The big-time high school football recruit in your home and his coach will have to get by without seeing your favorite college football head coach during the current evaluation period.

It seems that while no one was looking last winter, the NCAA passed a rule that bars head coaches from hitting the road during this evaluation time, which runs through the end of May.

While the coaches weren't permitted to talk to recruits before, they could, at least in theory, get a look at them, while making nice with their coaches for possible business down the road.

Some coaches are making this out to be an unfair restriction on their trade, but anything that keeps new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino from promising kids he'll be in one place, only to turn up somewhere else next week, can't be such a bad thing.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We told you earlier in the week about last week's vote by the Board of Control of the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association to change the interpretation of what an out-of-season team is, and thus, loosen restrictions on coaches to work with those players in the offseason.

Well, the MPSSAA has posted on its Web site an explanation of what happened and what it means.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Terence Garvin, a junior running back for Loyola, was offered a football scholarship to West Virginia, confirmed Dons coach Brian Abbott today.

The Mountaineers are offering Garvin the scholarship as a free safety. He also has an offer from Maryland as a safety.

Garvin had been seriously considering the Terps, but now West Virginia has just made the decision that much harder.

"It gives him more to think about," Abbott said. "It’s a blessing and another part of it is that it makes his decision difficult."

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You might recall a column from last week about McDonogh wrestler Ben Levin, who was planning to run in the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in honor of the mothers of teammate Albert Woody and assistant coach Joe Bakewell, both of whom are breast cancer survivors.

Levin reports that he completed the marathon in three hours and 40 minutes and without any injuries. The 3:40 is roughly the same time that he had in the Marine Corps Marathon last year on behalf of the Injured Marine Fund.

Levin says he has raised $12,000 to date for the Komen Foundation, which is about $8,000 short of his goal of $20,000. For more information on how to contribute, e-mail ez4u2xl@verizon.net.

Posted by Milton Kent at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Friday's vote by the Board of Control of the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association to loosen the restrictions on the ability of public school coaches to guide teams of players from their school in the offseason may actually have more of an effect on inseason play than the summer.

The measure, which goes into effect this summer, redefines what constitutes an out-of-season team in such a way as to permit regular-season coaches to coach as many players from one school as they want during the summer.

In previous years, a coach could only have 80 percent of a starting lineup on an offseason roster, meaning, for instance, a basketball coach could only have four players on a summer-league team.

The 80 percent restriction remains in effect for teams who play during the school year during their offseason, say a fall baseball team, and out-of-season teams still can't have any official connection with the school either during the school year or in the summer.

The re-interpretation of the out-of-season rule would appear to give high school coaches more control over their players during the summer, which has been a concern among many who feel the summer process has had a negative effect on a number of sports, particularly basketball.

However, a number of administrators have expressed concerns that, with the change, the tryout period for most sports will be rendered meaningless for any kids who don't make the summer team. The vote allows local administrators to interpret the rule as they deem necessary, meaning some jurisdictions may limit more than others.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Douglass football coach Joe Holland will take over the program at New Town this fall, Reggie Brooks, the school's athletic director said.

Holland guided Douglass to a 9-1 mark and a city division title in 2005 in what had been the school's best ever record. However, in a controversial decision, the city stripped the Ducks of their wins and the division title, because of the use of an ineligible player. The Ducks were 0-10 this past season.

Meanwhile, New Town went 4-6 this year, missing a playoff spot in the 1A North region by a game. There's no word on where current New Town coach Richard Stichel will be coaching next season.

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

With gasoline prices going out of sight, a day trip on a whim to Philadelphia might not be the wisest move. But, if you're so inclined, there are few things more fascinating than taking in the Penn Relays at Franklin Field, to get a peek at some of the nation's next great track stars.

For example, one of yesterday's feature races saw Ryann Krais, a senior at Methacton High in Norristown, Pa., run a sensational 59.62 in the high school girls 400-meter hurdles race. Krais, a champion heptathlete, has signed to attend UCLA next year under the tutelage of coach Bob Kersee, the husband of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, arguably the best heptathlete this nation has ever produced.

On the menu for today is a showdown in the girls 4x800-meter relay involving Washington-area powerhouse Eleanor Roosevelt.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We've been remiss in failing to note that Lake Clifton boys basketball coach Herman Harried, whose Lakers spent most of the year ranked at the top of the local polls, coached a team of international high school players as a part of the Jordan Brand Classic all-star game last weekend in New York.

Harried's White team dropped a three-point decision in overtime. The White squad was led by Enes Kanter of Turkey, who had 22 points and 17 rebounds.

Posted by Milton Kent at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

In conjunction with the annual campus open house, Maryland will play its Red/White spring game this Saturday in College Park, and, no doubt, many of their recruits will be awed by the throng of fans who will flock to Byrd Stadium.

The jury apparently is out over whether recruits around the country are being influenced by the large crowds that are showing up at these spring scrimmages. Kids and their parents, of course, need to ask whether a turnout of 50,000 to 100,000 in April is equivalent to what things will look like in September.

