Versatile McCourt is City Player of the 2000s
NINE YEARS AFTER concluding his football career at Roman Catholic High, Joe McCourt might still be catching his breath.
NINE YEARS AFTER concluding his football career at Roman Catholic High, Joe McCourt might still be catching his breath.
Talk about hard-working . . .
The only time McCourt left the field through almost all of his time as a Cahillite was when punting had to be done. Otherwise, he was out there running, blocking, catching, returning, tackling, intercepting and, yes, doing the kicking as well.
McCourt, listed at 6-foot, 185 pounds during his senior season in 2000, is our choice for City Player of the 2000s in connection with the Daily News' All-Decade Team. He, not surprisingly, occupies one of the squad's multipurpose spots.
McCourt was our Catholic League Player of the Year in 1999 as Roman won its first championship since 1947, then shared the honor in 2000. Careerwise, he rushed 558 times for a school-record 3,315 yards and 38 touchdowns, and caught 53 passes for 769 yards and six TDs. He scored 288 total points.
Truly an old-school athlete, McCourt also earned first-team All-City baseball honors as an outfielder and was an important basketball sub, as well. He then experienced upper-echelon football success for Lafayette, at running back (4,474 yards), and is now Roman's head coach.
Our Public League honoree is defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd, of George Washington.
In an era when recruiters from Division I schools barely know of the Pub's existence, the 6-3, 310-pound Floyd dominated to such an extent that some observers considered him the nation's No. 1 down-lineman prospect.
Floyd, also a force at guard, last season powered the Eagles to a third consecutive Pub title and followed with strong performances in national all-star games in Hawaii and Texas. He recently made an oral commitment to Florida.
Floyd this past season made 60 tackles. An amazing 36, including eight sacks, were made behind the line. He also batted down five passes, forced two fumbles and notched six blocks (five punts and a field-goal attempt).
The end of the decade also produces our Inter-Ac League headliner, Chestnut Hill Academy's Ibraheim Campbell.
Campbell was listed at d-back on this past season's All-City Team because that's the position he prefers and the one he intends to play at Northwestern.
His power-packed hits and flash-to-the-ball skills enabled the Blue Devils to win an Inter-Ac title (shared) for the first time in school history and he was a fabulous rusher, also. His yardage efforts as a senior (1,885) and junior (1,772) are the second- and third-best in I-A history and he scored 57 percent of CHA's points (320 of 558) in those two seasons.
His career totals show 497 carries for 3,810 yards and 52 TDs, and he had wait to star offensively only because his brother, Rashad, now at Cornell, was the Blue Devils' franchise rusher through '07.
Our Coach of the Decade is Ron Cohen, of George Washington.
Cohen steered the Eagles for all 10 years in the 2000s, producing six Pub championships and a Class AAAA City Title in '08. He captured 97 wins in 122 games for a .795 percentage. Through his 25-season career, he has averaged exactly nine wins (225-62-2).
All-decade team
This lists the players at their positions, plus their high school, senior year and where they attended college:
OFFENSE
L Marques Slocum Neumann/W. Catholic, '04; Michigan
L Seth Betancourt St. Joseph's Prep, '09; Boston College
L Jameel McClain George Washington, '02; Syracuse
L Will Barker Haverford School, '04; Virginia
L Matt Lowry Cardinal O'Hara, '04; Penn St.
Rec Maurice Stovall Archbishop Carroll, '01; Notre Dame
Rec Joe Price Malvern Prep, '08; Villanova
QB Drew Loughery La Salle, '09; Undecided
RB Kevin Jones Cardinal O'Hara, '00; Virginia Tech
RB Curtis Brinkley Roxborough/W. Catholic, '03; Syracuse
RB Jerry Butler George Washington, '04; Wisconsin
MP Joe McCourt Roman Catholic, '00; Lafayette
MP Curtis Drake West Catholic, '08; Penn St.
K Pat Kaiser St. Joseph's Prep, '02; Bloomsburg
P Brendan Carney Malvern Prep, '01; Syracuse
DEFENSE
L Sharrif Floyd George Washington, '09; Florida
L Scott Paxson Roman Catholic, '00; Penn St.
L Jewhan Edwards Roman Catholic, '07; Minnesota
L Fran Person Episcopal Academy, '00; South Carolina
LB Brian Tracz St. Joseph's Prep, '03; Indiana
LB Maurice Bennett George Washington, '01; Lafayette
LB Joe Rosati Episcopal Academy, '04; *Villanova
B Ibraheim Campbell Chestnut Hill Academy, '09; Northwestern
B John Maddox West Catholic, '05; West Virginia
B Sean Grieve Germantown Academy, '03; *Wm. & Mary
B Billy Conners Malvern Prep, '08; *Duke
*Chose to play other sports in college.