PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In 2014, Rutgers baseball retired Hall of Fame coach Fred Hill's No. 24 in a ceremony at Bainton Field. However, little-known fact, Hill did not wear 24 his entire 30-year tenure leading the Scarlet Knights. During his first season in 1984, Hill allowed senior Gary Elefante to keep the number for his final season.
 
The first captain for Hill, Elefante is a successful financial advisor based in North Carolina, but has continued to stay connected to his home state and alma mater through the years. The New Milford, New Jersey, native played in 94 games for the Scarlet Knights from 1981-84, highlighted by hitting .298 with a team-high 29 RBIs and 37 hits as a junior catcher. He earned team MVP and the Scholar-Athlete Award for highest GPA that season. As a team leader, Elefante was a player representative on the Rutgers coaching search that landed Hill in 1983.
 
Elefante earned his degree in economics from Rutgers and later an MBA in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson. He started his career working 20 years in sales and sales management for manufacturers of computer systems and computer networking equipment. Then in 2007 after five years in financial planning, Elefante formed Elefante Financial Services, an independent financial services and investment planning firm.
 
In addition to Elefante's lead support as a donor to the R Fund's fundraising efforts as a baseball program fund donor, as well as supporter of the Fred Hill Training Complex, Elefante and his family recently embarked on a fundraising campaign for the SKJAJA Fund, which is a local organization in North Carolina that provides financial support to kids from families with limited resources to allow their participation in extracurricular activities like music, sports, dance, art and more. The campaign, with an original goal of $100,000, raised $137,000, with Elefante and his wife, Janine, having pledged $20,000 themselves.
 
ScarletKnights.com: How did you end up at Rutgers?
Elefante: "I arrived at Rutgers in 1980. Unlike today where kids apply to a bunch of schools, I applied to two: Rutgers and Seton Hall. Rutgers was the answer because it was a state school at a very fair price. I played football, basketball and baseball in high school, but baseball was the sport I had the opportunity to play at the next level. Coach (Matt) Bolger recruited me and gave me the opportunity to walk on to the team."
 
ScarletKnights.com: What are some of your early Rutgers memories?
Elefante: "I have this memory of coming out of my dorm as a freshman, I crossed the street my second day and thinking what have I gotten myself into? Four years is a long time. Then I thought, there's a lot of other people also experiencing this. I relate this to young kids, don't be a knucklehead and you'll be ahead of about 80 percent of the people. Do the right thing and act with integrity.
 
"There was so much opportunity at Rutgers no matter what you were into whether it be socially, academically or athletically. There was so much to offer and a lot going on. It was an awesome place to be. A great place to grow, learn and I had some classes that were huge, and others smaller.
 
"My freshman year in the fall, I was on my way to making the team and I had a medical issue and had to leave and withdraw for the semester. I came back for the spring and made the team as a freshman, one of the 25 spots on the team. We go to Murray State in Kentucky in two vans, coach Bolger driving one and an assistant driving the other. I remember coach Bolger chewing us out about filling up the gas tank. Most of us grew up in New Jersey, we didn't know what to do. We get down there and wore the same uniforms for like seven straight games. I remember eating pizza in Kentucky, you don't want to do that. I'm from North Jersey, that's not pizza. We didn't play well that trip and I got a couple at bats.
 
"We are on the way home and almost back to campus when Bolger asked to talk to me. He basically said I was cut because they needed another middle infielder and could only keep 25 players, but said he wanted me back the next year. I remember it not bothering me. I had missed most of the fall and the roster was limited, I'll be back. I got a 4.0 that semester, came back to the team in the fall, played a lot as a sophomore and Bolger was a good guy. He ended up giving me scholarship money. There were only about five guys back then who got money. Bolger treated me well, there was a mutual respect."
 
ScarletKnights.com: What were your first impressions of coach Hill?
Elefante: "I was asked to be on the search committee, and it came down to three candidates, with coach Hill getting the job from Montclair State. I remember how organized and detailed practice was. It was to a level I had never previously been a part of. Coach Hill always treated people with respect, especially if you treated him with respect and worked your tail off, which he expected you to do. He might have been old school, but was never a jerk about it. He expected his guys to work hard and act like men, and if you did that, he treated you well.
 
"When it came time to hand out uniforms in the fall of my senior year, coach Hill said to me you seem like a great guy and player, you'll be my captain. I'll let you wear my number because you're a senior and you'll be out of here next year. He wore No. 7 that season, many people don't realize that."
 
ScarletKnights.com: What was it like playing for coach Hill?
Elefante: "He was really a lot of fun to be around. We would practice in the back of the RAC and would do some baseball stuff on the basketball court. One day he was shooting pop ups with the pitching machine into the rafters. That was fun. Coach was fun and knew how to relate. He was 50 years old, but had that ability to connect to the players and kept that all the way through his coaching days.
 
"I had a good fall before my senior year, but my shoulder was dinged up and never got it going in the spring. He would ask if I could play with my shoulder. I remember how much it meant to me that he treated me with unbelievable respect, but the thing is, I wasn't the exception. He took care of his players."
 
ScarletKnights.com: How did you go after graduation and why have you stayed connected to the program?
Elefante: "I had a few job offers out of college and took a sales job in New York City. A few years later, I was contacted about moving to North Carolina and ended up making the move, and it's been great. I always had passion for investments and financial planning and entered that business, eventually starting my own business.
 
"I would still make a couple trips back home each year and would reach out to coach Hill and we would meet up for lunch. He always made himself available. If Coach were alive today and were introducing me to you, he would say, 'I'd like you to meet my first captain.'
 
"I remember when Coach was in his 70s and I mentioned to him that he wasn't always going to be the Rutgers coach, what I am going to do? He always had quick simple answers. He said, 'it's simple, you're going to keep supporting the program.' I said okay and that was the end of the conversation. That was meaningful.
 
"I had a chance to meet coach Steve Owens last winter and we had a great talk. I love the guy. He and the staff are working their tail off. We are fortunate to have him at Rutgers. He is going to do great things at Rutgers, and I'm thrilled to be connected to Steve, the program and to support through R Fund."
 
ScarletKnights.com: Why is important for you to give back?
Elefante: "My wife and I are very thankful for our health and our families and this year has made us more introspective. We are really fortunate. And with our children grown, we got to thinking, how can we give back? And we know the value that athletics, music or dance brings to life skills, discipline, work ethic and much more. The world is competitive, and you have to learn how to win and how to fail.
 
"What SKJAJA does is fund extracurricular activities and tutoring for underprivileged kids whose family can't pay for it. It helps kids who need it. The kids in turn have to agree to do a pay it forward project. They clean the park, cut the lawn or the like. This came right to my core and I knew we had to help. The response has been great and it feels great to support this cause."
 
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