Judah Oppenheimer of SAR has been named Jewish Hoops America’s National Player of the Year for the 2018-19 season.
The Coach of the Year is Evan Pickman of Heschel and the Underclassman of the Year is Zeev Remer of Shalhevet.
Oppenheimer capped a stellar 3-year varsity career by averaging 21.4 ppg and led the Sting to a 15-10 record and a semifinal appearance at the Sarachek Tournament.
He narrowly edged out Zack Muller of Shalhevet, who led the Firehawks to the #1 JHA ranking and the Sarachek title.
Making JHA's 1st Team with Oppenheimer and Muller were seniors Michael Natkin of Magen David and Ofek Reef of Yavneh Dallas and junior Ricky Sutton of Heschel.
Players on the 2nd Team are seniors Asher Dauer of Shalhevet, Noam Meisels of YULA and Avi Proctor of TABC and juniors Ori Kedem of American Hebrew Academy and Albert Nsiri of Magen David.
The 3rd Team includes seniors Liam Evenhaim of DeToledo, Gavriel Kahn of DRS, Doni Miretzky of Fasman Yeshiva, Noah Rossi of Shalhevet and Sammy Vayngart of Rochelle Zell.
Honorable Mentions were: seniors Ethan Aaron and Aaron Azose of Rambam, Aaron Ben Shmuel of Hillel Miami, Matt Gluck of Gann, Moshe Heller of JEC, Gav Landau of Beth Tfiloh, David Lurie of HA Miami, Ethan Morris of Cooper Memphis; Ryan Otis of Frankel Jewish, Eitan Pfeiffer of MTA, Gabe Shamama of HAFTR, Moze Thurmgreene of JCHS San Francisco and Eitan Warburg of MTA; junior Max Zakheim of Frisch; and sophomore Jesse Spear of Maimonides.
Remer handled the point for the talent-laden Firehawks. He saved them from what would have been their only loss to a Jewish high school all season when he hit a buzzer-beating shot while falling down in the lane to defeat YULA during the regular season.
Other freshmen and sophomores who were considered were Spear; Abie Bonkovski of Posnack Jewish Day, Spenser Rubenstein of Ramaz, Jake Rulnick of Jewish Day School, Uzi Mermelstein of Valley Torah and Doni Stein of Fasman Yeshiva.
Pickman coached Heschel to a 22-8 record, the school’s first-ever Yeshiva League championship and the #2 JHA ranking. Runners up for Coach of the Year were Jon Shogan of Jewish Community High School in San Francisco and Ryan Coleman of Shalhevet, last year’s winner.
Other coaches considered were Ed Gelb of Maimonides, Jeremy Geller of Fasman Yeshiva, Craig Mankoff of Hillel Miami, Michael Marek of Frankel Jewish Academy, James Nole of Gann and Avrum Stein of DRS.
1ST TEAM ALL-JEWISH HOOPS AMERICA
Judah Oppenheimer, senior, SAR/Bronx,NY
Zack Muller, senior, Shalhavet/Los Angeles,CA
Michael Natkin, senior, Magen David/Brooklyn,NY
Ofek Reef, senior, Yavneh/Dallas,TX
Ricky Sutton, junior, Heschel/New York,NY
2ND TEAM ALL-JEWISH HOOPS AMERICA
Asher Dauer, senior, Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA
Ori Kedem, junior, American Hebrew Academy/Greensboro,NC
Noam Meisels, senior, YULA/Los Angeles,CA
Albert Nsiri, sophomore, Magen David/Brooklyn,NY
Avi Proctor, senior, TABC/Teaneck,NJ
3RD TEAM ALL-JEWISH HOOPS AMERICA
Liam Evenhaim, senior, De Toledo/West Hills,CA
Gavriel Kahn, senior, DRS/Woodmere,NY
Doni Miretzky, senior, Fasman Yeshiva/Skokie,IL
Noah Rossi, senior, Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA
Sammy Vayngart, senior, Rochelle Zell/Deerfield,IL
HONORABLE MENTION
Ethan Aaron, senior, Rambam/Cedarhurst,NY
Aaron Azose, junior, Rambam/Cedarhurst,NY
Aaron Ben Shmuel, senior, Hillel Miami/North Miami Beach,FL
Matt Gluck, senior, Gann/Waltham,MA
Moshe Heller, senior, JEC/Elizabeth,NJ
Gav Landau, senior, Beth Tfiloh/Baltimore,MD
David Lurie, senior, Hebrew Academy/Miami Beach,FL
Ethan Morris, senior, Cooper Yeshiva/Memphis,TN
Ryan Otis, senior, Frankel Jewish/West Bloomfield,MI
Eitan Pfeiffer, senior, MTA/New York,NY
Gabe Shamama, senior, HAFTR/Cedarhurst,NY
Jesse Spear, sophomore, Maimonides/Brookline,MA
Moze Thurmgreene, senior, Jewish Community HS/San Francisco,CA
Eitan Warburg, senior, MTA/New York,NY
Max Zakheim, junior, Frisch/Paramus,NJ
PREVIOUS HONOREES
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2018 - Ryan Turell, Valley Torah
2017 - Bryan Knapp, Jewish Day School-MD
2016 - Gabriel Laifer, DRS
2015 - Josh Newlander, Chicagoland Jewish
2014 - Josh Newlander, Chicagoland Jewish
2013 - Zach Yoshor, Beren Houston
2012 - Jack Gindi, YULA
2011 - Yisroel Feld, MTA, and Jack Gindi, YULA
2010 - Eric Avdee, Tarbut vTorah
2009 - Eitan Chemerinski, Jewish Day School-MD
2008 - Jordan Marcus, Solomon Schechter-NJ
2007 - Solomon Schoonover, Hillel Miami
COACH OF THE YEAR
2018 - Ryan Coleman, Shalhevet
2017 - Mike Whiting, Milken
2016 - Avrum Stein, DRS
2015 - Joe Schwartz, Frisch
2014 - Dwight Hollins, Fuchs Mizrachi
2013 - Marty Dello, Chicagoland Jewish
2012 - Richard Lewis, Cooper-Memphis
2011 - Rafi Halpert, SAR
2010 - Patrick Roberts, Tarbut vTorah
2009 - Elliot Steinmetz, HANC
2008 - Howard Braun, Ida Crown
2007 - Howard Braun, Ida Crown
