Albert Fallas of YULA and Zeev Remer of Shalhevet were co-Players of the Year in Jewish Hoops America for the 2019-20 season.
The Coach of the Year was David Zimmerman of Yavneh Dallas and the Underclassman of the Year was Johnny Dan of Valley Torah.
Fallas, a senior, and Remer, a junior, tied in the voting among JHA coaches, with each getting the same number of first-place votes.
Fallas averaged 16.6 points per game and led the Panthers to an 18-10 record and their first ever sectional semifinal.
Remer led the Firehawks with 18.6 points per game as a junior. He followed that up this year with a 27 point average as the Firehawks became the first-ever Jewish team to play for a California regional championship. Remer finished a stellar 4-year varsity career with 2,019 points, only the third player in Jewish Hoops America’s 15 years to surpass 2K. He was JHA’s Underclassman of the Year in 2019.
Because so few teams played in 2020-21, there are no individual awards for this year. Instead we are recognizing some who did play by upgrading their awards from 2019-20 or adding them as an honorable mention. Those instances are marked by an asterisk on the list below. All are listed by the class they were in in 2019-20.
Joining Fallas and Remer on the 1st Team All Jewish Hoops America were Yeshiva League seniors Max Zakheim of Frisch, Albert Nsiri of Magen David and Ricky Sutton of Heschel.
The 2nd Team included seniors Matthew Jedwab of HAFTR, Elie Lowenstein of Berman Hebrew Academy, Jake Silvers of Rochelle Zell and Jacob Stein of HA Miami and juniors Zevi Samet of TABC and Jesse Spear of Maimonides.
The 3rd Team was seniors Jackie Haber of Shaare Torah and Mason Schwaber of Yavneh Dallas; juniors Ariel Gershman of Jewish Day School, Jacob Pofsky of Shalhevet and Jo Jo Velenski of DRS; and freshman Johnny Dan of Valley Torah.;
Zimmerman led Yavneh Dallas to the TAPPS 3A championship in Texas, the first time a Jewish high school team in the United States ever won a state title. The Bulldogs finished the season 31-3, including 18 straight wins to end the year.
Runners up for Coach of the Year were YULA’s Vince Oliver and SAR’s Rafi Halpert. Others considered were Chris Cole of Beren Houston, Ryan Coleman.of Shalhevet, Ben Falk of Barrack Hebrew Academy, Michael Foonberg of Denver Jewish Day, Ed Gelb of Maimonides, Tzvi Goldberg of Hillel-NJ, Greg Kalutsky of Fasman Yeshiva, Jan Sandusky of Shaare Torah and Lior Schwartzberg of Valley Torah.
The race for top underclassman came down to a pair of Los Angeles hoopsters, with Dan, a freshman who averaged 15 ppg and won a John Wooden Award as top player in CIF Southern Section Division 5, getting the nod over Milken sophomore Jac Mani.
Others considered were freshmen Gavin Foonberg of Denver Jewish Day and Avi Halpert of Shalhevet and sophomores Abie Bonkovsky of Posnack Jewish Day, Jonathan Levy of Katz YHS and Hymie Salem of HAFTR.
With the abrupt ending of the season before the 2020 Sarachek Tournament and in the middle of the Yeshiva League semifinals, Jewish Hoops America did not award a #1 team for the 2019-20 season. Shalhevet held the top spot when the season concluded.
1st Team All-Jewish Hoops America
Albert Fallas, senior, YULA/Los Angeles,CA
Zeev Remer, junior, Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA
Max Zakheim, senior, Frisch/Paramus,NJ
Albert Nsiri, senior, Magen David/Brooklyn,NY
Ricky Sutton, senior, Heschel/New York,NY
2nd Team All-Jewish Hoops America
Matthew Jedwab, senior, HAFTR/Cedarhurst,NY
Elie Lowenstein, senior, Berman Hebrew Academy/Rockville,MD
Zevi Samet, junior/senior, TABC/Teaneck,NJ*
Jake Silvers, senior, Rochelle Zell/Deerfield,IL
Jesse Spear, junior, Maimonides/Brookline,MA
Jacob Stein, senior, HA Miami/Miami Beach,FL
3rd Team All-Jewish Hoops America
Johnny Dan, freshman/sophomore, Valley Torah/Valley Village,CA*
Ariel Gershman, junior, Jewish Day School/Rockville,MD
Jackie Haber, senior, Shaare Torah/Brooklyn,NY
Jacob Pofsky, junior/senior, Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA*
Mason Schwaber, senior, Yavneh Academy/Dallas,TX
Jo Jo Velenski, junior, DRS/Lawrence,NY
Honorable Mention
Assaf Arieh, senior, Golda Och/West Orange,NJ
Jacob Benezra, senior, Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA
Noah Diner, senior, Beren Academy/Houston,TX
Jonah Dobkin, senior, DeToledo/West Hills,CA
Jonah Eber, senior, Yavneh Academy/Dallas,TX
Avi Halpert, freshman/sophomore, Shalhevet/Los Angeles,CA*
Jon Kochavi, junior/senior, Denver Jewish Day/Denver,CO*
Steven Levian, senior, North Shore Hebrew Academy/Great Neck,NY
Noah Mamann, senior, Katz YHS/Boca Raton,FL
Jac Mani, sophomore, Milken/Los Angeles,CA
Joey Mishanie, senior, YDE/Brooklyn,NY
Eytan Pomper, senior, Maimonides/Brookline,MA
Spencer Rubinstein, junior, Ramaz/New York,NY
Jacob Starr, senior, Gann/Waltham,MA
Dani Stein, junior, Fasman Yeshiva/Skokie,IL
Freddie Swaid, junior, Shaare Torah/Brooklyn,NY
Samuel Taieb, senior, Scheck Hillel/North Miami Beach,FL
Mo Tobias, senior, Hillel/Deal,NJ
Daniel Totaiv, senior, YULA/Los Angeles,CA
Jeremiah Wolfe, senior, Farber Hebrew Day/Southfield,MI
PREVIOUS HONOREES
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2019 - Judah Oppenheimer, SAR
2018 - Ryan Turell, Valley Torah
2017 - Bryan Knapp, Jewish Day School-MD
2016 - Gabriel Laifer, DRS
2015 - Josh Newlander, Chicagoland Jewish
2014 - Josh Newlander, Chicagoland Jewish
2013 - Zach Yoshor, Beren Houston
2012 - Jack Gindi, YULA
2011 - Yisroel Feld, MTA, and Jack Gindi, YULA
2010 - Eric Avdee, Tarbut vTorah
2009 - Eitan Chemerinski, Jewish Day School-MD
2008 - Jordan Marcus, Solomon Schechter-NJ
2007 - Solomon Schoonover, Hillel Miami
COACH OF THE YEAR
2019 - Evan Pickman, Heschel
2018 - Ryan Coleman, Shalhevet
2017 - Mike Whiting, Milken
2016 - Avrum Stein, DRS
2015 - Joe Schwartz, Frisch
2014 - Dwight Hollins, Fuchs Mizrachi
2013 - Marty Dello, Chicagoland Jewish
2012 - Richard Lewis, Cooper-Memphis
2011 - Rafi Halpert, SAR
2010 - Patrick Roberts, Tarbut vTorah
2009 - Elliot Steinmetz, HANC
2008 - Howard Braun, Ida Crown
2007 - Howard Braun, Ida Crown