By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER leading the Southern New Hampshire University men’s Penmen basketball team to their second straight NE10 Championship tournament crown, Grand Bahamian guard Paul Greene Jr is moving on to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Greene, the son of Paul Sr and Shantel Greene, is a graduate of St George’s High School where he starred for the Jaguars’ senior boys team, coached by Darrell Sears.

He spent the past two years performing at a high level for the Penmen. The business major went on to excel on the basketball court, helping SNHU to their repeat championship title.

As he moves from SNHU, Greene Jr hopes to continue the trend of success for the Retrievers when he reports to UMBC in July to join their 2025/26 men’s roster as they compete in the NCAA America East Conference.

“My plan is to continue what I’ve been doing. I plan to work out during the off season and just get stronger and improve my weaknesses that I have and to look forward to another good year,” Greene Jr said.

While he will graduate in December from SNHU having completed his academics a little early, Greene Jr said when he visited UMBC, he found out that they were similar in nature but, more importantly, they were more interested in what he had to offer.

“Shout out to SNHU and all my coaches and team-mates,” Greene Jr said. “They all helped me to prevail and there’s nothing like winning, so thank God for that.

“I realised along the way in being successful, you have to love those who love you and appreciate those who are there with you through your ups and downs because there’s times when you needed them and they were there.”

In his two years there, Greene Jr helped the Penmen to repeat as champions, but he admitted that the second time around was much sweeter than the first.

“Last year, I had a role to play and I think I did it to the best of my ability,” he recalled. 

“But this year, I saw what we needed to do to be successful and I made the sacrifice to get it done.”

Now that he’s done with the Penmen, Greene Jr wants to move on to the Retrievers where he expects to live up to their expectations for him to be a winner again.

“We are looking for me to be a dawg, to help elevate the programme to be a force to reckon with,” he stated.

Before heading off to the United States to continue his education, Greene Jr said he will never forget the experience he had at St George’s where coach Sears helped to mould his future.

“I will never take it for granted. It was a lot of fun. Coach Sears was always one of those energetic persons, who motivated you,” he said.

“He and the rest of the coaching staff, as well as the teachers at St George’s helped to prepare me for the man that I am today. 

“I want to thank the man above, my mother,  my siblings and my past and present coaches and team-mates and anybody else who was a part of the journey.” 

According to Sears, considered to be a hard-nose coach who only demands the best from his players, Greene Jr left his mark on his Jaguars programme at St George’s.

“We try to build the whole man, not just athletics, but academically and spiritually,” Sears said. 

“Paul has always shown the drive to succeed and was a very good student.

“He was a little smaller than most guards, so he played the point in high school, but he grew and is now able to play at the wing as a guard or a small forward.”

During one of their storied trips to New Providence to participate, Sears said he clearly remembers how during the prestigious Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic in 2019, they had to play double overtime in the final against Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins, Greene Jr suffered an injury to his wrist.

“He wanted to go back out on the court, but I told him we were not going to risk his future for a short term success,” Sears said. “Not taking anything away from Doris, we knew we could beat them. “But four weeks later in Grand Bahama at the Nationals, we lost the first game to Gateway, who at the time had VJ Edgecombe on their team. It looked like we were going to get knocked out of the tournament. Then something happened.”

Greene Jr, wearing a cast on his hand at the time, took it off and he played the rest of the tournament for the Jaguars, who went on to win six straight games as they prevailed with the title.

He was named the most valuable player.

Before he was done at SNHU, Greene Jr earned the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) East All-District Second Team honours.

Greene Jr, 23, had a terrific season for the Penmen, averaging 13.8 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 27 points in a 78-70 win over rival Saint Anselm College in the Northeast-10 Championship quarterfinals on March 2. 

His top rebounding effort was 20 on November 20 against Southern Connecticut State. Greene Jr recorded 20 double doubles during the campaign.

Greene Jr, a 6-6 swingman, improved from scoring 4.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in his first year with the Penmen programme in 2023-24.

While he does not know what his future looks like, Greene Jr said he would love to one day be able to play on the men’s national basketball team, especially in their quest to qualify for the Olympic Games, hopefully in 2028 in Los Angeles, California.