George Sourlis had a stellar 43-10 record in three years at Red Bank Regional. 
Sourlis won 654 games and five state championships in 30 years leading the Rumson-Fair Haven girls. He returns to RFH to lead the boys program. Photo by Rich Chrampanis 
Chris Champeau is heading to Florida after 16 years guiding the Rumson-Fair Haven boys basketball team. Photo by Patrick Olivero
By Rich Chrampanis
RUMSON – George Sourlis has been on both sides of the Ridge Road Rivalry. Now, the veteran coach is returning to Rumson-Fair Haven, following three years building Red Bank Regional into a Shore Conference power.
Sourlis has been named the new boys basketball coach at RFH following a three-year stint at RBR, where he reached 700 career wins in his storied career. Sourlis won 654 games as Rumson-Fair Haven’s girls basketball coach, winning 14 sectional titles and five state championships over 30 seasons. He retired in 2016.
But Sourlis was lured back to the bench – this time on the boys’ side. The Bucs were revitalized during his three-year tenure, racking up an impressive 43-10 record. He grabbed his 700th career win against Rumson-Fair Haven in Little Silver.
“At some point, I’ll be on the beach with my wife one day and I’ll look back and say, ‘Damn,’ but I owe this to my kids,” Sourlis said following his 700th win. “All you girls and all these guys. 700. Wow. (I) never thought I would do it. You know, when I retired, never thought I would.”
Chris Champeau Heads to Florida
Sourlis replaces Chris Champeau, who took the boys basketball coaching position at The Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Florida. Champeau led RFH to the school’s lone Shore Conference Tournament title in 2015 with an upset of Christian Brothers Academy, followed by section championships in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
Coach Shempy built a special culture at RFH with a huge roster of varsity players who filled the bench and built special bonds with the RFH Dawgpound, the student cheering section. Champeau made everyone associated with the program feel valued.
In 2018, student manager Jack Velcamp, born with dwarfism, got the start on Senior Night and scored the first basket of the game against Holmdel. The story went viral.
“I just told the guys in the locker room that some things are way bigger than wins and losses and basketball,” Champeau said following Velcamp’s special moment. “That’s a moment that everyone will cherish and be proud of because we helped a guy realize his dream. He always said he wanted to score a varsity basket on this court in front of this crowd on Senior Night and that’s exactly what happened.”
In 2022, Matty “Cools” Newman, an autistic student manager, got his Senior Day moment, too, scoring the first basket of the game.
“Socially, he’s a celebrity in high school,” Ed Newman, Matt’s father, said. “It wouldn’t be without Shemp (Champeau) making him the manager as a freshman. “Matt’s always going to be a part of the program, that’s not going away.”
DiBiase Takes Over at RBR
Red Bank Regional wasted little time finding a replacement for Sourlis. Ben DiBiase is the new Bucs coach following 15 years leading at Freehold Boro, from 2006-2013 and again for the last eight years. DiBiase has fond memories of Little Silver. The Colonials won their first section title in 54 years in 2024 by beating the Bucs on their home floor and upsetting the No. 1 seed in Central Jersey Group 3. One year later, Freehold Boro returned to Red Bank Regional and knocked off the Bucs for a second straight year in the post-season.
The article originally appeared in the July 31 – August 5, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
