Boys Basketball 2024-25 All-Freshman Honors, Freshman of the Year

2024-25 Shore Sports Insider Freshman of the Year

Izayah Cooper, St. Rose

With two All-Shore starters graduating from the No. 1 team in New Jersey in 2023-24, there was opportunity for someone to step into important minutes on the 2024-25 St. Rose boys basketball team.

With that opportunity, however, also came extremely high standards.

With 2023-24 bench contributors Avery Lynch and Tyler Cameron ascending the depth chart to become starters this season, their roles went to a pair of freshmen in Izayah Cooper and Oymere Rene. Both freshmen were thrown into the fire in their first high school seasons and proved to be worthy of their minutes and their roles on a Purple Roses team that once again finished No. 1 at the Shore and within the top five in New Jersey.

With his knack for hitting big shots, handling the ball, getting teammates involved and disruptive defense, it was Cooper who shined brightest on the big stage when compared to his fellow Shore Conference rookies and for that, Cooper is the 2024-25 Shore Sports Insider Freshman of the Year.

Statistically, there were other freshman in the Shore Conference who had superior seasons to the one Cooper put up. He ranked 10th among freshman in points per game and more than 10 points per game behind the leading scorer among freshmen, Toms River East guard Brady Gillen. On the plus side, he was second among freshman with 2.9 assists (trailing only Toms River North’s Jake Greenberg) and of all the freshmen to top him in scoring, only one was not a starter for his team.

Playing for St. Rose, the opportunity was not there to start for Cooper like it might have been for other teams around the conference, but he still managed to make a major impact for the Shore’s No. 1 squad. Cooper had four games of double-digit scoring off the bench – two against Jackson Memorial and the other two against a pair of high-level opponents. Cooper posted 10 points and five assists in a loss to Darius Adams and La Lumiere (In.) at the Metro Classic and later poured in 10 points to help St. Rose upend Non-Public A champion Bergen Catholic when the Crusaders were ranked No. 1 in the state.

Purple Roses coach Brian Lynch turned Cooper loose against Jackson Memorial, against whom Cooper averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 assists, including 17 points, five rebounds and seven assists in the first of two wins over the Jaguars.

“Zay, for a freshman, never looks like he is nervous out there,” Lynch said after Cooper posted eight points, four rebounds and four assists in a win over Manasquan in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals. “He is just so smart for a freshman, so it’s awesome being able to bring him off the bench. He is good enough to start for us, but he understands his place as a freshman, and he has embraced coming off the bench with that spark.”

Cooper also had a strong outing in a regular-season home win over Manasquan (six points and six assists in a regular-season), as well as wins over Union Catholic (eight points, six assists) and Central Regional (six points, seven rebounds, three assists). Manasquan finished the season No. 8 in N.J. and No. 2 in the Shore Conference, Union Catholic was No. 20 in the state and Central finished No. 4 in the Shore Sports Insider Shore Conference rankings.

Cooper made only one shot in St. Rose’s regular-season win over Gill St. Bernard’s — another top 10 team in N.J. — but it was a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:35 left that gave St. Rose the lead for good.

Cooper’s prospects for 2025-26 appear to be promising at St. Rose, where he figures to move into the starting five and take on a larger offensive role with the graduations of Evan Romano and Bryan Ebeling. As a running mate of Jayden Hodge – a top-50 recruit in the Class of 2026 – Cooper has a chance to develop into one of the state’s better guards before he is finished with his high school career.

After Gill takes the lead Izayah Cooper hits a go-ahead 3 for St. Rose. 47-45 with 1:18 left. pic.twitter.com/2y7Wwi6NZ0

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) January 12, 2025

 

2024-25 Shore Sports Insider All-Freshman Team

First Team (With 2024-25 Stats)

Izayah Cooper, 6-0, Guard, St. Rose (5.3 points, 2.9 assists)

Brady Gillen, 6-0, Guard, Toms River East (15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.5 blocks)

Mi’Aire Anderson, 6-3, Forward, Jackson Memorial (6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.65 blocks)

Jake Greenberg, 6-2, Guard, Toms River North (8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals)

Oymere Rene, 6-2, Guard, St. Rose (2.2 points, 1.0 assists)

Anthony Serini, 5-10, Guard, Holmdel (6.1 points)

 

Second Team

Cayson Williams, 6-4, Forward, Matawan (6.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 blocks)

Justin Roberts, 5-11, Guard, Manchester (7.9 points, 2.4 assists)

Tommy Intintola, 6-4, Forward, Toms River East (7.3 points, 5.9 rebounds)

Nate Sloane, 6-2, Guard, Colts Neck (3.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks)

Mario Diamantis, 5-10, Guard, Raritan (7.8 points, 1.5 assists, 43 3-pointers)

Brody Bell, 5-8, Guard, Ocean (7.7 points, 53 3-pointers)

Honorable Mention: T.J. Hunter, Donovan Catholic; Jaylen Johnson, Brick; Dion Burton Jr., Neptune; Abel Martinez, Lakewood; Tyrese Jones, Lakewood; Ryan Corwin, Monmouth; A.J. Mizhir, Ranney; Asher Cummins, Red Bank Catholic; Taurian Black, Keansburg