Sterns Trailer Team With Long Branch Connection Looking for JSBL Title

While he may not be as much of a force as he was in his younger days, former Long Branch basketball star Darnell Tyler still enjoys getting his chance to compete in the Jersey Shore Basketball League.

“At this point, I’m just trying to stay in shape,’’ Tyler said. “It’s always fun to come out here and play with these guys.’’

Tyler, a 1998 Long Branch graduate who played in a Division I program at Manhattan, is part of a Sterns Trailer squad that has reached the semifinals of the JSBL playoffs. Sterns won the regular-season title in the eight-team, NCAA-sanctioned summer league at St. Rose High School in Belmar and now looks to add a postseason crown.

The team will play Investors Savings Bank at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday in a bid to reach Thursday night’s championship game. Sterns has a distinct local flavor, as it is headed by former Long Branch High School boys basketball coach Ron Pastore, who still does the public address announcing at the Green Wave football games.

Sterns also features two current Monmouth University players in point guard Will Campbell and 6-foot-7 forward Michael Myers-Keitt in addition to former Monmouth University star Blake Hamilton.

Tyler, a 6-foot-9 forward, is a reserve on the team who provides rebounding and a presence in the middle. He was a star on one of the best Long Branch teams of all time, which reached the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions semifinals two straight years in 1997 and 1998 after winning Group titles.

Sterns has a solid blend of veterans and young talent like the Monmouth duo. There also is a Shore Conference flavor as former Christian Brothers Academy and University of Florida forward Dan Werner is on the squad along with former Freehold Township and Fairleigh Dickinson scoring machine Manny Ubilla.

“It’s a great group of guys, and I just do my part to help us get wins,’’ Tyler said.

Tyler was an assistant boys basketball coach at Long Branch under Joe Whalen this past season. Whalen stepped down after the season to take a job on the staff at perennial national power St. Patrick’s in Elizabeth, leaving the Long Branch head job vacant at the moment. Tyler said he has not applied for the position, but the applicants reportedly include former Neptune and Monmouth University standout Keith Coleman as well as former Rutgers player Rich Brunson. Brunson also has served as one of the coaches for Sterns Trailer this summer.

“I am just waiting to see who gets the position and then things will go from there,’’ Tyler said about returning as an assistant this year.

Unlike Tyler, whose playing days other than the JSBL are over, Ubilla is coming off his second season of playing professionally in the Czech Republic. The dynamic guard averaged 17.5 points per game for Sterns Trailer in the regular season this summer, just behind Werner’s 17.8 points per game.

Ubilla took a circuitous route to success after starring at Freehold Township. He spent two seasons at Lackawanna College, a junior college in Pennsylvania, before earning a scholarship to FDU. As a senior in 2007-08, he averaged 20.8 points per game, putting himself on the radar of some overseas professional teams.

“Having somebody give you the chance to play basketball for a living is everyone’s dream,’’ he said. “It took a little time to adjust to certain things over there, but eventually everything worked out.’’

With the NBA lockout keeping everything in limbo and foreign teams exploring the options of grabbing NBA players, Ubilla is in a bit of a holding pattern right now. His team in the Czech Republic has folded, so he is searching for a new destination.

Before he and the rest of his Sterns Trailer teammates go their separate ways, whether it’s back to playing in college, professionally, or, in the case of players like Tyler, back to working in the real world, they would love to add a JSBL title to their summer.

“It’s nice to win the regular season title, but we want that championship,’’ Ubilla said.