Lawrence (’22) and Taylor (’21) look to bring the Plainfield Cardinals back to being a Public Powerhouse

Jamarques Lawrence and Tyejuan Taylor led a young Plainfield team to a 15-11 record last season. They look to be able to be one of the top Public schools in state next season.

One of the questions that you always hear around Plainfield basketball is “How good would we be, if all the Plainfield kids stayed home?” Referencing a lot of transfers, that leave to go to the non-public powerhouses of North Jersey. Plainfield has seen a lot of up and down years since the back to back Tournament of Champions appearances in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

The one constant was those Plainfield teams stayed together for years. They all knew each others tendencies and they played well together because of it. I witnessed something eerily similar when I saw this Cardinals team play together last season. A team that was able to hang in there with all of their tough out of conference opponents.

The part that makes this team special is that Plainfield only graduating 2 players and they are returning prolific scorer Jamarques Lawrence (’22/ MSU Skyliners) and a player that does it all in Tyejuan Taylor (’21/MSU Skyliners). This Plainfield team will go as far as these two players take them and they always perform well during crunch time.

When you see Lawrence I see a player that gives you “calm buckets” he finds his angles and spots he never forces anything and by the time you look at the stat sheet you notice he has given you 20 points which happened to be his average last season, tremendous for a Sophomore.

His counterpart is Taylor, he is a pure a dog, at 6’3 he is definitely one of the top rebounding guards in the state, I would even say he was one of the top defenders in the state. With a 10 ppg. and 7 rbg average Tyejuan Taylor is what every coach loves in a player, he gets his hands dirty and can defend 1-4 on the high school level. I have also noticed the bigger the moment the better the game that Taylor has.

With these two players Lawrence and Taylor and the famous Plainfield crowd behind the team, I would pick Plainfield to go deep into the public school playoffs due to the right mix of youth and experience. Look for Jamarques Lawrence to become even more of a facilitator this season, and Tyejuan Taylor to become even more of a pivotal scorer. With some recent public school grads and transfers arounf the state, Plainfield looks like they can be the team to beat moving forward.

Both of these players are great CIAA, MEAC, NEC, NE10 prospects.

Tyejuan Taylor rises up for a jumpshot versus St. Benedicts

Jamarques Lawrence shoots jumpshot versus the St. Benedicts Gray Bees as Tyejuan Taylor looks on

Noah Harris (’21) is Ready for the Lights

“When the lights are on, its time to perform” -Sebastian Telfair

The reason to come see Rutgers Prep Boys Basketball team play this past season was their Senior forward Nico Gallette (Sacred Heart) and junior consensus Top 25 recruit Trey Patterson (’21/ Villanova), but after their first must-see scrimmage against state powerhouse The Patrick School, you watched the game seeing that Noah Harris (’21 Rutgers Prep/Team Rio) was a point guard with amazing talent and even a higher ceiling, that showed no fear.

The one thing you immediately notice from Harris, is he has a will to win, some call it being a “dog” and I agree. A lot of times he will have the best perimeter defender guarding him which causes him to be quite crafty with one and two dribble pull-up jumpers. The next thing that you notice is that Coach Matt Bloom has total faith in Harris running his offense, he has plenty of talent around him and he knows when to take it himself and also when to defer to his teammates. He immediately notices mismatches and who on his team has the hot hand.

The last but most important thing that I notice about Noah Harris is his poise, in the close game Harris plays with a confidence that he will make the right play. A lot of players don’t acquire this skill until they are upperclassmen in college, with Harris having this edge it’s no wonder why he has 15+ Division 1 offers.

Harris isn’t afraid of the lights he’s played on some of the biggest stages in the Tristate thus far and a national schedule for the 20-21’ season will cause Harris to possibly become a household name for grassroots basketball savants. With a Harris and Trey Patterson , Prep packs a 1-2 punch that could compete with anyone in the northeast.

Offers: Robert Morris, UPenn, Columbia, Fairfield, William & Mary

Pro Comparison: Ty Lawson, Reggie Jackson

Noah Harris dribbles against Zarique Nutter of The Patrick School during a 2019′ Scrimmage.

Noah Harris drives against Watchung Hills during 2019’2020′ regular season.