The Star-Ledger
Girls basketball Carney to retire after season
Thursday, January 09, 2003

The winningest coach in the history of Middlesex County girls' basketball will be stepping down after this season.

East Brunswick coach Reggie Carney has announced he will retire after the current campaign. The 52-year-old South Amboy native has compiled a 576-90 record (an .865 winning percentage) in 26 seasons -- 13 at South Amboy and 13, including the current season, at East Brunswick.

"My athletic career started at the age of 5, and I've enjoyed so much success but I've put so much pressure on myself for so many years," Carney said.

At South Amboy, Carney guided the Group 1 school (then Hoffman High) to the first NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title in 1989. South Amboy remains the only Group 1 school ever to win the overall state crown.

After that season, Carney left the high school ranks to become an assistant with the women's program at Boston University. He spent just one season there before coming to East Brunswick for the 1990-'91 season. Remarkably, Carney has taken East Brunswick to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament finals every year since 1992, winning the county championship in 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

"I've been blessed with the opportunity to go from one of the smallest to one of the largest schools in the county," said Carney, an All-State first baseman/pitcher at Sayreville in 1968. "To me, coaching has always been about teaching fundamentals and seeing if kids can improve, rather than what title we have to win."