It was almost like a tour of a rock band. Jahvon Quinerly spent the summer traveling the country, playing AAU basketball, getting notoriety and recognition at every stop. He got to play in Las Vegas on national television. There was another televised showcase from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Needless to say, it was an incredible showcase for Quinerly, the Hudson Catholic basketball standout.
And remarkably, Quinerly was just set to enter his junior year at the school on McGinley Square.
“You think he’s much older,” Hudson Catholic head coach Nick Mariniello said. “Because he’s been around so long now, you don’t think he’s only a junior.”
Quinerly, the sweet moving, sweet shooting point guard, has been terrorizing Hudson County opponents for the last two years, starting when he was a freshman. He helped the Hawks to championships in the Hudson County Tournament the last two years, the fourth and fifth consecutively for the school.
But Quinerly had one goal in mind.
“Winning the state championship has definitely been the main goal,” Quinerly said. “We want to beat St. Anthony [in the NJSIAA Non-Public B North] and win that state championship. I like that idea.”
So Quinerly set off on his magical mystery tour of the nation last summer with the main goal in mind.
“I definitely think it helped with all the competition I faced,” Quinerly said. “I had to be ready to play every game all summer. I think that helped to translate to the high school season. I focused on being a leader and doing the things I needed to do to get ready for this season.”
Quinerly is already one of the most coveted players in high school basketball across the nation. You name the big named school and chances are that they’re already in the middle of the Quinerly recruiting war.
“He has a laundry list of colleges that are after him,” Mariniello said.
The coach rattled off schools like defending national champion Villanova, Kansas, Virginia, California, Stanford and Seton Hall that are already in hot pursuit of the 6-foot point guard.
“He’s an honors student as well,” Mariniello said. “He’s the whole package. He’s being recruited as a point guard. They’re prioritized him as a point guard.”
Mariniello has been impressed with the way Quinerly has performed this season.
“He came back to school after his summer with a sense of confidence,” Mariniello said. “He was laser focused on winning a state championship. As talented as he is, he’s really embraced his role as a leader. Mentally, he’s in a good place. He’s more mature and he’s comfortable where he is right now. And I feel more comfortable with him.”
Recently, Quinerly has had some brilliant games. He had 20 points and eight assists in a win over North Bergen, had 28 points and six assists in win over rival St. Peter’s Prep, had 19 points and six assists against Hoboken, had 16 points and six assists against Bayonne and had 25 points and five assists in a win over St. Anthony of Texas at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts.
While Quinerly has averaged 17.8 points and 4.3 assists per game, his totals over the last five games have been flawless, averaging 20 points and six assists.
And for his efforts, Quinerly has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Quinerly is also just a few points shy of the 1,000th point of his career. Quinerly and teammate Luther Muhammad are close to the milestone and could reach the mark in the same game, much like Justin Davis and Tyshon Hanberry of Hoboken hit the milestone in the same contest last week.
Mariniello is most impressed with Quinerly’s demeanor.
“As talented as he is as a player, he’s more valuable to us as a leader,” Mariniello said. “He’s like a coach on the floor and in the locker room. He’s more mature now and a lot more vocal. He leads by example. That’s almost expected with being a point guard.”
Quinerly said that he needed to assert himself more this season.
“It’s what the college coaches are telling me,” Quinerly said. “It’s what I have to do to excel at the next level.”
As for the recruiting process with all the coaches calling and coming to see him, Quinerly seems unfazed.
“I’m enjoying the process,” Quinerly said. “I’m blessed to have all these schools interested in me. I’m just humbled by the whole thing.”
Quinerly possesses a deadly jump shot. If he pulls up anywhere from 15 to 28 feet away, one should just simply know it’s going down, a la Terry Dehere in his prime. With his ability to handle the ball, there should be no stopping Quinerly, straight through whatever college he chooses and into the NBA. A lot of it depends on his ability to stay healthy and in step with teammates and he will be fine, straight toward a career in pro basketball.
It’s not said or written often in these parts, but Quinerly is pro material.
“That’s a great compliment,” Quinerly said. “I’m just lucky and blessed to be in the position I’m in. I’m going to use that as motivation moving forward.”
Quinerly said that there are some things he needs to work on.
“One of them is consistency shooting the ball,” Quinerly said. “That’s one of the things I’m working on the most. Some games, I can hit five or six 3’s and the next, I hit maybe one. I’m working on that consistency. I feel like I’m stronger than before. I feel like my shot making ability has improved. But I have to be consistent.”
Quinerly knows that there’s a lot to his game that he can improve before the next level.
“I play defense pretty well, but I can always be better,” Quinerly said. “The college coaches are preparing me for the next level. I have to come in as a leader.”
“It’s consistency as well,” Quinerly said of the 11-2 Hawks. “I think we’ve been playing pretty well as a team. Some nights, we all come to play and it’s awesome. It’s like clockwork. That’s what we need all the time.”
“He’s a very good pure shooter,” Mariniello said of Quinerly. “The way he has that change of pace and change of direction. He’s smooth with the ball. It’s like he has the ball on a string. I think when he gets to college, you’ll see a tremendous elevation of his game, because he will have more time to work on his game.”
Right now, the way Jahvon Quinerly is playing, there’s not much more he needs to work on.
“But I can’t become complacent,” Quinerly said. “I have to work hard.”
Fair enough. It just looks like he has the perfect handle right now on everything – basketball, school work, his importance to his team. He’s well on his way, maybe the NBA. – Jim Hague
