Greg Smith, an original native of Plainfield, NJ was a star basketball player on the varsity team at Seton Hall Prep.  As a scholar athlete and highly recruited senior, Greg was offered scholarships to several Division 1 schools including Syracuse University, The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Seton Hall University, Rutgers University, The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Fordham University, St. John's University, and Fairleigh Dickinson University,  He decided to attend and play at Seton Hall where he graduated with honors in Business Administration and Marketing from the W. Paul Stillman School of Business.  After graduation, Greg had an NBA tryout with the New Jersey Nets.  He was later offered several opportunities to play professionally overseas, but due to family obligations decided to remain in the United States.

Greg later attended the Rutgers MBA program while working for numerous Fortune 500 companies throughout the United States.  During this time he played on and coached numerous corporate championship teams.

Greg has run basketball camps and clinics for over 30 years and has coached AAU, travel, YMCA and recreational basketball in youth leagues throughout the New York, New Jersey metropolitan area at various age groups in addition to teaching private lessons in basketball and martial arts.

Greg is currently the President of RADIANT C.A.P. and head coach of the RADIANT SUNS basketball team.  His philosophy is to improve and empower young players through education, spiritual awareness, athletics, community service, and self-disipline.

Mark Taylor was named new head coach of St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, NJ) for the 2011-2012 season.

Prior to his current position, he was head coach of Ridge High School. He led the 2010-2011 Devils to a 15-12 record. They won 8 of their final 11 games and reached the North Jersey Section 2, Group 4 semifinals. In his five years at Ridge, he rejuvenated the program with five straight .500 or better seasons including back to back 20+ win seasons for the first time in its' long history. Within three years he led Ridge to their best record in school history going 25-3 (10-0 Skyland) and finishing as the 14th ranked team in the final Star-Ledger poll. Coach Taylor was named the Somerset County Coach of the year at the conclusion of his second season in 2007-08.

Taylor coached at St. Joe's in Metuchen prior to moving on to Ridge. His star player during his time at St Joe's was Jason Williams, the Gatorade player of the year who went on to win consecutive NCAA Player of the year awards at Duke. Counting LA Laker's great Andrew Bynum, Coach Taylor has coached (11) D-1 players: Brian Wilson (Holy Cross), Greg Kuchinski(Penn), Preston Beverly(VMI), Jonathon Dixon (NJIT), Calvin Cannon(Delaware), Eric Wilkens(Miami), Anthony Nelson (Niagra) and Sean Baptiste and Kenny Widgeon (FDU). During his tenure St Joes won six GMC Red Division titles, made seven GMCT Final Four appearances and won two Non-Public A South titles. He's won over 200 games. While at Ridge he has led the Red Devils into the NJSIAA state playoffs every year, garnering the #1 seed in the No2Gr4 State Tournament in 2009. The top rated Devils have been eliminated in each of the last two NJSIAA playoffs in games for the ages against Plainfield in the semi-finals.

Coach Taylor played his college basketball at Fordham. He had his career high (20pts) vs. NotreDame in South Bend. He was also a High School All-American soccer player who had a number of D-1 offers. He resides in Basking Ridge with his wife Tammy and their five sons.

Bob Hurley, Sr. is the Head Coach of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hurley has amassed 26 state championships and more than 1000 wins in 39 years as a coach, creating a national powerhouse despite substandard facilities and financial limitations. On February 2, 2011, Hurley became the 10th coach in high school history to win 1000 games. Five of his teams have gone undefeated, including his 2007-08 team. On April 5, 2010, he was announced as the only coach to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame that year and only the third high-school coach in history to be so honored He was formally inducted on August 13 of that year. Hurley is the father of Bobby Hurley, a former All-American point guard at Duke, and Danny Hurley, who was hired in April 2010 to coach Wagner College after years of coaching at Newark's Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, also one of the top high school programs in the nation. Danny has since hired Bobby as an assistant at Wagner.

Tim Ortelli became the head boys basketball coach at Rutgers Prep in April 2010 following a highly successful 15 year run at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School. He has compiled back to back Prep A State Championships in 2011 and 2012. Coach Ortelli is a sought after clinician who has spoken at more than 50 basketball camps, the NJSIAA annual state coaches clinic, as well as the famed 5-Star basketball camp under the direction of Howard (Garf) Garfinkel. Coach Ortelli also amassed 4 NBA coaching championships in his 18-year tenure at this prestigious camp.  In addition, coach Ortelli founded the Fundamental Formula Basketball Camps in 1994. Attended by more than 7,000 campers, this camp will continue its tradition at Rutgers Prep of providing an excellent basketball experience. In July 2011, Coach Ortelli joined with legendary Coach Kevin Boyle to direct the RADIANT Suns skills camp at Rutgers Prep. The first year camp was a tremendous success is also planned to continue.

