New Jersey City University Athletics

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Former New Jersey City University men’s basketball point guard Patrick Devaney, `12 begins his third season as assistant women’s basketball coach at New Jersey City University during the 2014-15 season on the staff of head coach Amy Mulligan. Devaney was also named head men’s and women’s cross country coach for the Fall 2013 season.
 
Devaney, a 2012 graduate of NJCU with a degree in Criminal Justice, is making his collegiate coaching debut at his alma mater. Prior to NJCU, he served as an assistant boys’ basketball coach for powerhouse St. Patrick’s High School in Elizabeth, NJ.
 
Outside of NJCU, Devaney is the founder of the Rising Stars Basketball Academy, which he operates. His introduction to coaching came in 2011-12 when he coached a seventh grade AAU team, the Jersey City Heat. He previously was a counselor at the Atlantic Cape Basketball Camp in Williamstown, NJ from 2000-03.
 
Devaney, a highly decorated high school basketball player, had his collegiate career derailed by a serious elbow injury suffered in a 2007 summer league game that later required two surgeries. He transferred to NJCU midway through the 2007-08 season and played in 45 games over two and a half seasons for current men’s head coach Marc Brown, completing his career in 2009-10. He collected 59 points and 42 assists in a reserve role. Devaney began his collegiate career at Union County College (2004-05) before attending Richard Stockton College and Hudson County Community College, where he was on the Dean’s List.
 
A productive reserve point guard for the Gothic Knights, Brown described him as “a true point guard who can run a team, a great ball-handler and a real leader on the floor.”
  
A 2003 graduate of St. Augustine Prep in Richland, NJ (Atlantic County), where he played his final two seasons for Coach Paul Rodio, Devaney helped lead the Hermits to the 2002 Parochial South A state championship, defeating Camden Catholic High School 50-45. He was ranked among the Top 100 high school players in the United States in 2003, and No. 25 among players in New Jersey and New York, averaging 16 points and seven assists per game. A First-Team All Cape May and Atlantic County (CAL) and Third-Team All-State selection, he was selected to play in the prestigious Eastern Invitational Camp Top 20 All-Star game.
 
At St. Augustine, he was a high school teammate of current Washington Wizards player and 2012 Olympian Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who has played for six NBA teams and internationally. Devaney also played against such New Jersey and New York high school standouts as Dajuan Wagner, Sebastian Telfair, Eddie Griffin, Ben Gordon, and Sam Dalembert—all of whom made the NBA.
 
Devaney played his first two seasons of prep basketball at Marist High School in Bayonne, NJ for Coach Chris Chevannes. There, he helped the Royal Knights win the 2000 Hudson County championship—defeating Dickinson in the final—and a state title. 
 
Perhaps his most notable AAU honors was is invitation to play in the 2000 Reebok ABCD Camp. Devaney also played for the Tim Thomas Playaz, one of the top AAU teams in the country, which has won more AAU championships than any other AAU team in the country.
 
Devaney, 30, was born October 8, 1983 and still resides in Jersey City, NJ.
 

GET TO KNOW COACH DEVANEY
Hobbies/Interest:	Dancing, football, weight lifting, fishing
Favorite part about coaching:	“Correctly teaching kids the game of basketball and helping mold them into adults to prepare them for life while making a positive difference in their lives.:
Hero:	Former NBA guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway
Favorite sports team:	Philadelphia Eagles, New York Knicks, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Penguins
Favorite song:	‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicii
Favorite music artist:	Joe
Favorite movie:	‘Scarface;
Favorite food:	Shrimp
Personal attributes:	“I’m a hard worker.”