Leading off today: Retired Harpursville coach Ron Henry, who was inducted into the New York State High School Softball Hall of Fame last month, died Friday in a farm accident. He was 65.
Henry coached 31 seasons, compiling a 435-135 record and winning two New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, including the inaugural Class C championship in 1985.
Henry's teams won five Section 4 championships across three classes and went unbeaten four times.
He was retired from coaching as well as his position as a history teacher at Harpursville.
Pilaro on the move: Mixed competition has been a hot-button issue in the NYSPHSAA in recent seasons and will remain so until the State Education Department can supply more specific guidance to schools on how to handle the issue of girls playing on boys teams and boys playing on girls teams.
Though there are indications that new rules may be coming in the not-too-distant future, one of the thorniest issues appears to have resolved itself.
Newsday reported Sunday that Keeling Pilaro's Section 11 field hockey career has come to an end thanks to a decision by his parents to send the Southampton student to a Virginia boarding school. The paper reported Pilaro, only the second boy to play the girls' sport on a varsity level on Long Island, will enroll at Episcopal High School this fall.
Pilaro played the last two seasons on the varsity. A Section 11 decision last spring briefly banned him, but Pilaro won reinstatement upon appeal. With his skill level clearly superior to many female players and his size and strength improving heading into his sophomore year, Pilaro's status was likely to be the subject of annual battles for the remainder of his time at Southampton.
Hot topic: Erasmus Hall running back Curtis Samuel, possibly the No. 1 football recruit in New York's rising senior class, made headlines last week for a controversy that was none of his doing.
Samuel's name was tied to a minor potential recruiting violation that made headlines because of the names involved. Foxsports.com reported Wednesday that Ohio State coach Urban Meyer "turned in" his former program, Florida, for an alleged "bump" -- an innocuous quick "hello" during a non-contact period. Adding to the intrigue, the Gators coach allegedly involved was assistant Brian White, hired by Meyer in his own days as the Florida head coach.
Nothing came of the "bump" allegation, and Meyer promptly denied blowing the whistle on White.
“It is absolutely not true that I turned in the University of Florida,” Meyer told The Columbus Dispatch.
In following up on the story, CBSsports.com reported White might have contacted Samuel through a recruiting site and that someone in Ohio State’s compliance department alerted the Big Ten.
According to the New York Daily News, Erasmus Hall coach Danny Landberg said Samuel never seriously considered Florida as a final destination. Alabama, Notre
