Former Temple star Vreeswyk helping out at Pennsbury

At 6-foot-7 and sporting the same lean frame he had as a long-range sniper at Morrisville and Temple, Mike Vreeswyk looks as if he could still be playing overseas or for a semiprofessional club team.

Instead, with a highly successful career behind him, the 47-year-old is in his first year as a basketball assistant at Pennsbury.

"I had helped the team on a volunteer basis before," Vreeswyk said. "This year, [Falcons head coach] Bill Coleman asked me if I wanted to be a permanent part of the team. I was more than happy to do it."

As a forward at Morrisville from 1981 to 1985, Vreeswyk, a true gym rat, netted 2,019 points. In his senior year, he averaged 33.5 points and became only the third PIAA District 1 player to eclipse the 2,000-point mark.

Becoming the first Morrisville player to be signed by a Division I college, Vreeswyk, playing under Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, totaled 1,650 points as a three-year starter at Temple.

Vreeswyk played 10 years overseas, including four in the Netherlands for SPM Shoeters Den Bosch. His other stops included Belgium and France.

The Yardley resident's first coaching experience came on a break from playing overseas ball. He helped out his Morrisville coach, Pat Tarrant, in the early 1990s.

At Pennsbury, where he joins fellow assistant Gary Jones, who played at Pennsbury and La Salle University, Vreeswyk mostly works in practice with the squad's big men. He said he tries to "pass along my experiences and what I think could work in certain game situations."

With his telecommunications sales job, Vreeswyk says he doesn't have the time to be a head high school coach.

"From being at Pennsbury, I've learned the dedication and commitment it takes to be a head coach," he said. "They go at it 21/2 hours every day."

Vreeswyk also coaches his son Jack's seventh-grade travel team in the Inter-County Basketball Association.

Holiday event. The Martin Luther King Day Basketball Invitational is set for Monday at King. Between the second and third games, ex-Simon Gratz coach Bill Ellerbee, who went 450-101 in 20 seasons, will be honored.

Here is the schedule: Del-Val Charter vs. West Catholic, 1:15; George Washington vs. Imhotep Charter, 3; Friends' Central vs. Simon Gratz, 4:45; and Cheltenham vs. Martin Luther King, 6:30.

Getting closer. Roman Catholic athletic director Danny DiBerardinis said the number of applicants to replace Joe McCourt as football coach has been narrowed from 23 to eight. Interviews are scheduled to begin at the end of the week.

One of the eight finalists is Roman assistant Jim Murphy, according to a source. Murphy guided the Cahillites to a 64-34 record from 2000 to 2007, winning the Catholic League Red Division crown in his final season.

Familiar name. Ed Cubbage, who led Harry S Truman from 2010 to 2013, has been named the football coach at Bensalem, pending school district approval. The Father Judge graduate was also a head coach at Lower Merion.