Leading off today: Bishop Maginn junior guard Taran Buie says he will attend Penn State to play basketball beginning in the fall of 2010, The Times Union reported last night.

   Buie's non-binding commitment was relayed to coach Ed DeChellis shortly after the Nittany Lions defeated Baylor for the NIT title at Madison Square Garden. Buie is widely regarded as one of the top 50 juniors in the country and was also being pursued by the likes of Georgia Tech, Maryland, Marquette, Miami, Notre Dame and Rutgers.

   Buie's brother, sophomore Talor Battle, helped lead Penn State to the NIT title.

   "He called me and told me he gave Coach DeChellis his commitment," Bishop Maginn coach Rich Hurley told the paper. "I told him, 'If that is where you want to go, I support you 100 percent.' He is a Nittany Lion."

   Developments at Shen: The Shenendehowa boys track team operated without its coach yesterday as Don Paretta was suspended and faces a likely dismissal, The Times Union reported.

   School district officials suspended Paretta after learning he had lost his teaching certificate in 1996 following a sexual abuse claim made against him in New York City more than three years earlier. Paretta, 54, was hired at Shenendehowa before his teaching certificate had been revoked.

   The Shen boys practiced yesterday without Paretta, who has coached in the district since Septmebre 1995. Several athletes declined to comment about the situation when approached by reporters.

   Paretta could be dismissed Tuesday at the next meeting of the school board. David Ehrlich, Paretta's attorney, said the coach plans to attend the board meeting. Ehrlich told The Gazette Paretta was shocked to be suspended because he assumed the district had known all along that he was not a certified teacher.

   Paretta has also been a part-time assistant coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute since December 2001, a college spokesman said.

   Marshall QB on the move: The reports from early this week on the Syracuse.com chat forum have proven to be true, and Marshall standout quarterback Ashton Broyld is now enrolled at Rush-Henrietta.

   Broyld was All-Greater Rochester last fall as a sophomore at Marshall, where he threw for 1,769 yards and 17 TDs in his second season as a starter. He also ran for

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595 yards and eight scores.

   A source familiar with the situation said Broyld's mother recently moved into the R-H school district, setting the transfer into motion. At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Broyld is widely regarded as a college prospect, and it's believed that Pitt (where former Irondequoit star David Walker coaches running backs) is in the lead for his services. However, Broyld reportedly will have to clean up his transcript in order to gain eligibility as a freshman.

   His arrival will make Rush-Henrietta a force in Section 5 football next fall -- the Royal Comets will also be returning running back Clay Harris Jr., arguably the most exciting player the program has had since Corny Southall in the mid-1980s -- and give the basketball program a boost as well following the graduation of Rutgers recruit Dane Miller.

   Does the ESG have a future? Empire State Games officials this week posted an announcement on the agency Web site comfirming that the 2009 summer games will not take place.

   The brief statement refers to the ESGs being "suspended," but it also goes on to say the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation "will seek private sponsors and support with the goal of reinstating the Summer Games in 2010."

   Funding for the Olympic-style event, which began in 1978, was cut by Gov. David Paterson earlier this year.

   There were indications from state officials earlier this week that funding likely would be restored in time for the 2010 event in Buffalo, but there's no guarantee that steady funding won't be an on-again, off-again proposition in coming years depending on New York's financial situation.

   As appealing as private sponsorship might seem to be, the reality is that you'd be hard-pressed to find a business with a spare $1.5 million or more to spend each year on a five-day event that moves around the state on a rotating basis.

   By the way, Greg Brownell at The Post-Star blogged some smart thoughts on the ESGs a couple of days ago. Check it out here, because I suspect you're probably thinking a lot of similar thoughts.

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