A series of comments on Facebook this week -- and the success a fresh-faced group of Seton Hall University basketball players is enjoying this winter -- is rekindling memories of a great young basketball player from another time: Paul Lape. He handled the ball like no one else and, combined with his knowledge and instincts for the game, made it impossible for fans and opponents to take their eyes off him.
Paul Lape was an amazing basketball player for Bloomfield High School -- his dribbling and passing skills froze opponents and allowed him to drive past them to the basket, or enabled teammates to make open shots. One of only nine boys in the history of Bloomfield to score over 1000 points for the varsity basketball team, I've never seen a high school player quite like him.
Sure, Kelly Tripucka and Alaa Abdelnaby were virtually unstoppable Bloomfield players who went on to become college stars and enjoy long NBA careers. But Lape, who was under 6-foot tall and looked just like any another kid, was unique, leading Bloomfield to a New Jersey state championship in 1971.
Lape was a starter for Bill Raftery's Seton Hall University team for two seasons, averaging over seven assists a game both years. In fact, he still holds the Seton Hall record for most assists in a game -- 17, as a freshman at Madison Square Garden against St. Peter's in 1973. Lape left Seton Hall during his junior year and finished his collegiate athletic career at William Paterson in 1977.
Whenever I ran into Lape around Bloomfield years later, I would tell my young sons, "There is the most exciting basketball player I ever saw."
Paul Lape was an amazing basketball player for Bloomfield High School -- his dribbling and passing skills froze opponents and allowed him to drive past them to the basket, or enabled teammates to make open shots. One of only nine boys in the history of Bloomfield to score over 1000 points for the varsity basketball team, I've never seen a high school player quite like him.
Sure, Kelly Tripucka and Alaa Abdelnaby were virtually unstoppable Bloomfield players who went on to become college stars and enjoy long NBA careers. But Lape, who was under 6-foot tall and looked just like any another kid, was unique, leading Bloomfield to a New Jersey state championship in 1971.
Lape was a starter for Bill Raftery's Seton Hall University team for two seasons, averaging over seven assists a game both years. In fact, he still holds the Seton Hall record for most assists in a game -- 17, as a freshman at Madison Square Garden against St. Peter's in 1973. Lape left Seton Hall during his junior year and finished his collegiate athletic career at William Paterson in 1977.
Whenever I ran into Lape around Bloomfield years later, I would tell my young sons, "There is the most exciting basketball player I ever saw."
