Eric Atanda, ’79
soccer
Inevitably, whenever a Prep sports discussion includes soccer players, the name Eric Atanda emerges as the standard by which others are measured. He began his Prep soccer career in the fall of 1975, and during his freshman year at Grand & Warren, when wins were virtually non-existent, he played on both the JV and the varsity. He began his sophomore year as a starting forward on the varsity, and the team stunned the county with its unprecedented turnaround. Last in the league just a year earlier, Prep captured its first HCIAA championship in 1976 under the direction of head coach Ron Prezioso, ’68. As a junior, Eric scored 18 goals and had 18 assists, and the team captured a second county title while posting Prep’s finest record—18-3. In his senior year, Eric moved to defense under firstyear coach Connie Gallagher, scoring 16 goals and adding 17 assists to lead St. Peter’s to a third straight HCIAA championship and the Northern New Jersey finals of the NJSIAA Tournament. Eric earned All-County honors in 1976, 1977 and 1978, and in 1978 was the Hudson County Player of the Year. He also was named as one of the top 33 players in New Jersey. After graduation, Eric attended the University of Virginia on an athletic scholarship and was a co-captain under Bruce Arena, who is currently the coach of the U.S. National Team, and Bob Bradley, the current coach of the Metrostars. He currently serves as VP for information technology at Hamamatsu Corp. in Bridgewater, N.J.
Jim Barry, ’61
basketball
One of the dominant athletes in Prep history, Jim was a three-year starter who was named First Team Catholic All-State each year. It began in sophomore year when he was named tournament MVP following Prep’s state championship victory over Trenton Catholic. He also was only the third sophomore ever named First Team All-County, setting a county scoring record for sophs. After an outstanding junior year, Jim completed his Prep career by leading St. Peter’s to the prestigious Eastern States Catholic Invitational Tournament (ESCIT) championship, being named tournament MVP and career scoring leader (169 points in 8 games), and setting a Prep career scoring record with 1,219 points (which would last three decades). At Georgetown, Jim set three freshman team records; as a sophomore he scored 29 in his first varsity game and had eight games of 30plus points, finishing among the nation’s scoring leaders at 22.6 p.p.g. (Honorable Mention All-American). As a junior, despite knee injuries, he averaged 19.1 points and was the 9th best free-throw shooter in the nation (86.6%). Knee injuries relegated him to playing off the bench in his senior year; however, he still set career records for points and average.Today, he ranks fourth in career scoring average at Georgetown, behind only Allen Iverson, Michael Sweetney and Sleepy Floyd, and he remains the only Georgetown player to score 40-plus twice in a career. Most notably, in 1998 Sports Illustrated named him one of the ten greatest players in Georgetown history, along with Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembo Mutumbo, Iverson, etc. A graduate of Seton Hall Law, Jim practices law in Sea Girt, N.J.