College hoop coaches come together for good cause

Daniel Marks is a Jersey boy, born and raised in Basking Ridge, a proud member of the Ridge High School Class of 2009.

Over the last six years, Marks has held many jobs with the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA, most recently as the Manager of Prospect Information. It’s a pretty term for a talent scout, a guy who has worked his way up the Bucks’ organizational food chain. Marks has watched the Bucks go from a 15-win team when he started to one of the best teams in the league now.

Of course, it helped the Bucks that they had the great fortune of drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo with the 15^th pick overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. Antetokounmpo is the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and was a strong contender for his second straight MVP crown before the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a crashing halt in mid-March.

“My first year was Giannis’ first year,” Marks said. “I say that I can be as equally responsible to the team’s turnaround. It has been really cool to be part of the Bucks and see the growth of the team, becoming a contender. When I first got to Milwaukee, I couldn’t find where you’d buy a T-shirt. It’s been neat to see the growth both on and off the floor.”

Even though Marks now resides in Milwaukee, he always wants to do something good for his native New Jersey.

Recently, Marks came up with an idea that stemmed from his journeys around the country, scouting for possible talent that the Bucks could either draft or sign.

“I was in a hotel and saw all the shampoo and soaps and toiletries that go unused,” Marks said. “I saw a Tweet from a sportswriter who was collecting those things and it gave me the idea that those unused items could go to good use.”

Marks thought that the unused toiletries could go to good use with the homeless in Newark. He then started the initiative he dubbed “Scouting and Scavenging,” an idea that officially kicked off in January.

“We started collecting from January through mid-March,” Marks said. “Then the coronavirus hit. But we have a couple of hotels that have donated.”

Marks also started a fundraiser on a GoFundMe page and raised over $2,000 to purchases toiletry kits, which put soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, mouthwash, toothpaste and toothbrushes in Ziplock bags. He also collected some small non-perishable foods, like cookies, cereal and crackers.

At first, Marks was putting each kit together with the help of his father Bill, mother Ellen and sister Ilana. But the supplies that were coming in were just too vast for a four-person crew.

So Marks reached out to the community that he knows best – namely the basketball community.

FDU head men's basketball coach Greg Herenda (left) and 

Rutgers head men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell at the organizing drive

Marks sent e-mails to every college basketball coach in the state and asked for a little bit of help. “Scouting and Scavengers” needed some good old-fashioned teamwork.

“No question, I wanted to help out in any way I could,” said Joe Loughran, the veteran head men’s basketball coach at Rutgers-Newark, a coach who gets to see a lot of the homeless people that dwell in areas around the campus. “I wanted to help out in a town where I’ve worked the last 19 years. I was impressed with David’s mission and wanted to be a part of it.”

So did Tony Bozzella, the head women’s basketball coach at nearby Seton Hall.

“It was a great idea,” Bozzella said. “All year long, we compete against each other. Now we’re united for a great cause. You don’t realize how many times you go to a hotel and you don’t use the shampoo and it gets thrown out. It was collected as a team and we put them into bags as a team. It was really incredible to see all the boxes of toiletries that had to be sorted out. I couldn’t believe it. It was so organized.”

Greg Herenda, the head men’s basketball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson, also volunteered right away when he received the email.

Then Herenda remembered one thing: Wednesday, June 10 was Greg and Jill Herenda’s 25^th wedding anniversary.

“Initially, I told Dan that I couldn’t make it, because it was my anniversary,” Herenda said. “But Jill said, ‘You have to do that.’ She’s incredible. She’s with me in all our charitable events.”

Herenda also enjoyed himself working the event. He was paired with the Rutgers University head men’s coach Steve Pikiell, putting bags together.

The collection of New Jersey college basketball coaches are collecting goods for the needy of Newark

“Dan did a great job organizing everything,” Herenda said. “We were like a machine. It was great, because I saw guys I haven’t seen in a long time. It was great working with other coaches.”

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also on hand, putting kits together.

The Brick City Peace Collective and Hello Fresh have been collecting goods for the needy every Wednesday at the JFK Center in Newark, so the Scouting and Scavenging group joined forces to have the day of a lifetime. Hello Fresh provides more than 500,000 meals to the needy of Newark every year.

There was also fresh produce and fruits that were bagged up as well, courtesy of Hello Fresh and Table to Table.

The Brick City Peace Collective was established by Mayor Baraka last year. How fitting was it that there was a group of peaceful people working together to help the needy.

“Given what’s going on in the county and what happened in 1968 with the riots in Newark, this was refreshing,” Marks said. “We had a good turnout. The response was impressive.”

Some of the other coaches involved were Princeton head men’s coach Mitch Henderson and women’s head coach Carla Berube; NJIT head women’s coach Mike Lane; Tony Skinn and Duane Woodward, assistant men’s coaches at Seton Hall; Jeff Rafferty, assistant coach at NJIT; Rick Callahan and Jamal Meeks, assistant men’s coaches at Monmouth; Lauren DeFalco, assistant women’s coach at Seton Hall and Matt Loughlin, the radio voice of the New Jersey Devils. Yes, that’s hockey, but Loughlin is great donating his time for charity causes.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (left) and Scouting and Savangers' director Daniel Marks (right)

“The turnout was tremendous,” Marks said. “It was definitely more than I expected. We wanted to keep everything positive and we did.”

Marks gave a special thanks to Dawn Haynes from the Newark Board of Education.

The coaches all enjoyed themselves.

“It was very rewarding,” Loughlin said. “I know Coach Herenda and Coach Pikiell forever, so it was good to see them. We were giving back to the city that I work in.”

“Newark is our city, our community,” Bozzella said. “This has an impact on all of our neighbors. We’re going to go back and help again.”

“I think I’m going to bring my team and go back,” Herenda said. “I can’t thank Dan enough for including me in it. It was a great event and a good cause.”

Needless to say, Marks was happy.

“It just picked up some steam from where we started in January,” Marks said. “I thought it was going to be hard when COVID-19 hit. But I had faith and it turned out pretty cool.”