Money-Earnin' Mount Vernon

March 5, 2009
Mount Vernon High School in New York has a humungous reputation for winning and winning year after year when it comes to boys basketball. While a normal high school’s goal is to make the playoffs and do their best, the Knights of Mount Vernon and their fans expect little short of a state championship, which is usually in easy reach by playing their best. The program is often ranked in the Top 50 nationally, which gives kids a good chance to continue their basketball career at a Division 1 college and even professionally. Unfortunately, the city is suffering tremendously from the rough economic downturn. The situation at the high school is so bad that students had to spend their summers conducting fundraisers and asking for donations to have a sports program this year. Fortunately, they got the program going and are continuing to entertain fans from all over state and the country.

Mount Vernon made a trip out to Oregon this season to play some of the best teams in the country in a tournament, only losing 1 out of 4 games. The Knights usually dominate their local section (1 Class A) with ease. They won the section crown again this year, but did have some bumps in the road, almost losing in the semi-final to heavy underdog Yorktown. They have won the last 4 section 1 Class AA championships and 9 of the last 10. They won back to back state championships in ’06 and ’07, and were favorites to win again last year, but Bishop Maginn sent them home early in the state semi-final by beating the Knights 54-52.

Hopefully this year’s team can avenge last season’s underachievement. They have a good chance, as long as star 6’-6” guard Sherrod Wright can continue to perform at the level of excellence that has gotten him recruited by some of the most prestigious sports colleges in the country. But he wasn’t the first Mount Vernon star to have a deep future in the sport and certainly won’t be the last.

Back at the turn of the millennium, Ben Gordon led the Knights to a 28-0 record, a state championship, and a Federation championship, which involved beating the best Catholic schools in the state. He went on to win a national championship with UConn and become a key role player for the Chicago Bulls, which he is still today. A Mount Vernon teammate of Gordon’s in 2001, when the Knights were stopped short of repeating as state champs, was Dexter Gray. Gray started for 4 years at Mount Vernon and played for St. John’s University and Iona College, but didn’t have a successful pro career. Keith Benjamin was a teammate of his in 2004, when the Knights won the state and Federation championships. Benjamin ended up playing for Pittsburgh University in a talented Big East, and averaged about 10 points per game as a senior.

Three other key players on that ’04 team all went to Division 1 colleges: Jonathan Mitchell, Chris Lowe, and Michael Coburn. Mitchell won a national championship at Florida University, but transferred to Rutgers after not getting enough playing time. Lowe is the starting point guard at UMass and the team’s second-leading scorer. He recently set the school record for assists. Coburn is a point guard at Rutgers after spending 5 years on varsity at Mount Vernon while incredibly winning 3 state championships. Last year’s star was forward Kevin Jones, who after helping the Knights to 2 state titles, is having a great freshman year at West Virginia, and may help them reach the NCAA tournament. This long legacy may continue with sophomore Jabarie Hinds, who has been Mount Vernon’s starting point guard since 8th grade. At 6’, he stands over opposing point guards while having just as much speed and an incredible vertical jump that has led to some entertaining dunks. Time will tell if Hinds joins the long list of Mount Vernon graduates who make a great career in the art of basketball.