Chuck Berger arrives on the Suns staff via a different path than most youth basketball coaches. Growing up in Hillside, NJ and Livingston, NJ, Chuck was an avid fan of the 1969-1973 NY Knicks who started his love for the game.  In 1973, he earned a spot on his 8th Grade roster solely due to hard work and effort rather than raw talent and athleticism.  Shortly thereafter, he became captivated by the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University where he attended from 1978-1982. Chuck’s freshman year was the senior year for freshmen who played on the infamous 31-2 Final Four team.  He was a 20+ year R.U. season ticket holder facilitating a long term personal study of the game on an NCAA Division 1 College level.

Chuck’s leadership experience and training began his years at R.U. while leading and teaching trumpet players for the (then) Big 10 precision style R.U. Marching 100 before earning his B.S. degree in Management Science.  He also earned the 1981 R.U. Pep Band award for service to the organization whose primary function was service to the basketball team. 

Years later, a new basketball chapter began for Chuck after starting a family with his loving wife Shelley, and eventually settling in Readington, NJ.  Followed by his younger child Rachel, his first born Justin developed an unexpected passion for the game and became the impetus that has lead Chuck down a long path to the Suns.

Chuck has assisted Coach L. Greg Smith and has served with several coaches on many different teams including both travel and AAU levels.  He has learned much under their tutelage and continues to be both a teacher and student of the game.  Chuck has joined Greg Smith’s team as a partner and Vice President with RADIANT  C.A.P., LLC.    It is the focus of social consciousness provided by Greg’s leadership and coaching philosophy that adds to Coach Berger’s pride in current and future service to the Radiant Suns basketball teams.

Leslie M. Greene, an original native of Jersey City, NJ was the Captain of the Varsity Baseball team his Senior Year. Upon graduation he attended Rutgers University.

Leslie coached basketball from 1979 to 1986 at St Patrick's ofJersey City. He coached the following players; David Rivers (St Anthony's, Norte Dame, Los Angeles Lakers No. 1 draft pick 1988). Terry DeHere (St. Anthony's, Seton Hall, Los Angeles Clippers No. 1 draft pick 1993) Luther Wright (Elizabeth, Seton Hall, Utah Jazz No. 1 Draft Pick 1993). Myles Dixson ( St. Anthony's, Rutgers). Kirk Eady ( Marist, Old Dominion).

Leslie has worked in various positions at Verizon Communications, a Fortune 500 company for 29 years.  He has also been involved with numerous civic groups and community service organizations supporting and administering programs throughout the Tri-State area.

In addition, Leslie has been an IAABO Basketball Referee for 30 Years, a NJSIAA. Baseball Umpire for 32 years, and a SCOA Soccer Official for 28 years.

Leslie is currently a Vice President of RADIANT C.A.P.

Maria Rebelo was born in the Ironbound section of Newark and raised in Harrison, NJ.  .  Maria played varsity basketball at Harrison High School.  During her time as a varsity player, Harrison won three state titles and one conference title.  Her individual awards include All-County and All-State honors as a player.  As a high school player, she has played against the women’s team of Ireland and against the Boston University’s women’s team.  She received several athletic and academic scholarship offers to several colleges in the tri-state area.  Due to a basketball injury which ended her playing career, she eventually studied at Montclair State University and Kean University. 

Although she could no longer play, Maria never left the game.  She has coached basketball for 14 years for AAU, travel, CYO and recreational basketball teams in youth leagues throughout New Jersey for various age groups resulting in winning records, although her greatest reward is seeing individual player improvement.  Maria believes that in order to succeed, an individual must learn discipline, pride and teamwork.

Maria currently lives in Whitehouse Station, NJ with her husband and three sons.  She has held a position with one of the leading insurance companies in the country for the past 14 years.

Rod Williams

Rod hails from SC where he was an All-Conference and All-State basketball player at Cheraw High School before accepting a scholarship to Tennessee State University in Nashville where he played for a year before transferring to Georgia Tech in Atlanta.  He played briefly for the Yellow Jackets before finishing his education and beginning a corporate life that saw him moving to Dallas; Los Angeles; Little Rock; Albany, NY; and then to Hillsborough, NJ.  He has remained active in sports circles winning multiple local league championships as a player and coach including coaching the St. Joe’s of Bound Brook 7th grade boys team to a championship. 

