94 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 17, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com sports New York City still rich in basketball talent You’ll have to forgive my bias, one I admit to up front and without reservation. The best prep basketball players in the country come out of the fi ve most terrifi c boroughs in the world. Yes, basketball has become an international game and there are great players coming from Greece to Astoria and Latvia to Long Island City. But there is a toughness, a grittiness, that city players have in their DNA. Basketball in the city’s playgrounds and schoolyards is the hoops version of “Game of Thrones.” There has been a growing belief that New York City prep basketball isn’t as great it once was. There is some validity to that. The Regents Diploma Requirements, enacted in 1979 and modifi ed signifi cantly beginning in 2010, made it more challenging for students to graduate from high school. That forced more and more students to migrate to prep schools. So yes, many prep basketball programs got stronger and many public school programs got weaker. Our great resource of talented and tenacious players was being exported. Bottom line, those remain city kids. They learned the game here and had it refi ned elsewhere. But they remain city warriors. Take for example, Seton Hall’s basketball team. The Pirates just won their fi rst Big East Conference Tournament title in 23 years with a team comprised of city players. They got a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They believe they can win it all. That’s what city kids are — believers. Isaiah Whitehead is the next great player out of Lincoln High School. Khadeen Carrington from Bishop Loughlin is a basket waiting to happen. Desi Rodriguez of Lincoln, via the Bronx, will cut out an opponent’s laces with a spoon. ROBBINS’ NEST by Lenn Robbins The Hall is one of 68 teams that made the NCAA Tournament, which you will hear and read a lot about over the next three weeks. And you will see college after college that have players from the metropolitan on their rosters. Iona, which plays a brand of basketball akin to NASCAR with a ball, is led by Jordan Washington of Jamaica. Dayton is led by guard Scoochie Smith of the Bronx, a lifetime member of the NCAA Tournament all-name team. West Virginia, one of my picks to make it to the Final Four, has two terrifi c players from Brooklyn in Teyvon Myers and Tarik Phillip. Check Diallo of Centereach is likely to be Kansas’s next great player. Omar Calhoun of Brooklyn is Connecticut’s latest NYC stud, following in the likes of Kemba Walker of the Bronx, who helped the Huskies win the 2011 national title. I challenge you to fi nd more schools in the Field of Dreams that have more impact players from one area. If you believe as I do, that most things in life are cyclical, than slowly but surely more of the great local prep players will stay at home. It could be a slow cycle because the city has to increase funding so that schools and teachers have the resources to support all students. That’s a feisty conversation for another day. This is a column about sports, not the pros and cons of a NYC public high school education. But the narrative is loud and clear. New York continues to put out great prep players, many of whom go on to play college ball. The next few weeks, whether they play one game or seven, will be the most exciting of their lives and we should celebrate that and support them. I spoke to John Morton of the Bronx, a member of the 1989 Seton Hall team that advanced to the NCAA title game. The Pirates lost to Michigan in overtime on one of the worst calls in tournament history. Yet Morton doesn’t dwell on that foul whistle. He remembers the magical ride, the friends he remains friends with, the memories he made. The dreams begin in the playgrounds and courts of the city. Some say the dreamers aren’t as talented and prolifi c as the ones that came before them. I say, “Fuhgetaboutit!” National honors for Archbishop Molloy track/fi eld BY MIGUEL VASQUEZ editorial@qns.com @QueensCourier This past weekend, Archbishop Molloy High School’s athletes achieved the epitome of U.S. sporting excellence. The boys and girls track/fi eld teams participated in the New Balance Nationals Indoor competition, held from March 11-13 in Harlem, at the Armory Track and Field Center on 216 Fort Washington Ave. Led by coach Kawan Lovelace, a Molloy alumni and 1996 Olympian, nine of the athletes were able to rank in the top six of their respective events. Facing off against competitors from all across the nation, the boys against 41 teams, and the girls against 18 teams, they defi ed the odds stacked against them. Not only did they break school records, but the boys shuttle hurdle relay team landed in fourth place with a relay time of 30.59, while the girls shuttle hurdle relay team ranked in sixth place with a time of 33.54. Lastly, Sarah Kowpak also placed in sixth for her high jump of 5’6. In national championships, ranking within the top six allows the athletes to receive All-American honors. This is the fi rst time Archbishop Molloy has had nine athletes become All-Americans within the same year. Having been a member of the program himself, coach Lovelace is extremely passionate about his role in track/fi eld. “It is amazing to be able to give back to a school and program that has been such a huge part of my success. Seeing the collective effort of the team come to fruition as they received All-American honors, it was my proudest moment as a coach.” Team captains Liam Rock, Jenna Piller and Cristina Giannelli were astounded after realizing they had achieved such prestigious accolades. “Before getting to the track we had this quiet confi dence about us…once we realized we had won we were in absolute shock and disbelief. It was a great moment knowing that what we had worked for really paid off,” Rock said. “I was really nervous since it was my fi rst time competing at that level. After the race I was happy because we had set the school record and once I heard the announcement that we were All- Americans, I fl ipped out,” Piller added. The school congratulated the three team members and Andres Echeandia, Oluwatomide Alao, Ikpechukwu Obayi, Isabelle Poptean, Petra Stiglmayer, Sarah Kowpak and coach Lovelace for their accomplishments. Melvin Johnson is one New York City native playing in this year’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. Photo courtesy of VCU Athletics Coach Kawan Lovelace and the newly crowned All-Americans
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