INSIDE STUFF: Jordan Glover goes up for a stuff in recent action in the Princeton Recreation Department Summer Men’s Basketball League. Last Monday, Glover scored 10 points to help first-seeded Majeski defeat eighth-seeded Pediatric Therapy Solutions 74-60 in the league quarterfinals. Majeski will face fourth-seeded Rogue’s Gallery, a winner over fifth-seeded Clarke Insurance in the other quarterfinal Monday, in the semis on July 22. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
In 1989, Jimmy Glover starred as Trenton State College men’s basketball team enjoyed the best season in program history, going 30-2 on the way to the NCAA Division III championship game.
Now, nearly 30 years later, his son, Jordan Glover, is looking to make some history of his own for the program, joining the men’s hoops squad last winter at The College of New Jersey, as the school is now called.
After transferring from Post University, the younger Glover, a 6’5, 210-pound forward enjoyed a solid debut campaign for TCNJ in 2015-16, averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game as the Lions advanced to the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game (NJAC).
Last Monday evening in quarterfinal action in the Princeton Recreation Department Summer Men’s Basketball League, Glover displayed his form, helping top-seeded Majeski Foundation, the TCNJ entry, to a 74-60 win over eighth-seeded Pediatric Therapy Solutions.
Glover scored 10 points as Majeski overcame an early 17-10 deficit to pull away to the win, improving to 9-1 this summer. Majeski will face fourth-seeded Rogue’s Gallery, a 63-46 winner over fifth-seeded Clarke Insurance in the other quarterfinal Monday, in the semis on July 22.
The other quarterfinals will take place on July 20 and feature third-seeded King’s Pizzarama against sixth-seeded Dr. Palmer and second-seeded Jesse Krasna Hoops Training facing seventh-seeded Ivy Inn. The best-of-three championship series starts on July 25 at the Community Park courts.
For Glover, playing in the summer league is helping him hone his game. “Summer league is just my time to work on a couple of things,” said Glover, a Lawrenceville native and former standout at Lawrence High.
“When I have the opportunity to score, I don’t take it lightly. I take every shot as if it is my last. I try to work on not being selfish and just trying to be a leader. I am working on getting stronger and putting the ball on the floor a lot more, working on my jump shot. I have to keep working on my craft, put it on the glass and attack the rim because our coach wants me to play above the rim.”
The Majeski team took a while getting to work on Monday as it struggled in the early going against upset-minded Pediatric Therapy.
“We were a little sluggish; we had a lot of guys coming back from vacation,” said Glover.
“We have got a lot of new guys coming in so our chemistry needs to get there. We have just got to keep coming together every game and just play as a team. Right now we are just trying to figure out what we have after last season going all the way to the championship.”
Glover and Bobby Brackett, who was sidelined last year for TCNJ due to an achilles injury, appears to be forming a potent one-two punch in the frontcourt.
“Nobody can stop us in the paint; Bobby scares a lot of teams just by his presence,” asserted Glover of Brackett, who scored a team-high 13 points in the win on Monday.
“He reminds me of Dwight Howard by how he plays, he gets every offensive rebound and he attacks all the time. When the two of us are in together, we will be scary this year in the NJAC.”
As Majeski faces Rogue’s Gallery in the semis, it will be primed to avenge its only defeat of the summer, a 69-64 setback to Rogue’s on July 1.
“We need to come in dialed in from the beginning, from the first jump ball to the last whistle,” said Glover. “We have to come out hungry; we are used to being in this environment.”
No matter what happens in the playoffs this summer, Glover believes experience will help the Lions be a championship contender this winter.
“This right now builds our chemistry; our team goes by the motto of family,” said Glover.
“I just feel this summer league is helping us become brothers. This is our fraternity, this is our brotherhood. If we keeping coming together now, during the season we are going to be a scary team. If we learn from each other’s mistakes and keep bringing each other up, we will be fine.”