FAMED DUO: Ben Stentz, left, and Evan Moorhead are all smiles after they were both inducted into the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League’s Hall of Fame last Wednesday evening at the Community Park courts. Stentz served as the commissioner of the summer hoops league for 15 years and became the executive director of the Rec Department. Moorhead succeeded him in both roles and still holds those positions. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Recreation Department)

By Bill Alden

It was an idea hatched by Ben Stentz and Evan Moorhead in 2008 over some pizza and beer at Conte’s.

Brainstorming over ways to best celebrate the 20th season of the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League, Stentz suggested creating a league Hall of Fame.

Making that a reality, a group of 11 was inducted in the Hall’s initial Class of 2008. Since then, there have been classes inducted in 2009, 2013, and 2018.

Last Wednesday at halftime of game two of the league’s best-of-three championship series on the Community Park courts, Stentz was set to be inducted as the sole member of the HOF Class of 2024 although he wasn’t sure if it was quite kosher.

“It is a little bit funny to me because I think this whole thing was my idea way back when,” said Stentz with a chuckle. “I joked with Evan, check the by-laws, how is it that the guy who invented it can get inducted, is this legal?”

Proud of his role in the growth of the league as its commissioner for 15 years, Stentz decided to accept the honor.

“When I think about it now what Evan and I were able to do from the mid-’90s was take it to the next level,” said Stentz, who guided the league while rising up the ranks at the Rec Department and ultimately becoming its executive director. “From ’95 through the late 2000s, that is when we started getting a lot of current college players, Division I guys. We had Princeton guys, Rutgers guys, and a lot of Rider guys. I think talent-wise, it peaked. That is when the crowds started to get big. It really became the place to be in the summer — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. The championship series games were jam-packed.”

Providing entertainment to those crowds, Stentz and Moorhead developed a popular ritual of providing banter from the microphone at the scorer’s table, giving score updates, foul situations, and time updates along with some local color and stand-up comedy.

“I couldn’t even tell you how that evolved, other than Evan and I used to say to ourselves there are a lot of long nights down here and a lot of the mic stuff was to entertain ourselves,” said Stentz. “There were inside jokes. People seemed to really like that, so we kept doing it and then created the catch phrases. We made that stuff on the fly and people got into it. We fed it a little bit. It was fun nights, it kept us entertained. It was always fun to be around town and you would see a kid and he would say ‘you gotta finish in this league.’ I said to Evan, ‘We made it, kids are screaming out our phrases in the streets.’”

Stentz was entertained by the generations of players who have competed in the league since it started in 1989.

“Obviously the players were so important, we have had a lot of memorable moments down here with guys like Derrick Grant and Noah Savage,” said Stentz. “Keith Jones put on some shows down here in his younger days. Those moments are etched in my brain. Then we started seeing kids playing in the league whose parents had played, that is when we knew we had been here a long time. Then a lot of kids who played on our kids’ league we used to run eventually played in the men’s league. That was always cool to us.”

But as Stentz will tell you, the summer league is about a lot more than good hoops.

“Politicians in every town will form a million committees with the goal of how do we bring people together,” said Stentz.“We have had the recipe from day one. People from all different neighborhoods in Princeton and the county and all over the place come down here three nights a week. You see your neighbor, you see an old friend, you see an old teammate, you have an ice cream cone. This is community recreation by definition. We have had the recipe from the beginning and they are still trying to figure it out.”

Working with Moorhead, who succeeded him in both summer hoops commissioner and Rec Department executive director posts and still holds those positions, was a highlight of Stentz’s years on the Community Park courts.

“There is no better teammate on the face of the earth than Evan Moorhead,” said Stentz. “We were middle school teammates at John Witherspoon and four years we were high school teammates at Princeton High. We did the kids league here together for over 20 years. Sitting at the table we did the men’s league together for however many years. We worked fulltime together at the Rec Department for about 12 years.”

As a result, Stentz decided to surprise his friend by turning the HOF Class of 2024 into a two-man group.

“When he told me he wanted to do this, I said OK,” said Stentz. “I was thinking about it and I said, ‘Evan, when are you going to go into the Hall of Fame?’ He kind of joked, ‘Maybe when I retire if there is anybody around, they will put me in.’ So what I did is I talked to Joe (Assistant Director of Recreation Joe Marrolli) and said, ‘I am going to induct him when I say a few words at halftime. I have the plaque, Evan doesn’t know it. I thought there is no way I am going into the Hall of Fame without my guy.’”

In his remarks at halftime, Stentz pulled off his surprise with aplomb.

“I just figured while I was here since he is my teammate and the greatest teammate that anyone could ever ask for, I am going to self-deputize myself and make an executive decision,” said Stentz to the fans packing that court’s bleachers and friends and family standing behind the scorer’s table. “There is no way I am going into this Hall of Fame without my guy so we are going to do two of these tonight. This guy is going into the Hall of Fame because we have been together since fifth grade and he is the greatest teammate of all time. I am not doing this without him.”

As the crowd cheered, Moorhead was stunned and touched but ready to get back to scorer’s table and preside over the second half of the championship contest.

“Oh man you got me,” said Moorhead, tearing up. “I am overwhelmed. Now I have to do the second half.”

In his remarks introducing Stentz, Moorhead had sounded a similar theme to his friend.

“The two of us were side by side, we sat at this table over the years for probably at least a thousand games or more,” said Moorhead. “We have been keeping the peace, keeping the score, entertaining the crowd, and sometimes entertaining ourselves. This league is about more than just basketball. It is about building relationships. It is about bringing people together on a summer night as a community.”

In view of the special relationship between Stentz and Moorhead and how their partnership enhanced the league’s place in the community, it is fitting that they going into the Hall of Fame side by side.