Westinghouse basketball: Winning with one of their own

January 22, 2024 Andy Furman

A George Westinghouse basketball game. Photo courtesy of Andy Furman

Share this:

Former Major League Baseball catcher Joe Pignatano is smiling. He’s not alone.

Joining him are former NBA player Larry McNeill; Roosevelt Chapman, a star basketballer at the University of Dayton; and actor Michael K. Williams.

Oh, there’s more, with a wide grin.

How about Jay Z aka Shawn Carter; Busta Rhymes, aka Trevor Smith, Jr.; The Notorious B.I.G., aka Christopher Wallace; and Theophilus London?

Yup, they’ve all got smiles, from ear-to-ear. And, they’re all graduates of George Westinghouse High School.

Those smiles are well earned — the basketball team of their alma mater is on a roll.

Thanks to yet another grad of the school , located at 105 Tech Place, Downtown Brooklyn.

Everett Kelley, a 1990 Westinghouse grad, is the school’s basketball coach — and the team has rattled off a perfect 8-0 mark in the PSAL thus far and 10-1 overall.

“I started teaching at Westinghouse in ’92,” the coach told the Eagle this week. “This will be my 33rd year in the classroom.”

Oh, did we mention Kelley also played basketball for Westinghouse? “I had some offers,” he said. “Seton Hall, Rhode Island, but I went to junior college.”

And he returned to coach basketball for the school 20 years ago.

“All the kids know my history,” Kelley says. “In fact, I wasn’t very motivated when I played at GW; but I had a great feel for the game.”

Kelley says Westinghouse is his whole life.

“As a student, I walked to school; now, I walk to work,” he said.

But he admits the career and technical education high school has seen some changes over the years. “We had over 10 vocational areas — machine repair, electrical computer repair and more back then. Now, we have four programs — computer repair, IT support, STEM and culinary.”

And a super basketball team.

Kelley teaches electrical info at the school, but his best work is in the gymnasium with his team.

“Two of my best teams were in 2016-17 and my 1999 team,” he said.

That 2016-17 team made it to the PSAL semifinals and saw seven players play Division I basketball.

The 1999 squad lost in the PSAL quarterfinals — in double overtime. “But I’ll put this year’s team up against any team I’ve coached,” he said. “The chemistry on this team is great, and defensively this team really clicks.”

Davon Blake, a 5-10 sophomore, leads the club with his 19-plus points-per-game. “He’s the engine to our team’s transition from defense to offense,” Kelley said. “He (Blake) is someone who could be a very sneaky Division I player. He’s very physical, and he’s gotten better at all levels of the game.”

Kelley says Blake, quite simply, “creates havoc” on defense and can defend a 6-3 kid.

Zyon Wilson, a senior, is scoring just under 14 points a-game, and the rebounding is handled by senior Carmine Andrews-Bain at almost eight per game.

So, coach, how far can they go?

“We can make a great run; I trust us defensively, and we’re good enough to be in any game.”

A PSAL City Title could be in the future. And maybe, just maybe, Jay Z., Busta Rhymes, The Notorious B.I.G. and DMX — all Westinghouse grads — could have another freestyle rap battle in the school lobby like they did years ago to celebrate the city title.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR