Two more Archbishop Stepinac High School varsity basketball players are moving on to the college level, Coach Patrick Massaroni announced by email this week. Senior guards Jack Coco and Ameer Smith have committed to Tufts University and Western Connecticut State University, respectively. 

Coco will join Greater Boston’s Tufts University men’s basketball team next season. Massaroni noted that Tufts finished the year among the top 10 programs in Division III nationally. 

Standing at 6 feet, 1 inch, Coco’s stats may not immediately impress. In the 2025-26 season, he averaged 2.8 points per game, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists, according to the high school sports site MaxPreps. But seeing is believing. Playing off the bench to give Stepinac’s starters breathing time and space, Coco was a defensive bulldog who appeared in at least 20 Crusader games per season from his sophomore year on. A consummate team player, he contributed defensive pressure, ball movement, and dedication, on-court attributes not recorded in game statistics but noted and noticed by those who played with and against him. 

READ MORE: Three Stepinac Basketball Stars Named to 2026 McDonald’s All American Team 

Massaroni also announced that Smith has committed to Western Connecticut State University, a member of the Little East Conference, becoming the seventh Crusader senior to announce his college plans. Standing at 5 feet, 11 inches, Smith appeared in 55 games for Stepinac, usually playing off the bench, averaging 1.0 points per game. 

Both players, especially Coco, have rare profiles, having played with four McDonald’s All-Americans, Boogie Fland, Jasiah Jervis, Adonis Ratliff, and Darius Ratliff, and winning multiple championships as Crusaders at the archdiocesan, intersectional, and city levels. 

The full list of committed seniors: Jasiah Jervis (Michigan State), Adonis Ratliff and Darius Ratliff (USC), Hassan Kouriessi (Fordham), Dylan Perry (Monmouth University), Coco (Tufts), and Smith (Western Connecticut State).