More to the point, how close to real conditions, including those encountered in the classroom and socially, is what they'll see during a weekend with a hyped-up intrasquad game?

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We are normally loathe here to post video clips of the athletic doings of high schoolers, on the feeling that things like YouTube make it more difficult for parents and coaches to get a handle on an already warped system.

That said, these clips of Brittney Griner, a 6-foot-8 center at Houston's Nimitz High, are too cool to ignore. Griner, a junior, has orally committed to play at Baylor.

Posted by Milton Kent at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Besides draining the area of one of its sharpest basketball minds, the announced departure of Randallstown boys coach Kim Rivers for an Atlanta-area school raises interesting questions going forward about the ability of state public schools to compete at the highest levels athletically.

Rivers, who will serve as boys coach at Shiloh High, as well as working in the school's athletic administration, said last month that while he wanted to remain at Randallstown, where he won five state titles in 14 years, he wanted also to coach at the highest levels of the sport.

Almost by definition, that precludes the public schools here, where the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's rules on travel and transfers, among other subjects, send many top-flight athletes to private schools, where regulations aren't as strict. Oddly enough, Rivers is leaving just before the MPSSAA's Board of Control votes Friday on a proposal that would give high school coaches a bit more control over their players who participate in outside teams by essentially eliminating restrictions on the numbers of kids who can play on summer league teams.

But that may not be enough to keep good public school coaches, like Rivers, from looking for greener pastures, even if they have to go to the Deep South to find them.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

We told you a few weeks ago about a lawsuit filed by a football recruit and his mother against the University of Hawaii, charging that the school reneged on an oral scholarship commitment made to the recruit, then apparently snatched back after the kid was told not to solicit or accept any other offers.

According to SI.com, the case has not been settled and, barring a change of heart from either side, it will apparently go to trial, sending a chill through most big-time athletic departments.

Simply put, if schools are unable to back out of verbal scholarship offers, then the fate of the western world, as we know it, will be at stake. Or, more likely, colleges and universities will have to be honest with kids and stop trying to hoard them away from competitors. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Posted by Milton Kent at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From ESPN comes an ominous story of how threats and harassment are increasingly becoming a part of high school girls basketball around the country.

Have high school sports really reached a point where things like which school a player plays for, or their country of origin or where they might be going to college are reasons to issue death threats and harassment?

Don't worry; I already know the answer.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Tyreke Evans, the nation's highest ranked and unsigned boys basketball recruit has taken care of half of that description, committing yesterday to play next year at Memphis.

Evans, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from American Christian High in suburban Philadelphia, chose Memphis over Texas and hometown Villanova. Essentially, Evans will replace guard Derrick Rose, who announced yesterday that he will leave the Tigers after one year to enter the NBA draft. Evans was a three-time state Player of the Year, and averaged 29 points a game this season. He scored 21 points with 10 rebounds in the McDonald's All-America game recently.

Besides a desire to play for a contending team -- the Tigers lost to Kansas in overtime in the national championship game last week -- Evans may have had other reasons to want to get out of Philadelphia. Evans' first cousin is facing first-degree murder charges in Delaware County, Pa., for a November incident in which a man was shot after walking up to an SUV that Evans was a passenger in.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Some of the best American fiction writing may be found not in a school's library, but in the mailboxes of recruited high school athletes.

Think not? Well, just check out a Web site from quarterback Tate Forcier, a junior from San Diego. Forcier is considered to be one of the top recruits for the coming season, and he and his family have posted the letters offering scholarships from 21 schools, including one from Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, the brother of new Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

The letters, coming from schools as varied as Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Auburn and defending BCS champion LSU, provide an interesting look into the world of recruiting, as well as how to skillfully make an offer while simultaneously hedging a school's bets against the possibility of running out of scholarships, or, better yet, having a chance to get a better player.

In case you're wondering, Maryland has offered Forcier a scholarship, but the letter from coach Ralph Friedgen has not been posted yet.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

You might recall the story from Kansas earlier this year about Michelle Campbell, the retired police officer turned female basketball referee who was not allowed to work a boys game at a Wichita-area private school because school officials didn't want a woman to have authority over boys, even though the school has female teachers who instruct boys.

The Kansas City Star reports that the state body that runs high school athletics in Kansas added language to its application for membership that prohibits schools from taking “any action to prevent an athletic official from officiating a contest because of the official’s race, sex, religion or national origin.” That change goes into effect with the coming academic year.

Schools that fail to accept that language will not be full members of the Kansas State High School Activities Association, and, as such, would not be eligible to play all the other members of the association.

The newspaper reports that officials of the school in question, St. Mary's Academy, declined comment and have yet to explain their February decision not to allow Campbell to work.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Carmelo Anthony never played in the Charm City Challenge boys high school all-star basketball game following his senior year at Towson Catholic on his way to Syracuse and a national championship. But his influence was certainly felt at this year's game last week, as four of the 22 players on the Baltimore and United States rosters declared the Denver Nuggets forward to be their favorite athlete.

