, Gary Saunders, Scientific Mapp, Melvin Mckey) with my former teammate Rahsaan Thompson, one thing was clearly obvious to the both of us. Our team was relentless on the defensive end of the court. The attention to detail and the constant pressure we put on our man when he caught the ball was astounding. I wouldn't want to play against that team. I would want to play against this years version. The ball-handler is always comfortable. There is no ball pressure and he can just walk the ball up if he wants to. Where is the denial of the passing lanes on the wing and the communication? Xaverian showed no fear whatsoever in our house. Gary DeCesare understood that defense wins championships. Doesn't Oliver get this? Once again, what's going on in practice? You can't blame the kids if they aren't held accountable for doing things the right way.If you're not in shape mentally and physically on the H.S., Collegiate or Pro level-you're not going to be able to compete at your maximum level. From a strength and conditioning standpoint, the players look tired on the floor. A number of players are overweight and need to hit the weight room to add lean muscle. There's state of the art weight training equipment in the school. So what's the excuse.

Mentally the kids just look confused any time a little adversity takes place on the court. None of these players would be able to handle Gary's mind games. When I played, we had what was called "Brain Power" once a week. Coach DeCesare would have a professional named Jim Sturgis come in and work on our mental development. We would meet for an hour each time and it would give us a chance to bond without coach being there. We would talk about any issues we had with coach and practice the habits of "positive affirmations" and "positive thinking". This was the early 90's way before it became a popular trend. Fast forward 20 years later, and every successful athlete, musician or doctor believes in the power of positive thinking and your thoughts becoming reality. How in the world did coach know that this method would be successful? The guy is a genius!

The house that Gary built is no longer an advantage. I call it the H.T.G.B. because coach laid the groundwork and gave his blood, sweat and tears for that gym to be there. He had a vision all along. "I'm really disappointed about how much the program has regressed over the years. From a basketball perspective, alumni relations standpoint, and all of the things that have happened off the court. I left St. Raymond's in a position to win championships for many, many years. It hurts to see where they are now", said Gary DeCesare. I mentioned to coach how the team lost to Xaverian and he wasn't surprised. He asked me what the turnout for the game was and I tell him half empty. "I would have that gym packed every game. It makes no sense for that gym to be that way. There is no home court advantage there. Xaverian forces you to make adjustments-I guess the current coaching staff wasn't able to make those necessary adjustments.

"I just think about the good old days that I had in High School and they always bring a smile to my face. We weren't always pumped about the strenuous 2 1/2 hour practices, but we knew they would get us better. I can't imagine what the repercussions would be for losing to a team by 20 points @ home. I can remember losing to a good Walton team by one or two points @ the Gauchos Gym in 93'. We were all disappointed. "Everybody get on the van and keep your uniforms on", said coach DeCesare. We were all thinking what the hell is he gonna do now. To make a long story short, we went back to St. Ray's to watch film of the just played Walton game. Here's the catch though. We get in the gym and he turns the air conditioner up full blast. Mind you, he tells us to take our coats off and leave our uniforms on. It was freezing in the gym! He points out every mishap-constantly rewinding the tape and barking on us. We didn't understand what the purpose was-but he always had a plan. The end result was that we beat the same Walton team in the State Championship. Gary was a Trail blazer, teacher, disciplinarian and father figure. He prepared me for the University of Minnesota and how to be a man. I guess my expectations are to high for St. Raymonds after all. NYC basketball as a whole is really down. I do know one thing, there will never be another Gary DeCesare. On behalf of myself, my former teammates, and all of the Ravens that you influenced- THANK YOU COACH!!!!To be continued.

"IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE COURT OR IN THE GAME OF LIFE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE FUNDAMENTALS."-Eric R. Harris Jr.