Homecoming on the Court

There is something special about returning to your alma mater as a coach which Glenn Jansen got to experience last fall. Now he’ll also spend the winter months at Donovan Catholic.

Jansen was named the Griffins girls basketball coach Thursday, a position he accepted after resigning from the same post at Colts Neck where he will remain as a history teacher.

A Toms River resident, he coached the Donovan Catholic girls volleyball team to a school-best 22-6 record last fall and is excited about the opportunity to take over the girls basketball program.  Both Jansen and his wife are Donovan graduates and his son was a part of the baseball program before graduating earlier this week.

Jansen won 66 games in four seasons as the head coach at Colts Neck after spending ten years as an assistant and takes over a Griffins program that had seven consecutive winning seasons under Jerry Bruno, who stepped down last month.

On the subject of basketball I would like to remind you about tonight’s Heroes for Hannah benefit game being played at the Pine Belt Arena as students, teachers and coaches from both Central Regional and Toms River North battle members of the Toms River Police Department.  It’s all to help with the staggering medical bills incurred by Hannah Donner and her family after the soon-to-be Central graduate suffered serious injuries in a car accident last October.

Tonight’s game tips off at 7 p.m. tickets are available at the door and there will be prize raffles, tee shirts sold and more.  I will be on hand as the game and evening announcer as the community comes together to show their support for Hannah, who faces additional surgeries but will be attending The College of New Jersey in the fall.