This is excerpts from a story published by METRO HOOPS on Anthony “AJ” Jeune. The East Side coaching staff got the call about AJ the night before and hours leading up to our Essex County tournament game with Bloomfield Tech. We played that game with a very heavy heart. We did not tell the kids until after the game. (Most of the team knew AJ very well) So while we were disappointed in losing a game we should have won, we stressed to the kids that today was just a game and we live to play another day. At that time, we were not sure what was going to happen with AJ. Looking back on the accident and knowing what everyone that knew AJ felt; it’s a blessing that he is only a week away from attending college as a freshman.
Dan Pashin of METRO HOOPS wrote: Anthony Jeune was critically injured in an automobile accident coming home on February 17th near his Westampton home. It was late, and AJ was driving alone when he fell asleep at the wheel. His car struck a tree early in the morning. AJ was knocked unconscious, falling into a coma. However, he was not found right away, lying alone in below freezing temperatures for nearly six hours.
Rewind to the previous fall. AJ was training with his father Patrick Jeune to prepare for the upcoming season’s hoops slate. His father was a former coach at Newark Eastside High School where he worked with Randy Foye and Rutgers commit Corey Chandler.
Going into the season AJ was one of the best defensive player in New Jersey you’d never heard of. At 6’5 185 pounds, with long arms and the ability to play all the perimeter positions, AJ was poised to break out, showing off that his versatile game would fit in at Farleigh Dickinson University where head coach Tom Green could use him all over the floor. Jeune brought an intriguing package to the table. In addition to guarding the opposition’s best player, his the ability to efficiently run an offense from the point guard position, making sure his team gets into the right sets turned heads. He saw well over the defense, allowing him to make better decisions and feed the post easily. All he ever wanted to do was win – a characteristic that helped save his life.
Senior night came and AJ’s parents, Patrick and Kelly, accepted their son’s jersey as the crowd chanted their son’s name, all wearing t-shirts that said “AJ” on them, and had a picture of him in the Winslow game. Coach Jim Crawford even coached the game wearing one. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, including best friend and sophomore guard Jahseer Bronson. Bronson couldn’t stop thinking about his friend – almost considered family. As the young playmaker regained his composure to start the game, the “We love AJ” chant wouldn’t stop. Invincible teenagers’ eyes welled up. Grown men shed tears and didn’t care who saw. All for AJ. It wasn’t about basketball anymore, but it was the only means for the community to express how it felt.
Jeune says he will return to the court one day. He has shot around several times lately, and while talking, was mimicking his fancy dribbling moves. He loves the game too much to not lace up his high-tops ever again. Basketball saved his life. God simply wasn’t ready for a point guard that cold February day.
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