NYSSWA blog: Exodus of NYC basketball talent continues

Leading off today: It's Sept. 14. Do you know where your basketball team is?

Don't be too quick to answer "yes" if you coach in New York City. Players there seem to be fleeing faster than teen boys who accidentally stumble into a Jonas Brothers show.

A recent New York Post story reports that LeBrent Walker (Bayside) is now at Rockville (Md.) Montrose Christian; Jevon Thomas (Thomas Edison) has moved to Our Savior New American in Centerreach; Jose Rodriguez and 6-foot-11 academic casualty Joey DeLaRosa (St. Raymond’s) are at Impact Basketball Academy and attend Trinity International in Las Vegas; Harold McBride (St. Raymond's) is at Impact Academy in Jacksonville, Fla.; Angel Nunez (Cardinal Hayes) is in Massachusetts at the Winchendon School (Mass.); and Dashaun Wiggins and Mike Buffalo (Wings Academy) can now be found at Maine's Bridgton Academy and South Kent (Conn.), respectively.

That's on top of a year ago when the likes of Omari Lawrence and Kevin Parrom, both from Oliver Antigua's St. Raymond's squad, left for South Kent after an issue with the coach and a bunch of other players also changed addresses.

The newspaper asked why this was happening and came up with several reasons:

Pursuit of better academic situations;

Appeal of playing a national schedule;

Greater visibility for recruiters (Impact's Joe Abunassar has been a mentor to the likes of Al Harringtonand Kevin Garnett);

Prep schools prepare students for what they'll be facing when they leave home for college.

Or, perhaps, it's about impatience tinged with immaturity. UConn star Kemba Walker, the former Rice standout in the CHSAA, said he noticed players lacking discipline and patience after leaving pre school. Rather than wait their turn at their current school, they go somplace where they expect to get more minutes or be be showcased.

"Nobody," Walker told the paper, "wants to wait."

It's a good read, and you can see the rest of the story here.

Successful trial run: Defending state Class D champ Michael Champagne rolled to a 25-second victory in his race Saturday at the Section 7 Invitational, a dry run for the NYSPHSAA meet in November. His showing helped Seton Catholic to a 13-point win over Beaver River for the meet's Class C title.

RoadToSyracuse.com Football Site

Not surprisingly, the Class A champs were heavyweights Alex Deir of Honeoye Falls-Lima in the boys race and Aisling Cuffe of Cornwall in the girls race. Deir led a 1-3-5 HF-L finish, but North Rockland had depth and won with 40 points.

Cody Stanton won the boys Class B event to help Jordan-Elbridge to team honors.

Honeoye Falls-Lima was a surprising winner over Queensbury in girls Class A, Canton captured Class B and Greenwich dominated Class C.

More cross country: Three-time defending Nike Cross National girls champion Fayetteville-Manlius put a perfect "15" on the board and won its division at the V-V-S Invitational. Molly Malone led F-M in 18:45.2, followed closely by Courtney Chapman (18:48). Katie Sischo, Jillian Fanning and Hannah Luber all hit the line in under 19:10.

F-M's boys won their division with 16 points.

Championship coach dies: Former Henninger basketball coach Joe Mazella, the school's assistant principal, died unexpectedly over the weekend at the age of 51.

He had worked at Henninger in a variety of roles for 27 years. He compiled a 245-78 record and left the sideline after his Black Knights won the NYSPHSAA Class A championship in 2002 following his sixth sectional championship.

He was noted for a robust sense of humor.

"He took his life, family, and job responsibilities seriously, but never himself," Bob Campese, who worked with Mazella for 22 years, told The Post-Standard.