NEW YORK — On the day before St. Anthony capped a perfect season by winning the New Jersey Tournament of Champions crown, a single college coach was in the school’s Jersey City gym.
That coach was Tom Moore of Quinnipiac.
Turns out Moore’s persistence paid off as his target, 6-foot-3 guard Tariq Carey, verbally pledged to the Northeast Conference school Friday in the SNY.tv studio.
“The atmosphere was great, it was just a family atmosphere,” Carey said. “I just liked a lot of aspects about the school.”
Carey, who averaged 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the undefeated Friars (32-0), chose Quinnipiac over Missouri State, Boston University, New Hampshire and Siena and interest from Auburn and Clemson.
“He’s a pretty versatile guard, he can play both guard positions,” Hall of Fame St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley told SNY.tv. “He’s strong. He became a much better defensive player this year, so I think he’ll be ready to play defense at the college level.
“And he’s an excellent offensive player when you give him some freedom. He’s a really, really good passer and I think other than Kyle [Anderson] last year he was our second-best guy getting the ball into the post. At Quinnipiac, they were the No. 2 rebounding team in the country so they got somebody who can get the ball inside and they’ve got guys who can do stuff with it.
“And he can score, so he’ll do very well there.”
Carey, a Newark native, figures to play combo guard as a freshman and can then move over to the point after junior guard Dave Johnson of Jackson, N.J., graduates.
The Quinnipiac roster also features former St. Anthony forward Jamee Jackson.
“They just want me to come in and make plays, be a good on-ball defender like I’ve been,” Carey said.
