FILE PHOTO
English grad Tommy Rijo will bring his basketball talents to the team at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston.
By HAROLD RIVERA
Tommy Rijo was a key part of the Lynn English boys basketball team in his four years as a Bulldog. Rijo, who graduated from English in June, served as a consistent shooter from the outside and a reliable scoring threat.
Now Rijo moves forward to a new challenge — that of playing basketball on the collegiate stage. Last week, Rijo, who played both point and shooting guard for the Bulldogs, committed to play basketball at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. Located in Boston, Benjamin Franklin is a small school geared for students seeking technical careers.
The combination of a school that offered a bright future in both academics and on the basketball court made Benjamin Franklin a strong fit for Rijo.
“I like what the school has to offer for studies,” Rijo said. “I like that there’s a 90 percent chance of me landing a job right after I graduate. I think it’s great that they have a basketball team so that I can study and play basketball.”
Benjamin Franklin’s basketball team is in a rebuilding stage. The team competes in Region XXI of the National Junior College Athletic Association which is comprised of two-year colleges from New England. This offseason, Benjamin Franklin hired a new coach in Geoff Lerner, who’s also the school’s assistant athletic director. Lerner previously served as an assistant coach at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Rijo has had multiple conversations with his soon-to-be coach and said the first impression between the two was a positive one.
“I know that the team is trying to rebuild,” Rijo said. “They have a new coach (Lerner.) I talked to him a couple of times and I visited the school with him. He told me that he think I’m going to be a really big part of the team.”
Moving forward, Rijo, who listed his defense and his three-ball as his top strengths on the court, hopes that he’ll be able to build on what he’s learned as a basketball player from his four seasons on the English varsity team.
“I just want to become a smarter and stronger basketball player,” Rijo said. “I’m just going to keep grinding to reach my goals.”
Although the jump to the collegiate game won’t be an easy one, Rijo is excited as he prepares for the transition.
“I’m very excited,” Rijo said. “I’m finally going to college and that’s something I’ve been looking forward to. We’ll see what happens from there.”
The level of competition Rijo matched up against with the Bulldogs will serve to prepare him for what he’ll see at Benjamin Franklin. English, a Division 1 team, competes in a tough Northeastern Conference that’s never been a cakewalk.
“English is Division 1 and we face tough teams,” Rijo said. “We grinded through practices every day and that’s going to help me a lot, especially having been there for four years.”
After a stellar career as a Bulldog, waving goodbye to his former team at English won’t be easy either. The daily grinds in practices are a major part of what he’ll miss the most from his time wearing the maroon and white English uniform.
“I’m going to miss all the practices we had,” Rijo said. “I’ll miss being with the younger teammates. Now that they have a new coach (Antonio Anderson), I hope that all goes well with them.”
After coaching stints as an assistant on the staffs at Salem State and Franklin Pierce, Anderson takes over an English program that reached the Division 1 North state tournament last season. Rijo’s confident that Anderson and the Bulldogs will be in good shape moving forward.
“I think Anderson’s a great coach,” Rijo said. “They have a great coach and I know they’ll be in good shape. They’ll do what they need to do to get better.”