Harlem Wizards bring game - and money
REGION. Several fundraisers with the show basketball team are planned in this area in the next few weeks.
Newton /
| 18 Feb 2025 | 02:07
Several Harlem Wizards help Owen Magath, 4, of Jefferson dunk the ball to score the final point of a fundraising game Feb. 7 at Jefferson Township High School. (Photo by George Leroy Hunter)
Kayden Toth, 3, of Jefferson gets help taking a shot from Harlem Wizards basketball player Kamil ‘Dragon’ Brown. Kayden’s uncle Robby, who teaches math at the middle school, was playing for the Jefferson team. (Photos by George Leroy Hunter)
Jefferson Township Middle School math teacher Robby Toth in the midst of a shot in the first quarter. He scored the first point of the game.
State Assemblyman Christian Barranco, D-25, grabs the ball during a rebound. He played for the Jefferson team.
Harlem Wizards player Kamil ‘Dragon’ Brown dribbles the ball while covered by a Jefferson player.
A Harlem Wizards basketball player trots around the perimeter of the court while greeting the fans.
Harlem Wizards player Devon ‘Livewire’ Curry balances the ball during a trick shot.
Harlem Wizards player Tyler ‘Sky-Rise’ Cronk dunks the ball to the amazement of the crowd.
Harlem Wizards player Tyler ‘Sky-Rise’ Cronk dazzles the opposing team and the crowd while performing a dunk.
Somehow the Harlem Wizards managed to turn the basketball game into a baseball game for a few minutes.
Harlem Wizards player Deven ‘Just Do It’ Dorsett (10) tosses the ball toward the hoop.
The Harlem Wizards doing fancy ball handling at the center of the court.
The show basketball team the Harlem Wizards took on a team of middle school teachers and staff members in a fun-filled charity basketball game Feb. 7 at Jefferson Township High School.
The Wizards won the game, 81-70.
The professional basketball team, based in Moonachie, was created in 1962 by sports promoter Howie Davis. The team now is owned and managed by his Davis’s son Todd.
It takes part in fundraising events at schools throughout the country.
The Wizards have a full schedule - sometimes playing two or three games a day.
Four appearances are scheduled in this area during the first two weeks in March.
One of those is March 5 at Kittatinny Regional High School in Newton.
Karen Ruitenberg, one of the organizers, said the Wizards game was chosen because “we thought it would be a fun event for the community” as well as a good way to raise money.
More than 300 tickets have been sold so far. Doubling that number would make her very happy, she said.
“A sellout would be amazing,” she added. The Kittatinny gym can hold 1,000 people.
Because of sponsorships that covered the Wizards’ fee, the game is guaranteed to produce funds, which will be split between the Kittatinny Class of 2026 and the Hampton/Sandyston Rec basketball program, Ruitenberg said.
The amateur team that will face the Wizards will include teachers and staff members from Kittatinny, McKeown School in Hampton and Sandyston-Walpack School; Hampton/Sandyston Rec coaches; and Benjamin Davey, founder of the nonprofit Benny’s Bodega in Newton.
”Everybody that I talk to is excited,” Ruitenberg said.
That excitement was expected to grow with Wizards players taking part in assemblies at two schools Tuesday, Feb. 17.
More than expected
Anja Norman helped organize a Wizards game when she was president of the Paradise Knoll School PTA in West Milford in 2023.
That game, held at West Milford High School, attracted more than 900 people and raised slightly more than $12,000 toward the purchase of a new sound system for the elementary school.
The fundraising total topped the $9,000 to $10,000 that the organizers were expecting.
It was the second time that Paradise Knoll had organized a Wizards game that she is aware of, Norman said.
The Wizards are scheduled to return to West Milford High School on March 8. That game will benefit the Highlander Education Foundation, which raises money for school programs not funded in the district’s budget.
”I know the kids are excited to see them come back,” Norman said.
Organizing the Wizards fundraiser was about the same amount of work as hosting a Tricky Tray, she said.
Christina Duffy, secretary of the Highlander Education Foundation, said its members who had been involved with Wizards fundraisers at various schools recommended the game when the foundation’s board was looking for ideas.
”They put on an exciting show,” she said, adding that the Wizards games traditionally have been held in the winter, when there are fewer family events scheduled.
Past visits by the Wizards to West Milford was not a worry, Duffy said. “It helps build name recognition.”
The organizers have signed up about 40 volunteers to be at the game as ushers and to sell concessions and Wizards merchandise among other tasks. “It takes a lot of manpower,” Duffy said.
The Wizards will face an amateur team of teachers and staff members from all West Milford schools. High school seniors who will not compete in college also may play for the local team, she said.
Trick shots, comedy
In Jefferson, the Wizards wowed the crowd with trick shots, comedy and interaction with fans.
Mayor Eric Wilsusen served as a referee for the game, and state Assemblyman Christian Barranco, R-25, played for the Jefferson team.
About 800 people attended the game.
Leading up to the game, Wizards player John “Big J” Smith visited Briggs Elementary School to kick off the WizFit Challenge, a program in which students exercise, receive prizes and raise money for the Jefferson Township Consolidated PTA.
If they reach their goal of $5,000, they plan to “pie” Principal Randi De Brito and members of the Police Department in the face.
Breanne Magath said her son Henry, a first-grader who is ”big into basketball,” got her younger son Owen, 4, excited about the Wizards game after he learned about it through the WizFit Challenge.
Both boys had Courtside Plus Student Tickets, which cost $60 and include courtside seating, a pregame meet & greet with Harlem Wizards players, and Harlem Wizards souvenirs, such as jerseys.
The boys warmed up with the team on the basketball court before the game and got autographs from the players during halftime.
”They had a blast,” Magath said.
WHERE & WHEN
The Harlem Wizards are scheduled to play several fundraising games in the area next month:
• Sunday, March 2: 2 p.m. at Lenape Valley Regional High School, 28 Sparta Road, Stanhope.
• Wednesday, March 5: 6:30 p.m. at Kittatinny Regional High School, 77 Halsey Road, Newton.
• Saturday, March 8: 6:30 p.m. at West Milford High School, 67 Highlander Drive.
• Monday, March 10: 7 p.m. at Chester Academy, 64 Hambletonian Ave., Chester, N.Y.