Peter Kessel grew up in Elizabeth, playing all sports with the neighborhood kids, many of whom eventually starred for local high schools in basketball. Pete’s game improved playing competitively on the JEC JV in seventh and eighth grade and spending summers at Camp Eton competing against older JEC varsity members.

In November of 1968, he began his varsity career as a freshman starter, scoring 20 points against Ramaz in his varsity debut. He started all 98 games JEC played between 1968 and 1972 and played in the league All-Star game each year of high school. Playing for the highly respected coach Cordell Reinhardt, Pete expanded his game yearly.

Pete was named “Top Scorer” at Billy Cunningham’s basketball camp before his sophomore year and would have been named MVP if he had “only played a little defense.”

Pete played on what he believes was the best team ever assembled in the yeshiva league his junior year, winning the league championship but losing in the playoffs. The team featured Pete, fellow inductee Gary Aboff, and deserving future inductee, Jack Rosenbaum. The team continuously defeated private and parochial basketball powers receiving the number three seed in the state tournament (private and parochial schools). The team captured the attention of the school, the community and all the local newspapers. A fond memory is his father, a Holocaust survivor, attending many home games.

Pete’s varsity career at the JEC ended in 1972 on a very high note; JEC won the division, league and playoff championships, he was named MJHSL MVP, lead the league in scoring, became the all-time leading scorer in Union County history with 2003 points, ended 1972 as the ninth leading scorer in New Jersey state history and was named to All-State, All-County and All-City teams. It was the culmination of a memorable year and a great high school career.

In 1974, Pete fulfilled a long time goal, signing a contract to play for Elitzur Tel Aviv in the Israeli professional basketball league. He, and David Wilzig, former Yeshiva University star, were the first yeshiva league players to play in the top Israeli league.

Pete, the youngest American playing in the league, had a very successful rookie year. In the middle of the season, after becoming the starting point guard, he had, what can only be called, a dream week. As two games were played per week, Pete was named “Player of the Round” twice in one week, scoring 29 against Maccabi Ramat Gan and 27 against Hapoel Givat Brenner: An achievement rarely, if ever, duplicated in the history of the league. He played two full and three partial seasons (injuries) with Elitzur. Ironically, he and his family lived in Israel in 2014 and 2015 and reconnected with former teammates and opponents 40 years later.

He briefly coached the JEC varsity in the mid ‘80s and coached teams in the Pan American Maccabiah Games in Mexico City (coached Doug Gottlieb, CBS announcer, and David Blu, former Maccabi Tel Aviv superstar) in 1999, and Santiago, Chile in 2003.

He is the founder of the Yeshiva (high school) Alumni Basketball Association (YABA), which has raised monies for many local tezedkas over the years, including Magen David Adom, Friends of the IDF, Chai Lifeline and others.

According to Pete, the most fulfilling aspects of his entire career were “the wonderful relationships he has made playing and coaching basketball, with both teammates and opponents. He would not trade the comradery, off the court experiences and fond memories for any of his basketball achievements…Well maybe one; getting inducted into the YABA Hall of Fame.”

Pete will get his wish when he is inducted into the YABA hall of fame on Thursday night, May 18, at Congregation Keter Torah, as part of the 2017 class of honorees. To RSVP or for more information about the event go to http://www.yabausa.org/