Basketball (M)

by Angelo Verdejo, chron.com

Following its best season ever, the Beren Academy boys basketball team is giving up a chance at a state championship this weekend to remain true to its faith.

The Stars (23-5) were slated to play in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools 2A state tournament this weekend, but because the game times conflict with the observation of the Jewish Sabbath, they will have to forfeit.

Beren, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston with 67 students, appealed to TAPPS to reschedule the state semifinal against Dallas Covenant from 9 p.m. Friday to an earlier time, but the appeal was denied Monday morning. Dallas Covenant will now face Kerrville Our Lady of the Hills, which Beren beat 69-42 in the regional round last week.

Read more at chron.com

As Fox-5 in Washington, D.C. and another local outlets reported, a Wednesday night game between ConneXions and Cardozo Academy got out of hand after a couple of questionable calls by the referees started to anger fans in the stands during the second quarter.

With tensions mounting and the game on the verge of going south, an unknown fan came out of the stands and shoved a Cardozo coach, igniting a nasty brawl that lasted for more than a couple minutes.

Read more at rivals.yahoo.com

by Tom Farrey, espn.com

Amateur Athletic Union announces investigation, contacts police about allegations

Memphis police are investigating allegations made by two former players that Amateur Athletic Union president and chief executive officer Robert "Bobby" Dodd molested them in the 1980s.

On Friday, the AAU announced that it had contacted Memphis police after AAU officials learned from ESPN's "Outside the Lines" about allegations made by the two players. The AAU also announced its own investigation, that Dodd would not be returning to the organization after a medical leave, and named an interim leader.

"Outside the Lines" tried several times Thursday and Friday to contact Dodd about various abuse allegations. Dodd, 63, the AAU's top executive since 1992, did not respond to in-person visits at his home and AAU offices, telephone calls or email to answer questions about the allegations. The players allege a pattern of inappropriate touching of them by Dodd, masturbation by Dodd while they slept in hotel rooms during tournaments, and players younger than 16 being supplied alcohol.

Read more at espn.com

Oroville revives youth job training program

By MARY WESTON-Staff Writer, orovillemr.com

OROVILLE -- The city has started a job training program for youth, working on the basketball courts that will be built in three city parks and at the YMCA.

City staff are looking for grant funding to continue the program after the basketball courts are finished.

The Youth Build team overseen by R.D. Prater Construction Co. has started work on one of the two youth-size basketball courts slated for Hewitt Park.

Read more at orovillemr.com

By Michael Popke, Athletic Business

Before the rules changed at Old Settler's Recreation Center, open-gym basketball at the public facility in McKinney, Texas, was fraught with disorganization, disrespect and disruption. "The typical adult open-gym experience included extreme profanity and occasional fighting," says recreation supervisor Empress Drane.

Then staff members at the 10,000-square-foot multipurpose facility implemented new zero-tolerance policies regarding language, dress and physical behavior. All participants must now sign in upon arrival, games are timed and employees interact with players to ensure everyone knows the rules and regulations. Players are expected to police each other, and violators will pay a price. "All players understand that if the overall environment escalates to inappropriate levels of chaos or disruption of other programs, all players are subject to being asked to leave," Drane says.

By Jim Derry, The Times-Picayune

There were as many basketballs bouncing off the backboards as there were going through the nets Monday in Slidell, but there certainly was no shortage of laughter.

And all for a good cause.

For the seventh consecutive year, the week-long Chris Duhon Basketball Camp began with children ages 7 through 15 in attendance to learn the fundamentals of the game and to have a good time.

By The Daily Fairfield 

It's 10:20 a.m. on a summer Saturday morning at the unoccupied outdoor basketball courts at Saxe Middle School. In the next 10 minutes, dozens of cars pull up and unload 37 elite seventh- and eighth-grade basketball players from all over Fairfield County.

Those two quiet basketball courts suddenly become busy. For the next two-and-a-half hours, they host game after game of intense, win-or-sit-down, pick-up basketball. These young, hardcore hoop junkies cherish this experience.

How did 37 players from towns including Newtown, Ridgefield, Bridgeport, Trumbull, Weston, Stamford, Fairfield, Norwalk, Greenwich, Darien, Westport and New Canaan all know to show up in this one spot, at this one time and find terrific pickup games? Like many things in this Internet age, it was a website-driven event.

By Robert Ladnier, Press-Register

Dawson Jellenc believes no matter how good you are there is always room to improve. The Bayside Academy Youth Basketball Camp gave him the opportunity to put his beliefs into practice.


