Published December 1999

MONTICELLO - As he begins his 20th season as a varsity boys' basketball coach, Monticello's Dick O'Neill contemplates a squad which, in his words, “Has improved quicker than just about any other I've had.”

“We're a lot better than we were three weeks ago,” said O'Neill in his 15th year at Monticello. “This group practices hard, and they talk about it afterward. Practices have been fun, and we've had maybe one bad practice all year - that's why we've been growing by leaps and bounds.”

Asked how this year's Monties differ from his recent teams, O'Neill quipped, “About 36 inches. Height and experience, that's the difference.”

Gone are the “Twin Towers,” Justin (6-foot-7) and Julian (6-5) Dawson, who had given Monticello low post prowess for three years. The brothers averaged 20.0 and 16.9 ppg respectively last season.

Also lost to graduation are starting point guard Curtis Cooper, “Super Sub” Tieri Gilmore, and Wayne Kaiser.

Andre Simmons, now a junior, would have provided the Panthers with offensive punch. A starter as a soph, Simmons left the team for reasons O'Neill declined to discuss.

The Panthers had a dominant season in 1998-99, winning the Orange County league (OCL) National Conference Division I with an 8-0 record, crushing Fallsburg for the conference championship. An upset loss to John S. Burke in the Class B title as they finished 18-4.

“Burke has the edge. If I was a betting man that's who I would go with,” said O'Neill in discussion of this year's division race.

Cornwall, Goshen, Ellenville, and James I O'Neill make up the rest of the league.

Along with the Dawsons, O'Neill has had two other scorer/team leaders he could turn to in recent years: 1997 grad Jerome Butler and 1998 grad André Peterson.

Senior point guard Jason Campbell “would like to be the go-to guy this year, according to O'Neill. “He's the glue. He practices just as hard as he plays. He's the heartbeat of the team and leads by example.”

Junior Ed Motl, a sub last season, has garnered the starting forward position.

The new man in the middle is soph John DeGroat, up from the jayvee. DeGroat has led the Monties in scoring in the three of the first four games. He snared 14 rebounds in the 68-37 win over Fallsburg last Wednesday.

Co-captain Phil Stewart, a junior guard, saw action off the bench a year ago.

Co-captain Scott Coddington, a senior guard, and junior forward Sammie McGinnis have also started for the Panthers, who are 2-2 at press-time.

Senior forward Jermaine Harris is out for the team for the first time.

“Jermaine could play all five positions. He could has started for me last year,” O'Neill noted.

“The kids have a lot of confidence in our offense and defense,” O'Neill said. “Sometimes we need to be better organized in our fast break. We're also getting good ball and player movement. When you get both at the same time you'll find success.”

Monticello faced Class A power Ramapo last night in the Pine Bush Tournament. Results were not available at presstime.

Also on the non-league list this year are traditional power Newburgh and Kingston, the two largest schools in Section IX.