Tommie Patterson is the new boys basketball coach at Paterson (N.J.) Kennedy High School and will replace longtime coach Jim Ring.
“I’m happy to be the next Kennedy coach,” Patterson, who played at JFK from 1984-88, told SNY.tv by phone.
This is Patterson’s fifth coaching gig at a Passaic County high school, following 16 years worth of stints at Paterson Catholic, Paterson Eastside, Clifton and Paterson Charter, where he coached the past three years, two when the program had a varsity team.
“I will try to do the same things I did everywhere else,” he said. “Try to motivate the kids to go to college, win some basketball games and encourage the kids to give back to the community.”
Patterson said he will bring in James Hargrove, Sydir Mitchell and Tony Murphy Jr. as his assistants.
“Tony Murphy played me for on the Playaz,” Patterson said. “Sydir played at Paterson Catholic and Hargrove played with me at JFK. We all give back to the community and we all work in the city of Paterson so it’s good role models to have someone to look up to. It shows you can go to the Paterson public schools and become something other than a criminal.”
Ring, the legendary former boys basketball coach at at Kennedy, was not retained earlier this month after 19 years of service and is currently weighing other options.
“My principal [David Cozart] met with my kids and told them that I wouldn’t be returning and that he wants the program to go in a different direction,” Ring told SNY.tv earlier this month. “He didn’t like where it was going. The statement made no sense to me. I was recommended by my AD thru last season’s evaluation and the district’s AD but I guess the principal carries more juice.”
Ring underwent brain surgery in February and missed some time with the team but then returned.
Kennedy forfeited its Passaic County Tournament semifinal victory over Wayne Valley in February because it had an ineligible player on the bench. Rival Eastside was ultimately awarded the title.
Ring won more than 300 games in his career and captured four Passaic County championships after taking over before the 1996-97 season after the death of his longtime friend Tyrone Collins, the former Kennedy coach who drowned in a swimming pool.
Photo: NorthJersey.com
