Jack Mustaro knew a big hug was coming from the bleachers.
The Gloucester Catholic High School junior basketball player had just scored his 1,000th career point on Jan. 30. It’s a milestone only 16 other male players from his school had reached – the most recent being his brother RJ, who graduated last year.
“It was huge to get up on the board with my brother,” Mustaro said. “It was a big accomplishment, and I’ve been waiting for this ever since I got to high school.”
Almost exactly one year earlier, when RJ hit his 1,000th point on Jan. 31, 2023, the Mustaros’ father, Ray, was the first one off the bleachers to congratulate RJ with a hug. It was one of the many great moments shared by a family that absolutely adores sports. Tragically, Ray Mustaro passed away in July at the age of 57 after a fight with colon cancer, leaving behind his wife, Tara, and six children.
“It’s been hard, and it’s going to be like that for the rest of my life,” Jack Mustaro said of losing his father. “I think about him every day. It’s so great that I have a big family to lean on. I need to keep pushing through and keep thinking about the positive.”
On Jan. 30, with his father on his mind, Mustaro scored a career high 36 points, which included his 1,000th career point, in an 80-48 win at Clayton. As tradition in high school sports, when the 1,000-point milestone arrived, the game was paused to recognize the achievement. Mustaro knew exactly where the first hug was coming from. After all, his older brother is a pretty good athlete who doesn’t like finishing second.
“It was RJ. He came out onto the court and hugged me,” Jack said. “It was him first and then like a thousand other family members. It was really cool.”
Of course Mustaro wishes his father could have been there. Ray Mustaro was a frequent fan at all his kids’ games, no matter the sport. RJ, Jack and eighth-grader Brody certainly kept him busy the last few years, as all three boys play multiple sports.
“He was a huge baseball guy,” Jack Mustaro said. “But he loved them [sports] all. Whatever we were playing, he loved it.”
Cracking 1,000 points was one of many goals on the table for Mustaro. He has already moved up a few spots on the Rams’ all-time scoring list, passing RJ at 1,089 along the way. As of Feb. 11, Mustaro was 13th on the school scoring list with 1,124 points. He’s on pace to finish at the top of the leaderboard next season, as Mustaro was the first Ram to eclipse 1,000 points during his junior season. Dom Carrera, a 1969 graduate, holds the all-time record at 1,507 points. It’s held for 55 years.
“I’ve talked about it with a couple of my coaches,” Mustaro said. “That would be a much bigger accomplishment. I always wanted 1,000, but getting that would be huge.”
If he stays healthy and continues his current trends, Mustaro may need to seek out even bigger challenges.
“His jump from freshman to sophomore year was bigger than we anticipated,” Gloucester Catholic coach Brandon Dougherty said. “His jump from sophomore to junior year was, [too], … so I think I might have to set my sights even higher.”
Mustaro learned a lot of it from his dad and RJ, who remains close to home, gearing up for baseball season at the Rowan College of South Jersey’s Gloucester Campus.
“We’re best friends,” Mustaro said of his brother. “We do everything together. I got to play with him during my freshman year, and I learned a lot.”
Mustaro plans to keeps that tradition going, as he will have Brody under his wing, likely in multiple sports, next season; the two brothers will enjoy one year of high school together.
“We go out and hit baseballs every day and shoot baskets,” Mustaro said. “He’ll probably play three sports, too.”
They picked the right school for it. Gloucester Catholic preaches family values and supports its students, especially when times are tough.
“That’s a big part of our school,” Dougherty said. “Once a Ram, always a Ram. It’s not even just the kids here; it’s a lot of the coaches and alumni. A lot of them reached out to me for Jack’s number because they wanted to give him a call, just to let him know that we’re here for him, Jack, Brody and the whole family. They’re not just going through it by themselves. They have us there, too.”
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