Roselle Catholic, located in Roselle, New Jersey, has been one of the premier basketball programs in the entire country over the last decade or so under head coach Dave Boff.
Boff took the head coaching job during the 2007-2008 high school season and has won four of the last eight NJSIAA TOC titles. He has coached multiple next level prospects over the years and sending kids off to college.
The Roselle Catholic basketball program has had four McDonald’s All Americans and five New Jersey State Player of the Year winners. Jameel Warney (Overseas), Tyler Roberson (Overseas), Malachi Richardson (Overseas), Isaiah Briscoe (Iowa Wolves), Chris Silva (Miami Heat), Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves), and Kahlil Whitney (Overseas) are a few notable alumni out of the Lions program.
Roselle Catholic is coming off one of their best overall seasons under head coach Dave Boff, finishing the 2021-2022 high school season with a 29-2 overall record, playing a national schedule, and capturing on what could have possibly been the last ever NJSIAA TOC title.
“It was an unbelievable season for us. I think going into the year we thought we could be very good. We had a total of ten new players when counting transfers and freshmen. Normally with a whole new team, it’s usually a struggle early in the season and then you kind of grow into a good team at the end of the year but these guys played the right way and played with a lot of unselfishness.” Boff says reflecting on this past season.
“Had the tough loss to Camden opening night and then won 17-18 games in a row after that. We really came out the gate playing very well winning all those games.” He continued to say.
The Lions captured on what could have been the last ever NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title this past season, getting the payback over Camden High School by three in overtime.
I asked Boff how does he feel knowing he secured another TOC title and what could have been the last ever tournament?
“It’s a tremendous pride that we have to win our fourth TOC, which continues to give us separation. It is only three teams in the history of New Jersey that have won more than two TOC’s and only four teams that have won two or more. Giving us four in this short period of time is something the kids wanted to do especially knowing it was the last one. I think it was an added amount of pressure on this year to do it but also knowing our team and our program did win the last TOC.” He answered.
Now the Lions are expected to once again be one of the best teams, not only in the state of New Jersey, but the entire country.
They currently rank No. 6 in the country according to The High School Circuit and ranked as the number one team in the Garden State as of right now.
The Lions return a few key prospects to their roster with guys like Simeon Wilcher (North Carolina), Akil Watson, Tarik Watson, Christian Pierre-Louis, Jaiden Glover, and more for the 2022-2023 high school season.
I asked Coach Boff does he have any expectations for next season’s team and to just talk about next season with Roselle Catholic.
“As of now it looks like everyone is going to be back that is supposed to be back. We graduated Jamarques, who is going to Nebraska. We are thrilled to see him at Nebraska. Other than that, the guys are returning and we will see what happens in terms of new guys coming in. I think we should have another great team. I think we are preseason top-10 in most of the polls, I believe as high as number three in one of them. We are excited to get to work in the summer and then just prepare for next season.” He went ahead to say.
The future North Carolina Tar Heel, Simeon Wilcher, is one of the highly rated prospects in the 2023 class and could be the next McDonald’s All American out of the Roselle Catholic program.
Wilcher, a 6-foot-5 plus point guard, is going to headline the roster for head coach Dave Boff and his staff for the 2022-2023 high school season once again.
“The ceiling is tremendously high for Sim. You just don’t normally get the combination of size, athleticism, and skill set in a kid at a young age. He continues to grow, he is 6-foot-5 plus now playing the point. He is very explosive, athletic, shoots it great, handles it great, passes it. Really you just don’t normal get that combination of things together. When you look at all those things and how hard he works, the ceiling is extremely high.” Coach Boff answered when asking him how good he believes Simeon can be.
The Grind Hoops by Samad Hines 