Cape Atlantic Day

 After several years spent resurrecting the Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball program, Stuart Pradia’s team emerged as a genuine New Jersey Athletic Conference contender in 2023-24.

Pradia, who is entering his sixth season as the Rutgers-Camden head coach, guided the Scarlet Raptors to a 13-12 record last season, marking the most wins and first winning record for the Scarlet Raptors since a 14-12 season in 2014-15. The Raptors’ 8-10 NJAC record was their best conference mark since another 8-10 season in 2014-15, and the team was in contention for a NJAC playoff berth until the final day of the regular season.

Along the way, Rutgers-Camden fashioned a host of highlights, beginning with an opening-day win over Hunter College, which marked the team’s first season-opening win since 2014. On November 29, the Scarlet Raptors defeated Stockton for their first win over the Ospreys since Feb. 13, 2008. They added another win against Stockton later in the year, marking only the third time they ever swept the season series against the Ospreys. It was the first time since the 1980-81 season.

A 112-78 win over Penn State-Berks on Jan. 3 produced the sixth-highest Rutgers-Camden scoring output ever and helped the Scarlet Raptors earn their first three-game winning streak since November 10-23, 2018. With a win over Ramapo in their next game, the Scarlet Raptors posted their first four-game winning streak since Nov. 18-Dec. 3, 2006.

On Jan. 13, a win against William Paterson was the program’s first overtime victory since a 92-90 win against Arcadia on November 19, 2014.

Those highlights led to many individual honors, as Pradia saw sophomore Cameron Downs earn NJAC Second Team recognition and capture a pair of NJAC Player of the Week awards. Freshman Keion Elliott earned the NJAC Rookie of the Week on Dec. 18 and a trio of Raptors were cited for their work in the classroom, with Gavin Henry, Sean Jules and Jordan Trusty-Smith capturing NJAC Academic Honorable Mention.

During the 2022-23 campaign, the young Scarlet Raptors introduced one of the brightest young talents in the NJAC, with Downs being named the NJAC Rookie of the Year, capturing NJAC Honorable Mention and earning three conference Rookie of the Week honors. Pradia’s fourth team also featured a pair of NJAC academic honorees in Henry and Jaymes Savage.

Inheriting a team that posted a 2-23 record the year before he arrived, Pradia led Rutgers-Camden to a 7-18 mark during the 2019-20 campaign, the Scarlet Raptors’ best season since that 14-12 in 2014-15. It was only the third time since the 2002-03 season (8-17) that the Scarlet Raptors had won as many as seven games.

In the New Jersey Athletic Conference, meanwhile, Pradia’s first team posted a 4-14 record. It was only the fourth time since 1988-89 (another 4-14 NJAC season) that the Scarlet Raptors had won as many as four conference games. In the four seasons prior to Pradia’s arrival, Rutgers-Camden had posted a combined 7-65 NJAC record.

Pradia’s first season featured several milestones, including a game at Princeton University on January 26, marking the first time Rutgers-Camden played a Division I opponent since a trip to Elon University on Nov. 16, 2011. In terms of conference play, Rutgers-Camden posted its first win at Montclair State University since Jan. 28, 2004, and its first win over Rowan University since Dec. 2, 2015.

Individually, Pradia saw Isaac Destin cap his brilliant career as a member of the program’s 1,000-point club while earning NJAC First Team recognition. Destin led the NJAC in rebounding and finished second in scoring. A first-year transfer to Rutgers-Camden, meanwhile, had his own stellar season as Arian Azemi finished second in the NJAC in assists and led the conference in steals, while setting a single-season Rutgers-Camden record with 81. Both Destin and Azemi earned NJAC Player of the Week honors during the season.

With the graduation of Destin from his first team, Pradia set about another rebuilding project. With the 2020-21 season shortened and disrupted by COVID-19, Pradia’s team finished with a 0-9 record, losing in the NJAC playoffs to eventual champion New Jersey City University. Despite that record, however, the Scarlet Raptors managed to become the only team in the NJAC to play every one of its scheduled games, as pandemic protocols forced at least one cancelation by all other teams. The Scarlet Raptors also saw freshman Henry earn NJAC Rookie of the Week honors on Feb. 22.

Since that 0-9 Covid season, the Scarlet Raptors have improved their record for three straight years, capped by the breakthrough 2023-24 season. Pradia and the Scarlet Raptors are looking for even bigger things in 2024-25, including the addition of another 1,000-point scorer, as Downs enters the season needing only 204 points to reach the milestone.

Tirelessly building his basketball resume for the past two decades, Pradia’s basketball journey has taken him all over the United States. He was a basketball coach at a pair of NJAC schools before being hired as the Raptors’ head coach.

“Camden was a draw for me very early on,” said Pradia, who served as a coach at NJAC opponent Kean University prior to earning the Rutgers-Camden job. “I knew the program had the potential to be competitive and, given time, a special place. Combine a degree from a prestigious institution with an area with rich basketball tradition in both New Jersey and Philadelphia and it really is a winning combination.”

As an accomplished athlete, Pradia played his scholastic basketball in Houston before taking his talents to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He dished out 203 assists from 2002-04, a total that ranks 19th on the program’s career list. During the 2003-04 campaign, he posted 119 assists for the Judges, tying for 16th among the program’s single-season marks.

Graduating from Brandeis in 2005 with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and double minor in Business and Legal Studies, Pradia’s first foray in coaching came during the 2006-07 season as an Assistant Coach at Washington and Lee University. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Washington College, securing a Master’s Degree in History in 2009.

Continuing to build upon his basketball IQ and acumen, Pradia spent the next three seasons at Gettysburg College before an NBA opportunity brought him back to his hometown Houston Rockets. During the 2012-13 campaign, Pradia served as the Basketball Operations Assistant for the Rockets. He was responsible for a myriad of tasks, from assisting players with on-court skill workouts, to producing statistical analysis reports and compiling college and international player evaluations in advance of the NBA draft.

During the 2013-14 season, Pradia served as the Director of Basketball Operations and an Assistant Coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League before spending the next two years as a Game Review and Global Strategy analyst with the NBA. During his second season in that position, he also was introduced to the NJAC, serving the first of his two seasons as an Assistant Coach at Montclair State University.

Pradia spent the 2017-18 season assisting at Millersville University before returning to the NJAC as Associate Head Coach at Kean University.

Pradia, whose goal is to mold Rutgers-Camden into one of the many premier programs in the NJAC, summons all his experiences and leadership to chart his team on a path to success. “I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity and look forward to the work that lies ahead.”After several years spent resurrecting the Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball program, Stuart Pradia’s team emerged as a genuine New Jersey Athletic Conference contender in 2023-24.