1st Annual Mary Kline Classic

"Famous" Amos Leak & Alex "the Great" Kline

Jalen Gaffney
Columbus, NJ
4th Grade

Khem Birch (Notre Dame Prep/Pitt)

Dunk Contest Winner
Jabril Trawick (Abington Friends/Georgetown)

ALL STAR GAME MVPs

Jerrell Wright (Dobbins/LaSalle)
14 pts. 9 rbs. 5 asst. 3 blks

Jabril Trawick (Abington Friends/Georgetown)
17 pts. 8 rbs. 4 asst. 4 stls.

3 Pt. Contest Winner
Isaiah Williams(Robinson/Marshall)

On May 28th, at 6pm...Pennington, NJ would be taken over by Alex "the Great" Kline. Alex had been emotional for years about the passing of his mother and what better what to do something in memory of her, than using his powers to put together something that would be remembered for ever. Alex would then begin to organize the Mary Kline Classic. An event that would feature over 20 D1 Players who have committed to a range of different schools such as Pitt, Georgetown, LaSalle, St. John's, Rutgers, Marshall, N.C. State, Clemson, Louisville & many others, who are from the Mid-Atlantic Region of the country.

Alex has one particular characteristic that people are so interested in...which is his age. At the age of 16, Alex has excelled in writing for not only his own website http://www.therecruitscoop.com/ but for Rivals and other mega sources around the country. Alex has been a huge force behind the recruiting and scouting circuit and for him to organize such an event, there seem to be nothing he couldn't do. This game would be in the memory of his mother Mary Kline, who had departed this world but remained in his heart. She was diagnosed with malignant brain tumor, and was given 18 months to live but remained with the Kline family for 5 years until her departure. Alex would organize this classic to raise money to fight cancer for the American Cancer Society and the National Brain Tumor Society.

This game would feature huge play by some great talent that would and could be future NBA prospects. One of the biggest names on hand would be Khem Birch (Notre Dame Prep/Pitt), who was recently a McDonald's/Jordan Brand All American and is rated the #1 Center in the country. Khem would contribute 12 pts. 13 rbs. 4 asst. & 2 blks. He showed the ability to finish threw aggressive play, play great help defense & just keep smiling the entire game. Jabril Trawick (Abington Friends/Georgetown) would be the show stopper being able to take 2 trophies home as the Dunk Contest Winner (which can be viewed above us) and MVP for his team having 17 pts. 8 rbs. 4 stls. Devin Coleman (Friends Central/Clemson) would come out hot in the first half leading his team in scoring as they broke through with a huge lead after the first, He would finish with 15 pts. & 4 asst. Tyler Harris (St. Benedict/NC State), would play big with 22 pts. & 6 rbs. as he made all the necessary moves and prominent decisions to help his team. Angel Nunez (Notre Dame Prep/Louisville) would play big with 11 pts. 5 rbs. & 3 asst. and show some great athletic ability and game time intensity. But this game would be dominated and have a great showing by Jerrell Wright (Dobbins/LaSalle) who played tremendously well shooting the ball, inside defense, running the floor & even passing the ball. He won MVP of the winning team with 14 pts. 9 rbs. 5 asst. & 3 blks. He showed the play that scouts had been missing and excluded, but after the game, many recognized him as one of the best players that they have seen around playing tremendously out the gate against whoever would play him.


In the end, the game is listed as a success. There is no doubt in my mind that Alex's mother is proud of his ability to do such a great thing for society and make a huge contribution to the future of many different basketball players. This event would raise $7,000 dollars and bring upon many different potential future ideas and concepts of this event. It was a great turnout and huge fan base would get to see the future of basketball before their eyes. Alex mentioned to the media, "I am truly grateful and humbled by the experience of the players attending, when they didn't have to and they are from all over, they played tremendously well and had a great attitude towards the entire event, which I loved, I can't thank everyone enough for making one of my dreams come true and I will continue to do so, every year so that we can continue to see the future of basketball and even bigger, contribute to a great cause for the world"

On a side note: Jalen Gaffney from Columbus, NJ who is in 4th grade put on a show for the crowd at halftime. He would make tremendous play with his vision and show his incredible ball handling skills. He played wonderful defense and shows his great IQ of the game on the floor. Congratulations to the NJABC basketball program for having such great children play and develop their skills towards their future.