Former Elizabeth Boys Basketball Coach, Current EPS AD
Ben Candelino Selected for NJSIAA Hall of Fame Class of ‘24
Elizabeth, N.J., March 12, 2024 – Former Elizabeth Boys Basketball Coach and current Elizabeth Public Schools athletic director Ben Candelino is one of seven Garden State sports luminaries to be selected for induction to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Hall of Fame Class of 2024 in a ceremony being held at the Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village on March 24.
The purpose of the NJSIAA Hall of Fame is to identify and recognize deserving individuals with distinguished achievements who have attained excellence and made a positive and dynamic impact upon the NJSIAA.
Candelino, the longtime Elizabeth High School boys basketball coach, as well as basketball and baseball coach of his alma mater St. Mary’s of Elizabeth, is joined in the Class of 2024 by former Wayne Hills star and current FOX Sports football analyst Greg Olsen, former Bergen Catholic baseball star Mark DeRosa, former Union Catholic track athlete and two-time Olympic gold medal winner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Mount Olive track athlete and U.S. outdoor women’s triple jump record holder Keturah Orji, former Hudson Catholic, North Carolina, and New Jersey Nets basketball star Michael O’Koren, and longtime Southern Regional athletic director and NJSIAA assistant director Kim Degraw-Cole.
All nominees for the NJSIAA Hall of Fame must represent sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and moral character to the highest standards. High school student-athletes, teams, and events must have participated at an NJSIAA member school, achieved excellence in their sport, and contributed to the tradition of New Jersey interscholastic sports. Coaches, officials, administrators, members of the press, and medical personnel must have made significant and/or long-term contributions to interscholastic athletics.
The maximum number of honorees for each year’s induction class is eight, with no more than five or six student-athletes, teams, or events and two or three coaches, officials, administrators, members of the press, and medical personnel per class.
The NJSIAA Hall of Fame committee is the latest athletic hall to select Candelino for enshrinement as he is also a proud member of the Elizabeth Athletic, Union County Baseball, and New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fames.
Candelino began his coaching career at St. Mary’s High School in Elizabeth in 1975, where he eventually became the boys head basketball and baseball coach. He amassed 109 wins in basketball and his baseball team won the 1983 Parochial B State Baseball Championship.
His greatest success came as head coach of Elizabeth High School’s varsity boys basketball team. Candelino finished with 348 wins and only 46 losses. His teams won 12 Watchung Conference Championships; nine Union County Tournament Championships; nine Group 4, Section 2 State Championships; five Group 4 State Championships; and the 1990 Tournament of Champions over former perennial national power St. Anthony’s of Jersey City, a feat that was accomplished by only three other New Jersey public schools during the 34-year TOC era. Candelino’s teams finished their season ranked No. 1 in the state by The Star-Ledger twice in 1985 and 1990.
Candelino was recognized as Union County Coach of the Year six times, as well as Eastman Kodak and Daily News Coach of the Year in 1990, and is among a select group of coaches who have won state championships in baseball, basketball, and football. In a 2019 NJ.com piece ranking the top 99 New Jersey high school coaches of all time, he ranked No. 52 overall and sixth among boys basketball coaches.
As the athletic director for Elizabeth Public Schools since 2017, he has overseen an athletics program that has won county, sectional, group, and Meet of Champions titles across several sports, highlighted by the boys basketball team winning two Group 4 State Championships in the past three seasons, the girls track and field team winning the Group 4 State championship for the first time in program history, the girls basketball team winning the Union County Championship for the first time since 1997, and the boys soccer team winning two Union County Championships in the past four seasons.
“During his years as a coach and athletic director, he has inspired success in countless young men and women, including some who would become coaches themselves and influence the lives of the next generation of student athletes.” said Hugelmeyer. “His personal success, along with the success of his teams and players is nothing short of extraordinary, and the impact he has had on others during his life’s work as a coach and administrator is immeasurable. I am sure I speak on behalf of the entire community in expressing my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Candelino for all he has done to bring together and uplift our city through his contributions to Elizabeth Athletics, providing so many young men and women an opportunity to achieve their dreams. I am very excited to hear that he is receiving the recognition from the NJSIAA that he truly deserves.”
“Congratulations to Mr. Candelino for being inducted to the NJSIAA Hall of Fame and being recognized with other legendary figures in New Jersey high school sports,” said Elizabeth Board of Education President Charlene Bathelus Dorgely. “It is great to see Coach Candelino be recognized in a year in which the boys basketball team won another state championship to add to its storied history, guided by a coach who played and served under him as an assistant during his unparalleled run as coach of the Minutemen. It has been a remarkable year for basketball here in Elizabeth for both our boys who just won the Group 4 title and our girls who won the county tournament for the first time since 1997. This special honor for Coach Candelino is the icing on the cake.”
