New Jersey City University Athletics

New Jersey City University men’s basketball Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Greene, `01, returned to the NJCU men's basketball sidelines as an assistant on coach Marc Brown's staff in 2023-24 after spending 10 seasons in the same role from 2007-08 to 2016-17. Prior to that, he spent the previous four seasons (2003-07) as an assistant women’s basketball coach.

A February 1, 2008 inductee into the NJCU Athletics Hall of Fame, Greene has helped develop the team’s post players for a program that has made six postseason appearances in the previous seven seasons, winning 102 games in that span.
 
In 2011, he was part of a staff that captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship—a league record 12^th title—and its 18^th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
Greene has given back to his alma mater by serving as a voting member of the Hall of Fame Committee in each of the last two induction periods.
 
A two-time All-Conference selection in a four-year career from 1996-2000, Greene was named First-Team All-NJAC  at center in 2000 and the 1999 NJAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, NJCU went 72-34 in his career, three times advancing to the NJAC and NCAA Division III Tournaments in his first three seasons, and to the ECAC Metro Semifinals in 2000. The Knights were 48-24 (.667) in conference play during his green and gold tenure.
 
While Greene didn’t score 1,000 points or 1,000 rebounds, the all-around standout came awfully close to both milestones as NJCU’s center and power forward, which included two years as a team captain and three years as a starter.
 
Greene’s numbers speak for themselves. In 104 career games, he scored 904 points and grabbed 751 rebounds (8.7 points and 7.2 boards), while shooting 48.2 percent (363-753) from the field and 64.7 percent at the line (178-275). He blocked 30 or more shots in three straight seasons, and ranks fourth in school history in blocked shots with 108. His rebounding totals are eighth all-time.
 
Upon being elected to the Hall of Fame Greene said: “This is a great honor. I put a lot of hard work into my career here. But when I first came to NJCU I never imagined this could be possible. I wanted to hopefully get a chance to get out there [on the floor] as a freshman. The Hall of Fame was the furthest thing from my mind.”
 
Amazingly, Greene committed 181 fouls in his career, primarily at the most physical position on the court—the center slot—yet never fouled out of a game in four years. He started 75 of his 104 games, including 53 consecutive games to end his career. He averaged more than 25 minutes per game for his career.
 
After transferring to NJCU from Richard Stockton College prior to the 1996-97 season, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder made an immediate impact in the middle. He played in 24 of 26 games as a rookie scoring 110 points and hauling down 83 rebounds in 357 minutes, averaging 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in less than 15 minutes per game. He shot 47.9 percent for the season. The only two games he missed his entire career came as a freshman. NJCU reached the NCAA Tournament before bowing to NYU in the first round.
 
As his minutes increased his sophomore year (1997-98), so did his production. Greene averaged 8.9 points (239) and 7.3 boards (80-118-198) as a second-year player, while shooting .452 (98-217) from the field and rejecting 37 shots in 738 minutes of action (27.3 per game). NJCU reached the NCAA Division III Second Round before falling to Hunter College by five. He had a season-high 21 points in a 100-90 win at Rutgers-Camden on January 24, 1998.
 
Greene was tabbed co-captain as a junior in 1998-99, and he was a guiding force in NJCU’s 19-win club that returned to the second round of the NCAA’s before suffering a six-point loss to Stockton. He shot over 48.9 percent for the season, hitting an impressive 110-of-225 shots and 69.8 percent of his free throws (44-for-63), while improving his scoring and rebounding totals a third consecutive season. Greene tallied 9.8 points (264) and 7.7 rebounds (73-136-209), with 31 blocks in 784 minutes (29.0).
 
He started all 27 games in 1999 en route to a share of NJAC Defensive Player of the Year honors while being selected Honorable Mention All-NJAC. In a demonstration of what would come his senior year, he finished the year with three double-doubles in his final five games, including both rounds of the NCAA Tournament. He notched 14 points and 14 rebounds in NJCU’s post-season loss to Stockton on March 6, 1999. Earlier in the season, he was named the Most Outstanding Player at the 1998 Frostburg State Tip-off Classic after scoring 36 points and pulling down 19 rebounds in two tournament games.
 
He was NJCU’s only captain as a senior in 1999-2000, as Greene capped a Hall-of-Fame career by averaging a double-double for the season, a feat that earned him First-Team All-NJAC, First-Team NABC/Oldsmobile Division III All-Atlantic District, First-Team New Jersey Basketball Coaches Association, and Third-Team All-Metropolitan Division II/III Basketball Writers (NIT/MBWA) distinction as a center. He also was picked as the ECAC/AmeriSuites Division III Metro Player of the Week on February 21, 2000 after averaging 13.5 points and 14.5 rebounds, including a team-high 17 points and a career-best 18 boards in an 88-82 win over The College of New Jersey. That same week he was named the NJAC Player of the Week while notching two double-doubles in the final week of regular season basketball of his career.
 
Greene scored 291 points and clutched 261 rebounds (90 offensive/171 defensive) to average 11.2 points and 10.0 boards in 26 games, while shooting a remarkable 50.7 percent from the field (109-215) in 762 minutes (29.3 per game). He also whacked 33 blocks and delivered a career-high 35 assists while hitting 64.6 percent of his free throws (73-113). His 10.0 boards were the No. 1 average in the NJAC for the season.
 
A May 2001 graduate of the University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a journalism concentration, he remained involved in NJCU athletics while completing his degree in 2000-01, working in the sports information office. Greene’s primary responsibilities revolved around coverage of the sport he knows best—basketball.
 
A native of Neptune, NJ in Monmouth County, Greene is a June 1995 graduate of Lakewood Prep School in Howell, where he played four years of basketball for Coach Tim Costello, the school’s athletics director.
 
Greene also enjoyed winning ways as a high school star. He was selected All-State and All-Prep B as a junior (1993-94) and senior (1994-95), earning Most Valuable Player honors at two Christmas tournaments his senior year. The 1995 Fighting Gators club finished at 22-4 overall, and won the Rutgers Prep Christmas tournament. He averaged 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for the season.
 
His junior season numbers are even more astounding, as Greene booked 21.0 points and 15.0 rebounds while the Gators wrapped up a 15-11 campaign. As a sophomore (1992-93), Lakewood Prep went 14-12, and he notched 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. The team was 13-13 in his freshman season (1991-92), while Greene chipped in 2.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Overall, Lakewood Prep went 64-40 (.615) in 104 career games with Greene on the roster.
 
Born in Orange, NJ, he is the son of Annette and John Greene. He lists his parents as his heroes. In his spare time, he enjoys movies, cards, and relaxing by himself.
 
Greene continued his playing career for 12 seasons as a center in the Verizon Fios Jersey Shore Summer Basketball League in Belmar, NJ. In 2008, he played alongside current NJCU coach Marc Brown helped lead his Larson Ford team to the championship game. The 2009 season was his final year in the JSBL. Greene also was named the MVP in the Audubon League in Jersey City in Summer 2008, helping lead his team to a title.
 
Today, Greene is a crisis intervention teacher in charge of discipline at Fred W. Martin Elementary (School 41) in Jersey City. He previously taught sixth grade science and social studies in the district. He is in his 14th year as an educator.
 
Greene resides in Union, NJ with his wife and daughter.