Amanda Rodrigues (Mandy)- Mandy grew up in Kearny NJ, and attended public school until traveling to Mt. St. Dominic Academy in Caldwell for her high school years.  At “The Mount” she lettered in Softball and Volleyball sophomore through senior years and was a Captain of the volleyball team.  Both programs were top 5 in NJ while Mandy was part of the teams. Mandy attended Kean University in Union NJ and played collegiate volleyball there before starting her coaching career.Mandy Rodrigues began her coaching career in 2000 at Kent Place H.S. in Summit, NJ. In 2002, her team captured a conference championship. In 2004 she was named Conference Coach of the Year as well as The NJ Star Ledger Coach of the Year in Union County. Mandy also coached varsity Softball at Kent Place and was able to bring the team to their first post season appearance in a decade.  Mandy left Kent Place in 2007, and was hired as the Head Girls and Boys coach for Hunterdon Central. In four years at Hunterdon Central, she transformed the boys program into a winning program with four consecutive winning seasons and four straight state playoff births, both are a program first. She also led the boys program to their only conference title in 2009. Mandy has the only winning record as a bys coach in the history of the boys program.  Additionally, she led the girls team to conference championships in 2007, 2008, 2010; county championships in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; state finals appearances in 2007, and 2008; and a state championship title in 2007. The girls program had its first ever undefeated regular season in 2010 with a record of 34-0.  In her time as the girls coach at Hunterdon Central, Mandy coached the 2007 NJ Gatorade Player of the Year, sent numerous players to Division 1 Programs, and holds the highest winning percentage of any coach in the history of the girls program.  In 2007, Mandy was named Central Jersey Coach of the Year by the Star Ledger, and in 2008, Mandy was awarded the NJSIAA Special Sports Award for her service and dedication to the sport of volleyball statewide in NJ. Today, Mandy is the head coach at Lehigh Carbon College in PA and 18U Boys Coach and 15U Girls coach at Central Jersey Volleyball Academy. Coach Rodrigues completed her bachelors degree in Physical Education/Health Education from Kean University in 2002.  Most recently, Mandy finished her Masters degree in Education with a concentration in Adventure Education and Team Building in 2011 from Plymouth State University.

Kaman Hung- Kaman was born and raised in Hong Kong, China. In Hong Kong, Kaman was a high level swimmer, and was also part of the “A-Grade” teams in Cricket and Rugby.  In 2000, he moved to the U.S. and enrolled in JP Stevens HS in Edison NJ as a senior.  He played varsity football.  Kaman continued his education at Kean University in Union, NJ where he completed his bachelors degree in Physical Education and Heath.  Kaman worked as the Assistant Volleyball Coach for both the boys and girls teams at Hunterdon Central from 2008-2011. He posts a .913 win percentage and in 2010 he coached the JV Girls to their 1st tournament title. Currently, Coach Hung is the Central Jersey Volleyball Academy boys 18U National and Girls 16U Regional coach. He is also the assistant coach at Lehigh Carbon College in PA. He is currently a USA-Volleyball CAP Level II coach, and has also coached at the USA Volleyball High Performance Tryouts in 2012. Coach Hung completed a Masters in Exercise Science from Cal U of Pennsylvania in 2008. He also holds a Masters of Education with a concentration in Adventure Education and Team Building from Plymouth State University which he completed in 2010.  Notably, Kaman is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), and specializes in training his athletes to jump higher, hit harder, and move faster.

Derrick Thorne Sr. a native of New Haven Ct. started playing basketball at the age of 10 for the local boys club.
By the age of 12 played for the travel team in the Newhallville section of New Haven.
He attended High School at Eli Whitney in Hamden Ct. where he played basketball and baseball.
Derrick ended his sports career after high school to chose his career path.
He moved to New Jersey in 1987 to attend DeVry University and major in electronics.Upon graduation he has worked for many major companies including Konica and Ricoh Corp. as a field service technician.
Currently Derrick is working for Atlantic Business Products as a product specialist.
His passion for basketball stayed strong and he started coaching 5th-7th grade boys from 2005-2007 for the Franklin Heat travel team.Each year chosing to move up with the team and his son Derrick Jr.
For the past 4 years Derrick has been the assistant coach for Tony Ceaser at the Somerset Hills YMCA and most recently Somerset County Road Warriors AAU team.Derrick's assignment is to zone in on each players weakness and help the player improve on it.If you play hard in practice and work on your corrections the games become easy.We teach the boys that defense is the key to winning games.