"It's really fun when you get to work on stuff that you need to work on," Jellenc said. "You can excel at it and once you get better you can keep working to get better."

The 12-year old from Montrose is a veteran of summer basketball camps.

Jellenc said he has attended basketball camps four times.

"It's really fun and it helps me learn more of what I didn't know that I can do," Jellenc said. "(This week I've learned) how to crossover (dribble) better and shoot without making my arm go the wrong position."

By Will C. Holden,The Press-Enterprise

Arriving at his alma mater for a photo shoot, the first bit of proof Darren Collison is who he is sits draped around his neck. The only other bit is sitting in the parking lot.

Without the Indiana Pacers jersey and the Lexus, he might as well be back in his senior year, spending another hot Friday afternoon at Etiwanda High, five minutes away from his parents' house in Rancho Cucamonga.

He offers to help a photographer carry any heavy equipment to the gym. He dodges construction in the back parking lot. He stops and talks to a few teachers who are putting in long summer hours.

By Mark Scheer, Niagara Gazette

A new mentoring program intended to help local youth by pairing them with positive role models has been suspended by its leader amid concerns about financing.

City officials say there is a need to amend an earlier version of a financial contract for the program and they expect the matter to be addressed as early as next week.

"We just want to make sure that we can get this resolved so we can continue to provide the services to the children of Niagara Falls," said former LaSalle High School and University at Buffalo basketball star Modie Cox, whose program, "Winning Because I Tried," was instituted at the city's new Legends Basketball Court for the first time this summer.

By Charles Drake, New Port Richey

Not many people know about the Holiday Heat. Fan support for the team consists of the coach and parents. Outside of that, there isn't much of a following for this highly competitive youth basketball team with a winning record.

It doesn't matter. The players are in this for the experience and for a chance to earn a slot in the National Amateur Athletic Union tournaments, which start this week. The Holiday Heat is an AAU-level travel team that puts the players into regional showcases, mostly in the off season. College scouts often attend these and start evaluating rising high school talent at surprisingly early ages.

NCAA recruiting compliance rules are strict about direct contacts and the times when coaches, parents and players can be directly contacted.

By Ben Weathers, Athletic Business


A Harundale Youth Sports League coach has been accused of assaulting a referee after disputing a call during one of the season's final boys' basketball games.

Rodney Hall Jr., 33, of Glen Burnie has been issued a summons for second-degree assault after he "pushed" and "wrestled" with a referee, according to a complaint filed by the referee in District Court.

John Spinnenweber, chief of athletics for the county Department of Recreation and Parks, said the coach and a bystander who joined in scuffle now face a minimum two-year-suspension from county sanctioned recreational sports.

By Clairen Reese, Pelican correspondent

By Michael Popke, Athletic Business

At least eight high school basketball programs in Indiana are on probation for the 2011-12 school year after recent brawls prompted fans and coaches to leave their seats. One more bad move, reports Indianapolis' WXIN-TV, and the teams could get yanked from state tournament play -- or even dropped from the Indiana State High School Athletic Association.

"There are rules at the NCAA and NBA level[s] that are pretty concrete that say when you leave the bench it's an automatic ejection," ISHAA commissioner Bobby Cox told the station. The NBA actually goes one step further and automatically suspends any player who leaves the bench.

Read more at athleticbusiness.com

By Laura Wilson, KAJ News

KALISPELL- Misdemeanor charges are pending after a Kalispell referee was grabbed by a Missoula man after a recent Flathead-Hellgate basketball match-up.

David Reese has been a basketball referee for years and the incident happened after the final buzzard rang at Flathead High School home game.

The Hellgate fan grabbed Reese while he was leaving the floor after apparently being upset at how the official called the close game.

Read more at kaj18.com

By Robert Lee Long, desototimes.com

HERNANDO -- Five years ago, former college standout and professional basketball player Eldon Lawyer began teaching kids in Hernando how to play basketball.

"We just started with a handful of kids -- probably about 15 or so -- and the last three years it just exploded," Lawyer said.

Lawyer began his NoXcuses basketball program following a successful basketball career at Oral Roberts University and playing semi-professional basketball worldwide. Lawyer played on the ORU team competing for the national men's title in 1976.

The league Lawyer started, even before there was such as thing as a Hernando Parks and Recreation Department, has now grown to include more than 254 players, 32 coaches and 32 teams, all of which are now a part of the Hernando Parks and Recreation Youth Basketball.