Montclair High Legend Had 12 Varsity Letters: NJSIAA Hall Of Fame

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A Montclair sports legend is one of the newest members of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Hall of Fame. Royce Flippin, a multi-sport star at Montclair High School during the early 1950s, recently joined four other Garden State athletes and an iconic college prep basketball team as part of the NJSIAA’s class of 2017.

According to the NJSIAA:

“Flippin earned 12 varsity letters [at MHS]… despite his alma mater then being a three-year school. What made his feat possible were regulations that permitted a student-athlete to compete in multiple sports during the same season. After earning the Newark Athletic Club’s prestigious ‘High School Athlete of the Year’ award, Flippin went on to Princeton University, were he was captain of the 1955 football team.”

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Other NJSIAA inductees for 2017 included:

• Jim Baglin (Coach) – "A 1970 graduate of Plainfield High School, who went to Susquehanna University, Baglin began his coaching career at West Morris High School, in Mendham, in 1979. Three years later, he was serving as West Morris’ athletic director. When he retired in 2016, he was the third winningest public school basketball coach in state history, with a remarkable record of 685 victories, and 193 losses."
• Dr. Sam Crosby (Official) – "A Somerville High School graduate who attended Rutgers University, Crosby held a range of positions during his 39-year career at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Public Schools. Related to scholastic athletics, he served as a wrestling official for 40 years, was the NJSIAA’s wrestling rules interpreter and state tournament assignor, and was a recipient of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award."
• Scott Goodale (Coach) – "A renowned wrestler at Jackson Memorial High School, Goodale eventually returned to his alma mater and coached the squad to a record of 155 wins and only 16 losses. He currently is the head wrestling coach at Rutgers University, where his teams have posted an impressive record of 153-55-1."
• James Rochford (Administrator) – "A three-sport athlete in his days at Seton Hall Prep, Rochford has coached scholastic baseball, soccer, swimming, and wrestling. As an administrator, he has served two four-year terms on the NJSIAA Executive Committee, been president of the Shore Conference and of the Shore Soccer Officials Association, and has been inducted into five separate halls of fame.
• 1988-’89 St. Anthony’s Prep Basketball (Team) – Under the direction of legendary coach Bobby Hurley, the 1988-’89 St. Anthony Prep boys basketball squad recorded a perfect 32-0 season, winning all but two games by double-digits. Amazingly, three members of the team would eventually become NBA first-round draft picks."

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