Leading off today: I'll be spending the remainder of today putting the finishing touches on the second annual New York State Sportswriters Association All-Sport Championships.

   The NYSSWA All-Sport Championship is modeled in part after the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup presented annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and universities with the most success in athletics. The NYSSWA calculates points earned in 14 boys and 13 girls sports at New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournaments and championship meets during the fall, winter and spring. All NYSPHSAA members are eligible for consideration.

   The final standings for the 2009-10 school year will be unveiled tomorrow. You can review last year's results on our web site.

   MaxPreps.com does a national version of the award for high schools and has crowned California's Mater Dei as its No. 1 athletic program.

   Mater Dei capped its school year with the California Southern Section Division I baseball crown to go along with three other such championships over approximately 500 other schools in the section. MaxPreps reports the Monarchs received national rankings in six sports for the just-concluded school year.

   Their girls basketball team finished the year ranked No. 1 in the nation in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings and won the California Division II state championship. The boys basketball team won the Southern Section Division I championship.

   Last year's champion, Punahou (Hawaii) came in second after winning a staggering 17 state championships in sports ranging from boys soccer, girls soccer and baseball to air rifle, water polo and girls wrestling.

   Licata picks UB: Williamsville South quarterback Joe Licata said yesterday he will sign a letter of intent in February to attend the University at Buffalo.

   Licata informed Bulls coach Jeff Quinn of his decision after attending the Bulls Jr./Sr. Camp at UB Stadium over the weekend, The Buffalo News reported.

   "It felt right, everything felt right," said Licata, who threw for 2,462 yards and 36 TDs with nine interceptions as a junior.

   Licata also had an offer from Akron. He said Syracuse withdrew an offer after he wouldn't commit early.

   By my count he's the seventh New York junior to have committed to a Division I football program so far this

Spring tournament schedules NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse NYSPHSAA baseball NYSPHSAA softball

spring and summer. The others are: Kieran Borcich (Bronxville/Boston College), Devon Cajuste (Holy Cross/Stanford), Quintin Gause (Rochester Bishop Kearney/Rutgers), John Kling (Depew/Buffalo), Al Page (Bronx Columbus/Rutgers) and Tyree Smallwood (Cornwall/Syracuse).

   One of a kind: If you haven't seen it yet, take some time to read the New York Magazine takeout on Tom Konchalski from early this month.

   In a world of questionable characters, Konchalski, 63, is a rare breed -- a basketball talent evaluator with credibility and integrity, not to mention degrees from Fordham in philosophy and political science. His HSBI Report is one of the few must-read publications for college coaches (the only subscribers he accepts), who value his player assessments almost as much as they trust their own eyes on the scouting circuit. Along those lines, there's a great tale in the profile about the profound effect Konchalski made on the University of Tennessee program in the 1970s by bringing Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King to the Vols' attention.

   Says sportswriter John Feinstein: "If you’ve ever been around those summer camps, you walk in and out and you feel like you need to shower for three days. But that’s not Tom. He’s the last honest man in the gym. He’ll tell you exactly what he thinks about a player. He’s not in it to try to get to know players and broker them to a school. He’s just trying to evaluate kids and give them honest marks."

   The story captures him quite well, including Konchalski's Luddite side. He doesn't have a web site, which is understandable since he also doesn't own a computer -- or a cell phone. He does know how to turn a phase, though. He draws distinctions, for example, between players with "more hop than Heineken" and those who "will elevate only in office buildings."

   Ink-stained wretch makes good: Grand Island has hired former Niagara Gazette sports reporter Nate Beutel as its new boys basketball coach, The Buffalo News reported.

   Beutel, 22, recently left his full-time reporting job to wok on his master's degree in elementary education from Medaille College. He's also done some work covering high schools recently for The News.

   Beutel previously was the JV coach at Medaille and a football assistant at Wilson High.