RU Alum is 111 Years Old; Rutgers, Seton Hall Notes

I thought I'd share this story to put life in perspective a bit...So my dear father, Donald Zagoria, attended his 60th college reunion this past weekend in New Brunswick. My dad was born in 1928, was the leading basketball scorer in Somerset County in 1944 and graduated from Rutgers in 1948; he turns 80 this summer. He attended the event with a bunch of his buddies and their wives. When he came back he said there were members of the Class of 1938 there as well, meaning those folks were about 90. On top of that, there was a graduate from the Class of 1917 on hand who was 111 years old! If I live to be 111, it will be the year 2079....Sometimes I already feel old, like the time I sat near Valerie Bertinelli at a recent Van Halen show and then told a 20-something about it. His response? "Who's Valerie Bertinelli?"

And now on to the RU/SHU news of the day....

**Big weekend for both teams, with Rutgers landing Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell, grabbing the 6-7 forward over in-state rival Seton Hall and Marshall. Seton Hall then responded by picking up 6-3 Jamel Jackson of TCI in Manhattan. Both teams have one scholarship remaining.

**Rutgers guard Courtney Nelson is expected to transfer to a Division III school in the NJAC. Nelson was declared academically ineligible by Rutgers in January.

**Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez will host a small get-together this week with beat writers who cover the team, so it should be interesting to hear Coach's thoughts on his latest recruits, Jackson, Melvyn "Big Mel" Oliver and Paterson Catholic guard Jordan Theodore.

**While the rest of the world was watching Game 7 of the Celtics-Cavs series on Sunday, I attended the Liberty home opener at Madison Square Garden in which former Eastside HIgh and Rutgers star Essence Carson made her debut in a 77-63 loss to the Connecticut Sun. Read the story here.

And for all you WNBA fans, here's my feature on Liberty GM Carol Blazejowski, a Naismith Hall of Famer out of Montclair State.