Basketball: Tunstall leaves Medford Tech for Life Center

By Phil Anastasia

Medford Tech basketball coach Nick Powell said it's like "lightning striking twice."

For the second year in a row, Medford Tech's basketball team has lost its best player by transfer.

This time, it's 6-foot-7 senior Dennis Tunstall, who has left Medford Tech to enroll in Life Center Academy, Powell confirmed on Sunday.

Tunstall averaged 16.7 points and was a third-team All-South Jersey selection as a junior at Medford Tech. He led the Jaguars to a 19-10 record.

"It's disappointing but it seems like this is the way high school basketball is going," Powell said. "It's dominated by AAU."

Powell said he had arranged for a challenging schedule next season in large part because of the anticipated presence of Tunstall, a terrific shot blocker.

"We got a tough schedule and it was for him, to show what he could do," Powell said. "We worked with this kid for three years and we weren't finished. It's tough because we didn't get the chance to finish."

At Life Center, a non-NJSIAA program located in Burlington Township, Tunstall will join a high-powered team that is coached by former NBA star Pervis Ellison and includes senior standouts Malik Ellison, Pervis' son, and Ned Ogoemesim, a former Rancocas Valley player.

Two years ago, Medford Tech lost its top two players by transfer after winning the South Jersey Group 2 title as Eli Cain left for St. Benedict's and Myles Powell left for Trenton Catholic.

"I thought we were done with this stuff," Powell said. "This is the hand we're dealt. We'll play it."

-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com

-- Follow @PhilAnastasia on Twitter