MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — T.J. Whitaker has been appointed as the new Columbia High School head boys basketball coach.
An honors English and social studies teacher at CHS, Whitaker is a 1987 Seton Hall Prep graduate in West Orange, where he played for legendary former head coach Bob Farrell. In his junior year, the SHP Pirates won the first of 12 state championships.
Whitaker, who has been a teacher at CHS since 2002, replaced Deon Mingo, who was the head coach for the past two seasons. Prior to Mingo, the Cougars were guided by Eugene “Bam” Robinson for nine seasons. Robinson had a 108-105 record at CHS.
Whitaker’s assistant coaches are Eddie Starzynski, Matthew Derilus, Greg Synsmir and volunteer Tunde Adedoyin, who are all CHS graduates. They also have experience with the Maplewood-South Orange recreation program.
The Cougars, who are coming off a 7-18 season, will have several key returning players, such as junior guard Jayvon Rogers, and sophomores Zach Alexander, Matthew Synsmir and Liam Ayers.
The following is a Q&A with Whitaker.
Q: What was your reaction when you were named the new head coach?
A: When I first got the news that I would be the new head coach, I was ‘relieved.’ Having been an assistant on the previous staff, I wasn’t sure what direction school administration wanted to go, but I was relieved because I knew that I wanted to be a part of the solution for our players and their families.
Q: What are your initial impressions of the players?
A: I was an assistant on the staff under coach Deon Mingo for the two previous seasons, so I feel like I know our players well. My impressions are that we have some talented players returning who have the potential to immediately begin turning the program around with a commitment to developing both their basketball skills, and perhaps more important is getting physically stronger.
Q: What are your short-term and long-term goals?
A: Our short-term goals are to immediately improve our efforts, on and off the court. Despite last season’s losing record, our coaching staff truly believes that with consistent hard work in the offseason, we have the talent to compete in the SEC–Liberty division. Our long-term goal is to build a consistent and highly competitive public high school program right here in South Orange–Maplewood with homegrown talent. CHS sends students to the best schools in the country every year, so the education that players can get here is top notch, and we are rolling out a new program to support all of our athletes. Given that reality, it is our job as coaches to make the Columbia boys basketball program a viable option for local families to consider.
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