ESSEX BASKETBALL: Randy Foye is County Player of Decade

By Mike Kinney/For The Star-Ledger

January 01, 2010, 6:43PM

Randy Foye was highly visible on the Essex County basketball scene at the beginning of this decade, starring as a sophomore guard for East Side in the 1999-2000. He had another outstanding season as a junior and then capped his high school career by sending East Side to its only NJSIAA Group 4 state championship in 2002 and by earning Star-Ledger Player of the Year honors. And the irrepressible Foye makes himself visible at the end of the decade by being named our Star-Ledger Essex County Player of the Decade.

Oh, you also may have caught him on T.V. a few times over the last few years. The 6-4 Foye is now a member of the Washington Wizards. Foye had flashed signs of unusual strength and a fierce will even as a freshman at East Side. Many thought he would transfer out of East Side during his sophomore season—when five foreign teammates left the program early in the season amid allegations of illegal recruitment—but Foye remained a loyal Red Raider. The team developed around his prodigious talents and they and the long-suffering East Side fans were duly rewarded. East Side won its first Essex County Tournament crown in late March of 2002 and went on to claim Group 4 two weeks later.

FIRST TEAM

Randy Foy, East Side ‘02

Brandon Costner, Seton Hall Prep ‘05

Kenneth Ortiz, Science Park ‘09

Ashton Gibbs, Seton Hall Prep ‘08

Da’Sean Butler, Bloomfield Tech ‘05

SECOND TEAM

Courtney Nelson, Bloomfield Tech ‘04

Keon Lawrence, Weequahic ‘06

Dave McSwain, East Side, ‘03

Tyrone Barley, Seton Hall Prep ‘00

Devonne Giles, Shabazz ‘01