Thanks to everyone who came out to support this.

Jonathan Lin | The Jersey Journal


The memory of Darren "Reese" Talington -- the 25-year-old who was fatally shot in downtown Jersey City last year -- continued to live on today at a basketball classic held in his honor.

At around 10:30 a.m., in 78-degree, sunny weather at Bayside Park in Jersey City, teams from Snyder High School and St. Peter's Prep faced off against each other. Other match-ups included the Jersey City Fire Department versus the Newark Fire Department, and fraternities Iota Phi Thea versus Sigma Phi Theta.

Talington's adopted father, Andrew Kemp, 58, said he was holding the event -- the 1st Annual Darren "Reese" Talington Basketball Classic -- because he needed to keep his son's smile and his love for basketball alive.

"This will go on, even when I die. I told my wife and my kids, this needs to go on -- because he was such a good kid," he said.

Talington had a connection to each of the groups playing in the basketball classic.

"He (either) played for each team, or one of the coaches coached him during the course of his life. And that's the reason for the ten teams that are playing," Kemp explained.

As a child, Talington attended School 15 in Jersey City and graduated from Academy 1 in June 2004. He then attended Snyder High School, where he played basketball, and went on to attend Cheney University before transferring to Felician College, where he majored in special education.

Talington loved basketball -- "It was his life," an obituary stated. He started playing when he was 8 years old, and in high school, took the Snyder Tigers to a championship game as a sophomore.

At today's basketball classic, one of Talington's high school basketball coaches -- Shelton Gibbs, 51, of Hillside -- said Talington was known for being "humble and very well-liked."

"He had a passion for the game of basketball. He loved it. Even after he graduated, he would (come to the school) and tell (students) what to do and not do in the game," Gibbs said. "He was one of the kids I loved to coach, and he's up there with the top 10 (players I've ever coached)."

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