City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@jsantoliquito)
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It was almost as if Grady Burt thought this out before it happened. Burt, Council Rock North’s 6-foot-6, two-year starting senior wing, wanted to make a seismic moment in his life memorable. So, Burt and his parents traveled 90 minutes north up the New Jersey Turnpike to Caldwell, New Jersey, where on August 27, he wanted to personally to tell Caldwell coach Dean Johnson that he was committing to the Division II school.

“It meant more that way, telling coach Johnson in person that I was going there,” said Burt, who also mentioned Caldwell’s proximity to his Newtown home played a factor in his choice. “Going into senior year, I’m still working, but I know now that I am set next year. We have a lot to work to do. I’m very excited to start my senior year. This summer, I had to get in the gym and work on my conditioning and get ready to play a whole game. I’m around 180 pounds, after starting the spring around 165, 167. I dedicated myself to the weight room even more.

“I really liked coach Johnson and how he runs the program. I really like the campus and the whole athletic area.”

Caldwell is a small, private Catholic Division II school that finished 14-14 overall and 9-7 in a three-way, third-place tie in the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference last season. The Cougars are in the same league as locals Jefferson, Holy Family, Chestnut Hill and Wilmington University, which play in the Southern Division.

Burt is coming off a junior year in which he averaged 15 points and five rebounds a game in Derek Wright’s second year back as head coach at CR North. Burt is his team's returning leading scorer for a young team that went 6-16 overall and 4-12 in the Suburban One League Patriot Division.

“Grady will probably be a wing player at Caldwell, and they will use his versatility and athleticism at small forward,” said Wright, who goes way back with Burt since he was five playing in Wright’s summer camps. “I’m really happy for Grady. His versatility allows him to score on the perimeter, he could score off the drive and shoot it well enough to be a threat on the outside. He’s tall, has good foot work and long enough to have advantages inside. He’s a good rebounder and a good defender, too.

“Caldwell was by far the most interested D-II in Grady. It’s a beautiful campus and this is a good fit for him. It’s a school that will provide a great education and allow him to grow. Grady was fine with continuing the recruiting process, it was Caldwell believing in him and being committed to him that this possible. Grady is very passionate about the game and he is excited a school was willing to make a commitment to him to continue playing. He saw something that fit his eye and he did not want to lose it.”

There is more work to be done.

Burt will be one of four returning starters for North, joining 6-foot senior point guard Oliver Schaefer, 6-7 senior forward Andrew O’Keeffe, and 6-1 senior guard Jack Curry, along with 6-3 senior forward Grant Capozzoli, who received significant minutes off the bench last season.

With Burt committed and the number of returning players who were getting their first taste of varsity time last season, Wright has to like what may be ahead this season.

“I’m excited for the guys, they went through a lot of challenges last year with everything being new, and for many of them, it was their first year of getting significant varsity playing time,” Wright said. “We have a big preseason ahead. Grady is learning how to become a complete player. He is learning and understanding that it is more than just scoring points and making a great play. He has to be consistent regardless of whether he is scoring or making the next great play. He still has to defend and rebound as hard as he can.

“Grady had a few games last year rebounding the ball with which we were really impressed. He had double-digit rebound games early in the season that showed how his competitiveness has improved, and his belief in himself has improved. He’s enjoying the process of getting better. We’re going to need that from him this year. His best basketball is ahead of him. After last year, we had to remind each other it is all about learning.”

Burt, who was also talking to Gannon, said he would enter his freshman year at Caldwell undeclared, though is leaning towards a business major. Burt started at Council Rock North as a freshman, transferred to Archbishop Wood his sophomore year, and then transferred back into Council Rock North his junior year.

“Freshman year going into North, I felt a could have been a big part of the program, but how the program was being run, I didn’t feel it,” Burt said. “I had an opportunity at Wood, and coach (John) Mosco treated me really well, and I made a lot of friends there. When coach Wright returned, I decided to come back. This is great to get this (college decision) off my chest. It was my idea to go up to Caldwell and tell coach Johnson to his face that I was going there. My parents thought so, too. I loved coach Johnson’s reaction. I shook his hand and said, ‘I would like to make it official.’ Coach Johnson said, ‘It took you long enough.’”   

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.