Brian Streater, former all-star basketball player at Pennsauken High School and Rutgers-Camden, has died at 48
The grandson of Hall of Fame boxer Jersey Joe Walcott, he was known for his leadership and game-winning shots. He was “a special talent that I’ll never forget,” a former teammate said.
Brian Streater, 48, formerly of Pennsauken, an all-star basketball player for four seasons at Pennsauken High School and two seasons at Rutgers University-Camden, died Monday, July 22, of cancer at a hospital in Williamsport, Pa.
An electrifying quarterback and middle linebacker as a peewee football player in Pennsauken, Mr. Streater turned his full attention to basketball as he grew older and made his high school team into a South Jersey powerhouse from 1992 until he graduated in 1994. He tied the school record by scoring 40 points in a game in 1993 and ended his three-year varsity career with 1,411 points, then the most in school history.
He was a slick, 6-foot guard who played tenacious defense and routinely outrebounded taller players and outscored almost everybody. He led his freshman team in scoring in 1992, was named first-team All-South Jersey by The Inquirer as a senior in 1994, and came up big as a team leader and clutch player consistently in between.
“He plays with great intensity,” then-Pennsauken coach Bill Johnson told The Inquirer in 1994. “He’s the type of player any coach would be happy to have.” Vincent Cream, Mr. Streater’s older cousin and mentor, said: “He was relentless and could do anything. He torched everyone on the court.”
Mr. Streater was especially effective when big games were on the line. He made two free throws with four seconds left in a one-point win over Overbrook in 1994 and sealed a three-point victory over Cherokee two days later with a layup with two seconds to play.
His fans compared him to former 76ers superstar Allen Iverson, and his opponents spoke of frustration and failure in trying to contain him. “He was a student of the game,” Cream said.
Mr. Streater told The Inquirer in 1994: “When I take the court, I try to prove myself each time.”
Phil Anastasia, then a columnist for the Courier-Post, called Mr. Streater “irrepressible” in a 1994 article and said he “ought to be a spokesman for No Fear athletic apparel.” Cream said: “He was such a leader he could make his team believe they could do anything.”
Mr. Streater spent nearly two seasons at Rutgers-Camden in 1998 and 1999 before leaving school, and he dominated the competition again. He was named New Jersey Athletic Conference rookie of the week four times in the 1997-98 season and led the conference with a scoring average of 22.2 points per game.
In the 1998-99 season, he averaged 20 points per game and was named the Sam Cozen Player of the Week in January 1999 by the Philadelphia Area Small College Basketball Coaches Association. “He is the total package,” then-Rutgers-Camden coach Ray Pace said in 1998.
Brian Timothy Streater was born Feb. 3, 1976. He grew up in Pennsauken and was slight, nimble, and amazingly athletic as a boy.
His grandfather was Hall of Fame boxer Jersey Joe Walcott, and Mr. Streater spoke often of the impact Walcott — present, enthusiastic, and supportive — had on his life. “He always told me to be tough on the court and never give up,” Mr. Streater said in 1999.
Mr. Streater worked for two years after high school and was interested in social work, he said in an interview with Scarlet Sports. He attended Camden County College for a year and enrolled at Rutgers-Camden for two years. He lived in Pennsauken before moving to Williamsport 12 years ago and worked in manufacturing and other jobs.
He had sons Tahj, Nazir, Saalim, Amir, Zayvon, Zakai, and Zeno, and daughters Surrayah, Ayanna, and Sameenah, and he reveled in their interactions and personal successes. He enjoyed playing video games and watching football and basketball games on TV.
He was generally quiet and serious, Cream said, but sometimes flashed a kindly sense of humor. Friends called him “a pure athlete,” “a Pennsauken legend,” and “a special talent” in Facebook tributes, and one said: “He was always so kind and sweet to me.”
Cream said: “He was something special.”
In addition to his children and cousin, Mr. Streater is survived by other relatives. Two brothers died earlier.
Services are to be held from 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Aug. 28, at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 203 Douglass Ave., Haddonfield, N.J. 08033.