Jimmy Jandoli grew up in Cedar Grove but came to Verona to raise his family. He passed away from cancer in 2019, and now the Team Hill Foundation is honoring his legacy with a basketball game to raise money for scholarships in both towns.
On Tuesday, February 16, at 4 p.m., the boys basketball teams of Verona High School and Cedar Grove High School will come together for the Jimmy Jandoli Tip-Off. You can’t attend the game in person because of COVID-19, but the Team Hill Foundation has set up a broadcast-quality pay-per-view event.
The Jimmy Jandoli Tip-Off was supposed to have been the lead-off game in a two-day basketball showcase created in memory of Dennis Gregory, who was an assistant coach at Rutgers University under Fred Hill, now the CEO of Team Hill Foundation. Gregory passed away in 2018.
The first Dennis Gregory Classic was a two-day event in 2020 featuring eight high school basketball teams at Ramapo College. “It was unbelievably successful,” says Hill, who was also Jandoli’s brother-in-law.
This year’s Classic had been planned for Caldwell University, but the pandemic changed those plans. So instead of an in-person game, the Team Hill Foundation has created an internet livestream complete with play-by-play announcers and commercials. Tickets cost $10 per viewing device and you can purchase them through the Dennis Gregory Classic website .
“There are no other showcase events in New Jersey high school basketball this year,” says Hill. “Verona-Cedar Grove is a rivalry game, but this is more because Jimmy Jandoli had such an influence on both communities.”
Tickets for the Jimmy Jandoli Tip-Off are $10 and you can purchase them just before the 4 p.m. game time through the Dennis Gregory Classic website .
