Thursday, June 20, 2013: Football prospect Wheatley to play for Canisius

   Leading off today: Highly regarded defensive end/tight end Tyrone Wheatley Jr. will conclude his scholastic football career with a senior season at Canisius in the Monsignor Martin Association.

   Wheatley, fourth-team all-state last fall as a junior at Fayetteville-Manlius, and his brother Treius are making the move to the Buffalo area as a result of their father's job change. Tyrone Wheatley Sr. followed Doug Marrone from Syracuse University to the Buffalo Bills coaching staff.

   Tyrone Wheatley Jr., listed at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, holds scholarship offers from Alabama, Michigan, North Carolina, Penn State, Syracuse and several other major programs. Treius Wheatley is a 5-foot-1 rising sophomore receiver and defensive back.

   Earlier this spring, Sweet Home standout Brad Zaffram revealed he also is transferring to Canisius.

   Over before it started: There was a country music tune a few years ago by the name of "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Leave?" New York's football version of the song goes something like "How Can I Miss a Football All-Star Game That Never Really Existed?"

   Organizers -- and I use that word loosely -- of the 2013 Upstate/Downstate Classic announced this week the game, revised last winter from a senior all-star game to a contest for underclassmen, was being canceled due to "insufficient financial sponsorships."

   The New York State High School Football Coaches Association made the announcement.

   Switching benches: East Ramapo's Austin Goldberg is giving up his job as the girls basketball coach the past three seasons to take over the boys program, The Journal News reported. No replacement has been named for the girls job.

   He was previously a boys assistant a decade ago at Comsewogue.

   More coaching news: Mike Olley has been appointed Skaneateles' third varsity football coach in three seasons at Tuesday's school board meeting. He replaces Joe Sindoni, who resigned to take the coaching job at Cicero-North Syracuse High School after winning a Section 3 title with the Lakers.

   Olley served 10 years as the girls basketball coach at Liverpool and six years as a football assistant there. David Hunter will replace Olley as the Liverpool girls basketball coach.

   Jason Marsh returns to the top football job at Sala-

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manca after a one-year absence as he replaces Paul Furlong, who left for a position at Allegany-Limestone after winning a league title.

   ADs step down: Greenport athletic director Rob Costantini, who already retired once in 2010 after 15 years on the job, says he's retiring for good now. Costantini, 60, came back in December after successor Todd Gulluscio left to take the same post at Pierson.

   Jim Caliendo, a physical education teacher at Brentwood and former coach, will take over as the new athletic director.

   Don Scholla is also retiring, leaving Olean at the end of the month after 25 years on the job. He has been the Section 6 boys representative on the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee for the past decade.

   Overhauled: The renovation of 27-year-old McElrath Gymnasium at Jamestown High is on schedule for completion over the summer, and a fan-friendly arena will be the result.    Among the changes: four auxiliary baskets used for practice and gym classes have been reconfigured so that they don't interfere with sight lines and the PA system has been completely overhauled, AD Ben Drake told The Post-Journal. Backboards used for games have shot clocks mounted atop them as well as LED lighting synched to the game clock to help officials determine if shots at the buzzer should count.

   Two video-enabled digital scoreboards were put in place last week, and new ceiling fixtures plus a fresh coat of paint on walls around the resurfaced floor make the gym brighter.

   The upgrades, part of $68 million package of capital improvements approved by voters a year ago, include renovated locker rooms, improvements to the concession stand and the addition of storage area.