Marques Bragg, is a 1988 Ciifford Scott graduate who played at Providence College and in the NBA. (Photo Courtesy of New Jersey City University)
EAST ORANGE — Coming off a state sectional championship season this past winter, the East Orange Campus High School boys basketball team has a new coach.
Marques Bragg recently has been named as the Jaguars head coach, replacing Gabe Baltimore.
Bragg, a 1988 Clifford Scott graduate who earned several postseason honors, was the head coach at Newark Tech for eight seasons, leading the team to three straight New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 state tournament titles in 2023, 2024 and 2025. In each of those years, the team finished as Group 1 state runner-up.
After a stellar career at Clifford Scott, Bragg, a 6-foot-9 power forward, played at Division 1 Providence College under head coach Rick Barnes, who is the current head coach at Tennessee. He actually was recruited by current St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino at Providence.
Following his career at Providence, Bragg played professionally for 13 years, including in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz, and for teams overeas, such as in Italy, Spain and France. Bragg also previously was an assistant coach at New Jersey City University and the junior varsity coach at Orange High School, under then-head coach Jake Martin.
Bragg is excited to be the head coach for the Jaguars.
“Actually, when I first started coaching, I wanted the East Orange Campus job,” Bragg said. “This is my hometown. It’s good to be home. My kids grew up in East Orange. All the kids on this team know my kids. I know the kids. I know the community, so I will always have an affinity for East Orange.”
Baltimore, who was not retained as the Jaguars head coach, was the head coach of the Jaguars for the past eight seasons.
The Jaguars advanced to the NJSIAA’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament final in each of the past three seasons, losing in the 2024 and in 2025 finals to Ridgewood in both years, and beating Hackensack this past season.
As the No. 5 seed, they won all three sectional games on the road, including upsetting top-seeded Montclair in the semifinals this past year. They fell to eventual champion Plainfield in the Group 4 state semifinal to finish with an 18-13 record, as Baltimore was named the NJ.com Super Essex Super Essex Conference—American Division Coach of the Year.
The Jaguars were led by 6-foot-2 junior guard James Roberts, who was named the NJ.com SEC Player of the Year, averaging 17.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.6 rebounds a game. He enters his senior season with 1,353 career points.
Bragg wants to continue the success that Baltimore achieved.
“I think coach Baltimore did a great job of getting the program to a great level. I just want to help to unify a lot of moving parts and try to make East Orange a powerhouse like it is now and hopefully continue to be.”
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