Paul Kolody, is the owner of Advantage Performance Training, LLC.  A native of Manville, NJ,  Paul went on to play baseball at Pfeiffer College, NC.  After he graduated, Paul went on to Bridgewater State College, MA, as an Athletic Training Intern.  While at Bridgewater, he also served as the Head Wrestling Coach during the 1994-95 season.  He left Bridgewater with a Masters Degree in Physical Education, concentrating in Exercise Science. 

After a three year stay as the Head Athletic Trainer at Metuchen High School, Paul accepted a job at Somerset Medical Center as the Head Athletic Trainer/Strength Coach for the Somerset Patriots Baseball Club.  He traveled with the team through the 2004 season, then became the full time manager of the Sports Performance & Rehabilitation Center, a position he held until leaving in 2011. Before he left, he served as the Head Athletic Trainer/Strength Coach for Sky Blue FC, Women’s Professional Soccer Club during the 2010 season.

Paul is a Certified Athletic Trainer through the National Athletic Trainers Association, a  Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a Level 1 Club Coach through USA Weightlifting and a Certified Functional Movement Screen Specialist.  He specializes in performance training, speed and agility, strength and power development and injury prevention.

Mauri Horton is the Head Coach of the Plainfield High School Varsity Girls Basketball Team.  Coach Horton led her team in 2008-2009 to the best record in 20 years.  She has played professionally in Israel, Sweden, Turkey, and for the WNBA's Indiana Fever.

Coach Horton played for Rutgers University serving as Team Captain from 2000-2003.  She has played in three NCAA Tournaments including a 2000 Final Four appearance. She is one of the top ten players for Rutgers in All-Time 3-point field goal percentage.  Coach Horton played her High School basketball at Minneapolis North High School where she was named Miss Basketball Minnesota 1999.

Rocco Matrisciano, assistant JV coach of Ridge High School, is a graduate of Piscataway High ('96) and Kean University ('00). He is currently a full time student at Kean studying to get his teaching certificate. He currently works as a part-time in-class support aid at Bedminster Middle School.

While at Piscataway High, Rocco led two Paul Schoeb coached Chief teams to the Middlesex County Tournament Finals - winning it all in 1995. In his senior year, Rocco was named to the Middlesex County All-Tournament team.

Randy Fisher, native of North Bergen, NJ, now resides in Flemington with his wife Peggy and three children.  Randy excelled as a scholar athlete lettering all four years of high school, playing four years of varsity baseball, football and basketball- receiving county and state honors.  During his time as a high school athlete, he was pivotal in helping his teams win 4 state titles in football, baseball and basketball.  Randy was offered various D-1 athletic scholarships, including military academies and graduated in the top 3% of his 996 student high school senior class.

Randy accepted a full scholarship and went on to play baseball at the University of Palm Beach.  He later played semi-pro, but ended his playing career with an injury.  Later, Randy would eventually transfer home to Rutgers University.
Graduating from Rutgers University’s School of Business with honors, Randy has utilized his accounting and finance degrees.  He is the founding senior partner at the renowned, Regal Financial Group.  Randy and his team have countless industry accolades and he is decorated as one of the leading financial advisors in the country.  He speaks at national producer conferences and trains advisors nationwide in advanced retirement and income planning, in addition to operating his personal practice.  Randy leads a team of more than 80 independent professional financial advisors from coast to coast. He believes that sports has played a paramount role in teaching invaluable lessons throughout his life and has helped to led him to his current successes in his business and personal life.    

Randy has been coaching baseball, basketball and football for over 25 years including collegiate, high school, AAU, CYO, travel and recreational teams for girls and boys.
He is a firm believer that (success) winning is a bye-product of discipline, preparation, team work and desire.   He has a passion for educating and teaching today’s youth the finer points of the great game of basketball. 

Terry Walker, originally from the Mid-West, was a multi-sport athlete throughout his school career where he lettered as a high-school freshman.  He played and practiced basketball regularly with Division 1 and Division 2 college players throughout college.  Over the years, he has organized, and played on winning teams in area tournaments and summer leagues throughout the Midwestern region of the US.  Terry takes a multi-faceted approach to playing with the primary focus on hard work, self, skill development, and improvement.

