Boys Basketball 2024-25 Player of the Year: Jayden Hodge, St. Rose

Shore Sports Insider 2024-25 Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Jayden Hodge, St. Rose

Before he played a game during his junior basketball season at St. Rose High School, Jayden Hodge already had a résumé that included an All-Shore First Team selection, a four-star rating and a top 100 ranking as a guard in the Class of 2026, a double-double in St. Rose’s first Shore Conference Tournament championship victory, an overall NJSIAA Non-Public B state championship and a No. 1 overall ranking in New Jersey for his team to finish the 2023-24 season.

This season, Hodge set out to do what he did not have to do in either of his first two seasons: live up to St. Rose’s new championship standards without his older brother on the team.

Matt Hodge was the unquestioned leader and top player on St. Rose in each of the Purple Roses’ championship seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24, but with the elder Hodge at Villanova this school year, it was Jayden’s time to take the reins as St. Rose’s on-court leader. The younger Hodge met all expectations, turning in a career year, exceeding his brother’s junior-year individual and team exploits and capping his third season in the United States with the Shore Sports Insider Boys Basketball Player of the Year Award.

“Every time we step on the floor, I know we have the best player on the court,” St. Rose coach Brian Lynch said of Jayden Hodge.

New Jersey’s first live look at the Hodge Brothers came in 2022-23, when they arrived from Belgium with Jayden as a freshman and Matt a junior. Despite differences in their respective games – Matt played as a rim-protecting forward on defense and with a more oft-used inside game on offense, while Jayden has played a traditional wing on both ends of the court – the two have been compared and contrasted from the beginning. Jayden has not shied away from those comparisons, but has also been confident in pursuing his own style of play while looking to copy his brother’s work habits and leadership qualities.

“I think my brother taught me a lot because he was a great leader last year,” Hodge said after he and St. Rose won a second straight Shore Conference Tournament championship. “To see the stuff he did, I could take tips from that. He told me this is going to be your team, and the team is going to be good, so I got to be a leader and speak up. That’s what I did, and I really appreciate him for telling me stuff like that.”

It all came together this season for Jayden Hodge, whose season-long averages compared favorably to those of his older brother. He outscored Matt by nearly five points per game, scoring 19.6 points to Matt’s 14.75 as a junior. Matt has him beat in rebounding (9.6 to 6.3) and assists (4.0 to 3.0) but Jayden owns the edge in steals (2.5 to 1.75). Matt was effectively the Player of the Year runner-up to Manasquan’s Darius Adams in the 2022-23 season before winning the Shore Conference Player of the Year Award in convincing fashion as a senior a year ago.

Beyond the individual stats, Jayden Hodge led a St. Rose team that was sure to miss his brother and fellow 2024 graduate Gio Panzini and kept them in the running for the No. 1 ranking in the state all the way to the final weekend of the season. For the second straight year, the Purple Roses won the Shore Conference Tournament in convincing fashion – this time beating the other three teams ranked in the top four of the Shore Conference in consecutive rounds to win the championship: No. 4 Central Regional, No. 2 Manasquan and No. 3 Christian Brothers Academy. As a sophomore in 2024, Jayden Hodge stole the show in the championship game with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 48-27 win over Manasquan. In this year’s final, he replicated that 19-and-10 performance in a 45-36 win over CBA at Monmouth.

That championship performance against CBA was just one of many productive games by Hodge against quality opponents. Against opponents that were either ranked in the Shore Conference by SSI, ranked in the final top 20 by NJ Advance Media (including the NJSIAA-unaffiliated Patrick School) or from out of state, Hodge exceeded his season-long averages with an even 21 points and 6.9 rebounds in 19 games.

On top of the on-paper production, Hodge routinely guarded the opposition’s best player and showed the capacity to shut down scorers of all sizes.

“I honestly think Jay is one of the best defenders in the state,” Lynch said. “He is 6-foot-6, he can guard a 6-8 or 6-9 guy because he is strong and, for some reason, he is able to stick with 6-foot guys because of his speed. He’s a special defensive guy.”

