Raritan Retires Jerseys of Basketball Greats Mike Aaman, Alexa Ryan and Katie Sire

A trio of Raritan basketball greats has received the ultimate honor.

The Rockets retired the jerseys of Mike Aaman, Katie Sire and Alexa Ryan in a ceremony between their girls and boys basketball games on Friday night, immortalizing three of the greatest players to ever wear the green and white.

Aaman and Ryan are Raritan’s all-time leading scorers on the boys and girls teams, respectively, while Sire is a 1,000-point scorer who went on to have an incredible career at Montclair State.

Each of the recipients spoke on Friday night after receiving the honor in front of their hometown crowd in Hazlet. Aaman’s No. 34 jersey, Sire’s No. 11 and Ryan’s No. 22 have now all been immortalized on the walls of the Launch Pad and will never be worn by another player.

The 6-foot-9 Aaman was a fearsome, Mohawked presence as a four-year starter at forward/center for the Rockets during a career in which he was a two-time Shore Conference Player of the Year. In his senior season in 2011-12, he averaged 21.9 points, 16.8 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game. He was also a first-team All-State selection as a senior by what is now NJ.com.

“I was a little shocked, I never thought it was going to happen,” Aaman said. “When (Raritan athletic director T.J. O’Donnell) texted me, I was just so happy to be honest. It was a such a surreal feeling. I found out the two other girls were going to have their jerseys retired who were also phenomenal players, and I figured it was going to be an amazing atmosphere.”

Aaman’s 1,330 points are the Raritan career record, and he also is the school’s all-time leading rebounder. As a junior, he was the centerpiece of a Rockets team that went 24-3 and won the Shore Conference Tournament title in 2011, one of two SCT titles in Raritan history. He averaged 17.4 points, 13.1 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game as a junior.

He went on to play at the University of Rhode Island and then Wagner College, where he finished with 847 points and 610 career rebounds. He is still a presence on the court locally, as he has become a mainstay of the Jersey Shore Basketball League in the summer. He also is an assistant for the St. Rose boys basketball team.

Ryan was also a four-year starter, and her 1,695 career points are the most by a Raritan player, male or female, in school history. The 2009 graduate was a three-time All-Division selection in the Shore Conference and is a top 50 scorer in the history of Shore Conference girls basketball.

She went on to play at Ramapo College and Stockton University, where she scored 1,124 career points and was a first-team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference player two times.

Sire was yet another four-year varsity starter for the Rockets who finished her career in 2014 with 1,077 points and a first-team All-Shore selection.

She went on to have a dazzling career at Montclair State, where she ranks fourth all-time in scoring (1,758 points) and seventh all-time in rebounds (956). She was a two-time NJAC Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018. As a freshman, she helped lead the Red Hawks to a program-record 31 wins and a berth in the Division III Final Four.

Sire is now Montclair State’s associate head coach after six seasons on the staff of her alma mater.

The trio of Raritan greats are the latest luminaries to be honored by the Rockets’ athletic program during this school year. Football legend Bennett Jackson, who starred at Notre Dame and played for three NFL teams, had his jersey retired in the fall. Dan Seidenberg, a three-time state placewinner and three-time Region champion, had his wrestling singlet retired earlier this month.

“The banners are beautiful, Coach O did a fantastic job,” Aaman said. “Nowadays, if you’re decent, realistically you don’t go to public school any more, but hopefully with future generations they’ll see there’s a lot of history in this gym, and maybe they’ll say, ‘I’ll be on that banner one day.'”