He has coached multiple sports in Hunterdon County youth recreation and travel leagues for the last 4 years with high levels of success, resulting in many teams with winning records, and numerous individual player improvements in specific skill areas in all sports.

Throughout his career and currently, Terry has held numerous executive level positions with Fortune 500 companies. 

Steve Toke, born in Plainfield and raised in Piscataway, NJ and currently living in Three Bridges, NJ.  Played basketball  at Piscataway High School.  Two of those years were under former Rutgers University, NCAA Final Four star Abdel Anderson.  Steve, also was a 3 year varsity player on Piscataway's baseball team where they won 3 conference titles and 1 county championship.  He still holds the PHS record for most varsity wins as a pitcher with 23.  His individual awards include 3 All-Conference, 1 All-County & 1 All-State 2nd team honors as a pitcher.  After studying Criminal Justice for 2 years at Middlesex County College, Steve, at the age of 20, started his own business, Central Jersey Caulking and Waterproofing which is still thriving today.  Currently, Steve is the Chief Operating Officer for PRO-PAC Corp. located in Branchburg, NJ

Steve has coached soccer, basketball, & baseball for 7 years with great success.  This past year he was honored to be assistant coach of the Central Jersey Jaguars 11U AAU baseball team where the team finished the season 56-11 with 6 tournament championship wins including a ECTB National Championship.  His coaching philosophy is deeply rooted in discipline, accountability & sportsmanship.   110% effort equals 100% success no matter what the score board reads.

Wally Kennedy is a former college coach at Florida State University. Wally has directed and worked at various basketball camps around the country including the Prominent 45 year old Pocono Invitational and The Hoop Group which is currently the largest basketball operation in the nation which is owned by his cousin Rob Kennedy. The camps where he has worked and lectured include Duke Mike Krzyzewski, NC State Jim Valvano, Georgia Tech Bobby Cremins , Iona College Pat Kennedy , Florida State Univ. Hugh Durham ,  and North Carolina Dean Smith.

Currently, Wally is the head coach and found of the Super Rat Basketball Academy in Medford, New Jersey.

As Regional Director of RADIANT SUNS basketball, Wally brings a wealth of unique experience to our program.

Brian Bouchard was the Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at  The College of New Jersey (formally Trenton State).  Prior to his position at TCNJ, Brian was the Head Boy's Basketball Coach at Helen A. Fort Middle School for 2 years.  The former captain of both Rowan University Men's Basketball and Shawnee High School Boy's Basketball programs, Brian has worked over the years coaching summer basketball leagues and instructing at several high-profiled basketball camps in the South Jersey and Pennsylvania area.  Brian brings many years of basketball knowledge and experience to RADIANT Suns Basketball Program.

Brad Jameson is originally from Nebraska and was a multi-sport athlete throughout his school career lettering in four sports during his high-school years.  Basketball was always his favorite sport since grade school.  Over the years, he played on winning teams in many tournaments and summer leagues primarily in Nebraska and Arizona. 

Brad’s approach to playing competitive youth basketball centers on playing “team basketball” with a focus on hard work, discipline, skill development, and sportsmanship.  Brad has run basketball camps and clinics for over 6 years and has coached Travel, YMCA and recreational basketball in youth leagues in the Arizona and New Jersey metropolitan areas for various age groups.  Brad contributes many years of basketball knowledge, experience and a passion for the sport to the RADIANT Suns Basketball Program.

When off the basketball court, Brad is Senior Director of Finance and Technology with Marley Management Corporation.  Brad is a CPA and has held several CFO as well as senior executive level positions with public and private companies. Brad currently lives in Whitehouse Station, NJ with his wife Piper and are the proud parents of four children ages 12 to 29.

Mark E. Tyree is a long time Physical Education/Health professional and Coach at Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, NJ. He is a high school All American, two-time college All American, 2000 All Century, and recent Lacrosse Hall of Fame honoree. For more than a decade, Coach Tyree’s involvement in athletics has centered on basketball, lacrosse, and soccer at the AAU, high school, middle school, college camp, and private lesson levels. Coach Tyree is dedicated to fostering physical fitness, athletic technical skills, knowledge, a healthy competitive spirit, and positive coach/athlete relationships. He excels in the ability to mentor athletes to realize their greatest performance potential.

“There’s more involved in athletic competition than just winning games. Given the right environment and sufficient opportunity, a rough diamond reveals its capacity to shine—every time!”