The 2024-25 season appeared to be in early danger for Hodge – and, by extension, St. Rose – when he suffered a knee injury that was painful enough that he left the gym following a scrimmage at Rumson-Fair Haven on crutches. Just five days later, however, Hodge dressed and participated in warm-ups for St. Rose’s season-opener vs. Paramus Catholic, although he did not play as a precaution. Hodge’s value to his team was evident that night, as St. Rose fell to a Paramus Catholic squad that finished 14-14 against a quality schedule.

Hodge returned to action two nights later at rival Manasquan and after a slow start by him and his team, the junior scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Purple Roses close with a 19-2 run and beat Manasquan, 50-45.

From there, Hodge showed no ill effects from the preseason injury scare. He went for 30 points, 11 rebounds and four assist in a win over a ranked Rutgers Prep squad that St. Rose would late meet in the NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public B final. He then closed December strong at the Jordan Brand Classic and the Battle Showcase in Brooklyn: Hodge put up 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in a loss to St. Frances Academy of Baltimore, then led a second-half comeback in a win over Archbishop Stepinac (N.Y.) with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists.

St. Rose went 3-1 vs. state-ranked opponents in January, with Hodge averaging 20 points and 3.75 steals. He scored 20 points in a win over Gill St. Bernard’s at the Boardwalk Showcase, 19 points to go with five steals in a tight win over Group IV runner-up Montgomery and 16 in the rematch vs. Manasquan. The lone loss was in overtime to Union Catholic, against whom Hodge scored 25 points.

February was St. Rose’s best month, particularly the end of it. The Purple Roses beat the Boys Latin School of Philadelphia and lost competitive games to St. Peter’s Prep and La Lumiere (Ind.) at the Metro Classic. The Purple Roses then entered the Shore Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and proved they were every bit the best team in the Shore Conference. After beating Jackson Memorial in the opening round, St. Rose rolled through Shore Sports Insider No. 4 Central, No. 2 Manasquan and No. 3 CBA by an average margin of 16 points. Hodge averaged 18.25 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.25 steals during the SCT.

“He feels the moment, where it’s like, ‘Okay, now I have to step up a little bit more,'” Lynch said. “It’s unbelievable. I have seen it in a lot of different games and that, to me, is the true essence of his game. He says, ‘Okay, things are not going great. Now it’s on me to step up.’ Sometimes it’s on defense, sometimes it’s getting a simple layup, sometimes it’s a big three.”

St. Rose closed out February with one more game and while it was technically just a regular-season game after the NJSIAA Tournament was already seeded, it gave St. Rose a chance at the No. 1 ranking in the state. The Purple Roses welcomed in Bergen Catholic while the Crusaders were ranked No. 1 by NJ.com and won, 72-68, with Hodge going for 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in a balanced Purple Roses attack.

Hodge closed out his season by averaging 19.5 points, 9.25 rebounds and 3.25 assists in the NJSIAA Tournament. He torched Rutgers Prep again for 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and a pair of steals in an 86-55 Purple Roses rout, which gave St. Rose its third straight NJSIAA sectional title.

Hodge scored a game-high 23 points to go with 12 rebounds in the Non-Public B championship game vs. Roselle Catholic at Rutgers University, but the Lions rallied to take their first lead on a wild shot by Trevon Lewis with 27 seconds left in the game and stunned St. Rose, 55-51.

Despite the loss, Hodge led St. Rose to another season that lived up to the new standards for the program since he and Matt emigrated from Belgium to join Lynch – a close, longtime friend of their father, Odell – in his second season as head coach of St. Rose. Jayden Hodge now has three sectional championships, two Shore Conference Tournament titles and one overall state title on his résumé, as well as an overall record of 76-15.

Hodge has a long list of Division I offers and figures to make his decision sometime in the next six months as he prepares for one final season of high school basketball. He closed out his junior year with 1,289 career points, which gives Hodge an outside shot to become the ninth player in Shore Conference history to reach the 2,000-point mark for his career. Whatever his final number reads on the all-time scoring list, Hodge is already on his way to becoming one of the Shore’s most impactful players ever and now has the highest individual accolade – a Shore Conference Player of the Year award – as further evidence.