St. Anthony alums Bishop, Okeke healthy, thriving at FDU, plus a look at Hudson's March Madness participants

Kaleb Bishop of St. Anthony's tries to move around Deaquan Williams of Camden during high school basketball action Camden plays St. Anythony's. JERSEY CITY, NJ 2/6/2016 ( George McNish| For NJ Advance Media)

Kaleb Bishop of St. Anthony's tries to move around Deaquan Williams of Camden during high school basketball action Camden plays St. Anythony's. JERSEY CITY, NJ 2/6/2016 ( George McNish| For NJ Advance Media)

Kaleb Bishop and Oscar Okeke arrived at Fairleigh Dickinson University with a championship pedigree due to their time at St. Anthony.

But when the two forwards won the Northeast Conference Championship, punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, it produced a different response. While both were a part of St. Anthony’s undefeated 2016 Tournament of Champions team, neither got to enjoy it on the court. Instead, both were merely spectators due to serious injuries suffered earlier in the season.

"To play at St. Anthony, but not to play in the state final was really heartbreaking for me," said Bishop, a Paterson native, who started at St. Peter's Prep before spending his junior and senior seasons with the Friars. "To actually play in this championship and win the game really means a lot because my senior year I was hurt and I couldn't experience it. I actually felt like I was a part of this championship run."

Three years after missing the Non-Public B and T of C finals due to a broken foot, Bishop was one of the stars in a 85-76 championship win at Saint Francis (PA), posting 20 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-10 shooting.

"In big games, Kaleb plays big," said Fairleigh Dickinson coach Greg Herenda, a North Bergen native and former St. Peter's Prep standout. "We need Kaleb to be more consistent, but his upside (is huge). He's very underrated. He's probably the most improved player in our conference and in our program."

Sitting besides Bishop on the St. Anthony bench was Okeke, who missed all of his junior year due to a torn ACL in his right knee. The 6-foot-11 center from Nigeria missed most of his senior year as he struggled to regain form after the injury and spent a year at Gulf Coast State College before finding a home at FDU as a reserve off the bench.

“The day I tore my ACL, I thought my basketball career was over. Each time, I went to sleep, I was like ‘damn,’” recalled Okeke. “It took me a while. It was nine months to get back, but more than a year til I felt right. During that time, while I was struggling, I was always in the gym, trying to get myself ready.”

While Bishop and Okeke were struggling to make it back to court, Herenda was enjoying a storybook season, leading Fairleigh Dickinson to a NEC title in 2016.

At a small school like Fairleigh Dickinson, such moments are rare and need to be cherished, which is why it was a celebratory mood on the Teaneck campus as the team watched on a 30-foot projection with friends, family and fans where they would be heading to. Cheers went up through the auditorium when their name flashed on the screen, announcing it’s matchup with Prairie View A&M in the First Four tonight at 6:40 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio.

With a victory, which would be the first tournament win in FDU history, the Knights will advance to face Gonzaga, the top seed in the West Region, in Salt Lake City on Thursday.

“I think this is something that they’ll never forget,” Herenda said shortly after the pairing was announced and taking photos with several of his childhood friends from North Bergen. “We call it FDU Family, not FDU Nation because we’re not a nation, we’re a family. We have brothers and sisters and alum and it’s a family. Every family has issues, but not today.”

That FDU family became even closer 11 months ago when Herenda was battling for his life. While at the Final Four in San Antonio, the Bergen County resident started feeling week and had trouble walking. After going to the emergency room, he was diagnosed with two large blood clots - one in his leg, the other in his abdomen - as well as a fever of 104 degrees. Herenda would spend 15 days in the hospital, eight of them in intensive care.

“I said I didn’t want to die in Texas and that there was a reason to live,” Herenda said. “I just thought of my team in a TV timeout and every time I talked to them about getting back and working hard and just chipping away at it. That’s how I got out of this.

“I’ve said it before, I was in bed, I was in a wheelchair, a walker, a cane, and now we’re dancing! It’s really amazing. It’s not real. It’s like it couldn’t happen, it would be a fantasy book of fiction if someone wrote it. I’ve lived it and I’m cherishing this moment.”

Here is a list of players and coaches with Hudson County ties in the NCAA Tournament:

NAME, COLLEGE, HUDSON CONNECTION
PLAYERS
Kaleb Bishop, Fairleigh Dickinson, played at St. Anthony and St. Peter's Prep
Ceasar DeJesus, Central Florida, West New York resident, who played at Teaneck
Asante Gist, Iona, played at St. Anthony and Marist
Louis King, Oregon, played at Hudson Catholic
Luther Muhammad, Ohio State, played at Hudson Catholic
Oscar Okeke, Fairleigh Dickinson played at St. Anthony
Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple, played at St. Peter's Prep, finished his HS career at Roselle Catholic
Jahvon Quinerly, Villanova, played at Hudson Catholic
James Scott, Temple, played at St. Peter's Prep, finished his HS career at St. Benedict's
Taurean Thompson, Seton Hall played at St. Anthony, finished his HS career at Brewster Academy (NH)

COACHES
Rashon Burno, assistant coach at Arizona State, played at St. Anthony
Greg Herenda, head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson, played at St. Peter's Prep
Bobby Hurley, head coach at Arizona State, played at St. Anthony
Darren Savino, assistant coach at Cincinnati, played at St. Anthony

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