Ernie Troiano, Jr. receives Distinguished Service Award

Wildwood, NJ - Ernie Troiano, Jr. was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Albert J. Carino Boys South Jersey Basketball Club. He was presented with the Distinguished Service Award at a recent event. Throughout most of his adult life, he has devoted much of his time fostering and promoting high school basketball in South Jersey - especially along the lower Jersey shore area.

He is a former standout player at Wildwood High School under Hall-of-Fame Coach Bernie McCracken. Troiano the went on to play in college and continued playing on a competitive level until a few years ago.

Troiano and several other people in the Wildwood area formed the annual Boardwalk Basetball Classic in 1998. The six day tournament held in the Wildwoods Convention Center over the Christmas holidays, is currently the lasrgest in the country. It draws over 70 boys and girls teams each year. The tournament is comprised of brackets named in memory of residents from the area.

The event is held to raise college scholarship money for the two local high schools - Wildwood and Wildwood Catholic High Shcools. Since the tournament began, over $275,000 have been generated in scholarship monies for the area students.