North Tonawanda Lumberjacks Basketball: Where Are They Now?
Where Are They Now?Here we're looking for former Lumberjacks and where they are now in their lives. Please send us information on yourself or someone you know that you feel should be highlighted in this segment.
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Remembering Cutler, NT's first 1,000-point scorer
By Jay Skurski
Greater Niagara Newspapers
Varick Cutler, widely regarded as the greatest basketball player to ever come out of North Tonawanda, passed away recently after a brief illness. He was 54.
The first 1,000-point scorer in Lumberjacks history, Cutler played in 60 career games. He finished his career with 1,262 points (21.5 per game) and 759 rebounds (12.7 per game) in three seasons with the varsity.
“I was a couple years behind Varick, but I saw him play many times,” said NT Basketball Hall of Fame President Tom Jaccarino. “He was a big man who could shoot the outside jumper and could go inside, too. He was as fluid a player as I’ve seen in North Tonawanda ... just a joy to watch.”
Had a 3-point line existed when Cutler played at NT, his numbers would have been even more impressive, according to those who watched him.
After graduating from NT, Cutler played one season at Maryland, which at the time was the “UCLA of the East,” according to Jaccarino. He then transferred to La Salle University, where he played under Paul Westhead, who would go on to coach in the NBA. Cutler also played professionally in Venezuela and the early CBA.
While at La Salle, Cutler struck up a friendship with current Niagara University men’s basketball coach Joe Mihalich.
“We did everything with each other. We played basketball, we watched basketball, we talked about basketball,” Mihalich said Thursday. “I get chills thinking about him being gone.”
After his playing career ended, Cutler earned a master’s degree in social work from Eastern Washington University.
“Verick was not only a great basketball player, he was an excellent student and true gentlemen,” said George Oleske, the junior varsity coach at NT during Cutler’s time there. “That’s one thing I want to emphasize: He was a good man.”
Cutler was a member of the NT Basketball Hall of Fame’s inaugural induction class in 2005, joined by Tom Chester, George Bancroft Sr. and Ted Moore.
“I’m glad we was inducted when he was,” Jaccarino said, “because he really was the best basketball player to ever come out of NT.”
Cutler was living in Idaho at the time of his death. He is survived by three children. As his obituary in the Idaho Statesman read: “He will be greatly missed.”
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After a successful stint at Santa Fe Community College (Gainesville, FL), former North Tonawanda basketball player Phil Puccia has moved on to continue his collegiate career at Division II Barry University (Miami Shores, FL). While at Santa Fe, Phil helped the Saints to two Mid-Florida Conference Championships and was named to the Mid-Florida Conference All-Academic Team. In his first year at Barry, Phil helped the Buccaneers to a 15-14 record while starting 22 games and averaging 8.3 points per game. While at NTHS, Phil was an All-Niagara Frontier League selection as a senior and finished his career with 516 points and 199 assists. To learn more about Phil and his Barry Buccaneers you can click on the headline above or visit http://www.barry.edu/athletics/default.aspx.
Steve Becker
Steve Becker played under Coach Greg Ross from 1995-97 and helped lead the Jacks to the 1997 Section VI Class AA-1 semifinals. Following high school, Steve earned a spot on the roster at Buffalo State College and turned out a fine collegiate career that saw him contribute as a defensive stopper and 3-point specialist for legendary Division III Coach Dick Bihr. Since graduating, Steve has moved on to become a math teacher at Sweet Home High School. Basketball remains an active part of Steve's life as he holds an assistant varsity coaching position at Sweet Home under Head Coach Paul Schintzius. This past season, Sweet Home reached the New York State Class A Final Four.
Matt LaRoach
Lettering at NT from 1996-98, Matt LaRoach was one of those players that every coach wants to have; he did the little things like taking charges, boxing out and his effort and intensity was never questioned. Matt has been able to transfer his approach to basketball and apply it to life as he's become a very successful individual. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Niagara University, Matt has moved into the professional world as a social studies teacher at Sweet Home High School. Basketball has remained a part of Matt's life as he has taken over the girls basketball program at Sweet Home as their Head Varsity Coach.
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Lumberjack Alum Steve Silsby has continued on in his life with basketball playing a major role. After assistant coaching stints at Scottsdale Community College, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, and Division I Arizona State University, Silsby has moved on to an assistant coaching position at the University of Great Falls (MT) where he also serves as the Head Golf Coach. Silsby played for North Tonawanda from 1984-87 and is currently tied for 23rd all-time in scoring with 477 career points in 53 games played. .
