Rosario Named New Jersey Player of the Year
Mar 30 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Incoming Scarlet Knight Mike Rosario has been named the State Player of the Year by the Newark Star-Ledger. The 6-3, 190-pound guard helped lead St. Anthony's, the Star-Ledger Team of the Year, to a perfect 32-0 record and the No. 1 ranking in the USA Today Super 25 poll.
The first McDonald's All-American in the history of Rutgers men's basketball, Rosario's talents were recently on display before a nationally-televised audience on ESPN. He scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added five steals to help the East squad to a 107-102 win over the West in the McDonald's All-America game played Wednesday, March 26, at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. His five thefts were a game-high and tied for the fifth most in the history of the contest.
Rosario averaged 19.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for the undefeated Friars under head coach Bob Hurley, Sr. Hurley, in his 36th season at the helm, has led SAHS to a 933-101 record, three national championships (1989, 1996, 2008), a national-record 25 state championships and 10 Tournament of Champions titles. The Garden State's winningest high school coach, all but two of Hurley's players have gone on to college. Six 2007-08 St. Anthony seniors signed National Letters of Intent to play Division I basketball.
Rosario is the 18th-rated overall prospect and the fifth-ranked shooting guard nationally by ESPN/Scouts, Inc.
Rutgers fans received a trio of sneak previews of Rosario on the RAC hardwood this season. St. Anthony played John Carroll of Maryland on February 8 as part of the Prime Time Shootout. He finished 12-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from three-point range, en route to a season-high 32 points in a 71-33 victory. On March 6, Rosario shot eight of 12 from the field en route to 19 points as the Friars defeated St. Patrick's 64-52 to win the North Jersey Non-Public B title. On March 14, he scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lead SAHS to a 76-41 win over Immaculata in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions.
In three games on his future home court, Rosario averaged 24.3 points per contest.
Three student-athletes, including Rosario, signed National Letters of Intent on Nov. 14 to compete for the Scarlet Knights. Also slated to join Rosario "On The Banks" are 6-9, 270-pound center Christian Morris and 6-6, 200-pound forward Patrick Jackson. Morris is the nation's No. 25 center prospect according to Scout.com and Jackson is the country's No. 24-ranked small forward recruit by ESPN/Scouts, Inc.