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Playing for North Tonawanda from 1990-92, Steve Loeswick was an excellent role player for coaches Al Ridge & Greg Ross. For his career, Steve totaled 150 points and grabbed 126 rebounds while the team accumulated a record of 27-16. However, volleyball was his calling. As a senior he made Volleyball Monthlys Fabulous 50 Preps list and is enshrined in the North Tonawanda Athletic Wall of Fame. A four-year starter at setter at the University of Southern California, Loeswick became only the third Trojan player to start at that spot all four years. He ranked 10th nationally with a 15.86 assist-per-game average. A 1996 graduate of USC with a degree in exercise science, Loeswick, who was named to the 1993 Volleyball Monthly All-Freshman team, was named to the Mountain Pacific Sport Federation All-Academic team following his senior year. After a short stint coaching a professional women's team in Holland, Loeswick joined the coaching staff at Cornell University. He coached there from 1998-2003 and now holds his current position as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma.
Tom Jaccarino
Former North Tonawanda basketball player Tom Jaccarino currently serves our community as the City Clerk. After entering the working world as an English teacher at NTHS (and serving as JV Basketball Coach in the late 1970's & early 1980's), Tom entered the local political scene and since then has held numerous positions within our city and county government. Following in their dad's footsteps, Tom's three boys have all competed at the varsity level for the Jacks; Mike (1998-2000), Mark (2002-04) & Mitchell (2005-present). In addition to his duties as City Clerk, Tom also serves as the President of the North Tonawanda Basketball Hall of Fame and has been instrumental in the success of that organization since its inception in 2004.
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Todd Hummel is currently in his third season as the Canisius College golf coach. Hummel has been a member of the United States Golf Association (USGA) since 1993 and was a member of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) from 1993-95. He served as the assistant golf pro at Brookfield Country Club from 1993-95 and was a golf instructor at Deerwood Golf Course from 1989-93. He was the manager of Dundas Golf Inc. from 1995-97 and an assistant manager at Golf Day from 1999-2000. Hummel played basketball at NT from 1986-89 and in that time he scored 436 points while appearing in 56 games. His best year was his senior year, 1988-89, when he averaged 11.0 ppg while totaling 210 points for the season. He was also NT's first three-point scoring threat as the three-point line was instituted in high school basketball in time for his junior season. For his career, Hummel totaled 31 three-point shots. Hummel graduated with a bachelors degree in sport management from Slippery Rock University in 1993 and is currently pursuing his masters degree in sport administration at Canisius while also working in the athletic department as the ticket manager. His wife, Cathy, is in her fifth season as the head volleyball coach at Canisius. They reside in North Tonawanda with their son, Jaxon, and daughter, Jordan.
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Brian North has the distinction of being, arguably, the most famous Lumberjack basketball alumnus. After playing for the red, white, and blue from 1991-93, where the team sported a fine 26-18 combined record, Brian has gone on to work on the air for Buffalo's most popular radio station, Kiss 98.5, as the radio personality Brian B. Wilde. Click on the link above to view his personal profile page at Kiss985.com.
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Henry Wojtaszek was Coach Joe Merlo's defensive stopper during his career from 1978-80. Since then he's gone on to a successful career as an attorney. Mr. Wojtaszek served the City of North Tonawanda as its city attorney from 1998-2004. He currently works for Harris & Beard, a law firm with 130 attorneys and offices in Rochester, Buffalo and New York City. Mr. Wojtaszek also has aspirations in the political world, as he ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. Although he was unsuccessful in that attempt, he intends to run for public office some time in the future. He also serves the region as the Niagara County Republican Party Chairman. Henry is married to wife Caroline, who is a Niagara County prosecuting attorney and together they have one son and one daughter.
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Scott Miranto is currently continuing his education and athletic career as a member of the St. John Fisher College football team. Seeing action in two varsity seasons for the NTHS Basketball Squad, from 2002-04, Miranto was called on to do the dirty work as a key cog in the Jacks' stingy defense. As a senior, he helped the Jacks hold opponents to a stimy 50 points per game. As a freshman at Fisher, Miranto split time between the JV & Varsity football teams, and helped Fisher win their first Empire 8 Conference Championship while finishing the season ranked #15 in the country. Miranto made the transition full-time to the varsity team and topped the depth chart at Free Safety for the 2005 season. Following the season, Miranto earned Honorable Mention All-Empire 8 Conference considerations for this contributions which helped Fisher stay in the national poll almost the entire year while finishing 8-3. To learn more about the Cardinals and Scott Miranto click on the link above or visit http://www.sjfc.edu/athletics/.