That fact alone should provide something of an indicator of the extent to which players like Anthony are role models, and thus, how heartbreaking his arrest early yesterday on suspicion of driving under the influence is.

Look, Anthony is six weeks away from being 24, and isn't that much older than the Challenge kids who idolize him. He likely doesn't spend every moment of the day assessing his role model status. He's allowed to do stupid things every so often (see Arizona quarterback Matt Leinart posing for pictures with girls at a party while his ex-girlfriend tended to his infant son).

But this isn't the first time Anthony has gotten rung up for bad behavior, and, at some point, a light should go on in his head that people are watching his every move and that he ought to consider what he's doing to his image. And this would be a fine opportunity for coaches to chat with their kids about the blessings and curses of fame.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

On Wednesday, The Sun will begin an occasional series of articles on the recruitment of Dunbar running back-defensive back Tavon Austin. In the series, Austin will take readers through the recruiting process in his own words, as told to Sun reporter Stefen Lovelace.

The following videos of Austin and the Dunbar football team are courtesy of YouTube. Several of the clips contain background music with language that may be offensive to some readers.

Junior season highlights, 2007

Austin (9) showcases his moves in this compilation of junior-year highlights.

2007 Class 1A state championship game: Dunbar vs. Allegany

Austin (9) rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the Poets' 58-34 win over Allegany.

Dunbar vs. City, 2007

Austin (9) ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries in Dunbar's 56-6 rout of City.

Dunbar vs. Poly, 2007

Austin (9) scored five touchdowns -- three rushing, one receiving and one on a 78-yard kickoff return -- in Dunbar's 44-34 win over Poly.

Dunbar vs. Edmondson, 2007

Austin (9) rushed for 344 yards and four touchdowns against Edmondson.

Sophomore season highlights, 2006

This collection of highlights are from Austin's sophomore year at Dunbar.

2006 Class 1A state championship game: Dunbar vs. Fort Hill

Austin (9) caught a 43-yard touchdown pass, and rushed for 43- and 8-yard scores. He finished with 111 yards rushing in Dunbar's 38-23 win.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Fresh off their appearances in last Sunday's Charm City Challenge, St. Frances' Sean Mosley and Henry Sims of Mount St. Joseph will head down Interstate 95 to take part in Sunday's Capital Classic boys high school all-star basketball game at Comcast Center.

Both Mosley, The Sun's Player of the Year, and Sims will play for a team of United States All-Stars, who will challenge a team of players from the Washington D.C. area in the 34th annual game. Sims, a 6-foot-11 center, will play collegiately at Georgetown, while Mosley, a 6-foot-5 swingman, will attend Maryland in the fall.

The game will be televised live at 5:30 p.m. on MASN Sunday, with a re-air at 11 p.m.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

New York is the greatest city on Earth. If you don't believe it, just ask a New Yorker about the city, then sit back and be prepared to receive a treatise on how everything in the Big Apple is better than any equivalent thing anywhere else on the planet.

To wit, take a look at this piece from SI.com about an ongoing annual pilgrimage of New York City hoops talent to the suburbs for a take-no-prisoners series of games in a tiny gym.

The concept of tough basketball competition among the younger set is interesting enough, but it presumes that such a thing only exists in New York. No doubt the summer league games in Baltimore or practically any other East Coast city is probably just as challenging, but just doesn't take place in the world's most (self) important city.

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Amid the talk of the value of summer basketball emanating from the announcement this week of a partnership between the NCAA and the NBA comes a wonderful story of two young men from different parts of Pennsylvania who have found friendship and solace through playing together on an Amateur Athletic Union team.

Chester's Karon Burton, who lost a father and a stepfather, and Quincy Roberts of Harrisburg, whose father committed suicide last August, play on the same AAU squad and have found common ground in their grief.

We'll, no doubt, find the latest example of sports as a salve later today when the Liberty softball team takes the field this afternoon against Winters Mill. It will be the first game for the Lions since their pitcher, sophomore Emily Burke, was killed this past weekend in a car accident.

Posted by Milton Kent at 6:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Look, no one will confuse the Charm City Challenge boys all-star basketball game with some of the bigger name showcases around the country, say the McDonald's All-American Game, or the Capital Classic or even the Jordan Brand game. And with the NCAA rule that restricts recruits to playing in only two games, the Charm City Challenge may not be able to get top-shelf players from out of the area.

But Corrigan Sports Enterprises, the marketing firm behind the Challenge, has done a splendid job in making the game a special occasion for everyone involved, from players to coaches to fans. And while the Challenge might not get A-listers, the fact is that at least one alum has played in the NCAA Final Four the last seven years.

Sadly, there would be little chance of duplicating that success on the girls side for a couple of reasons. First, there's little area interest in a girls basketball showcase pitting local talent against top players from around the country, which speaks volumes.

In a larger sense, however, given the two game limit, there isn't enough top-shelf girls talent around the nation to stock another all-star game, once you get past the marquee games -- the Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star contest and the McDonald's All-America game.

Perhaps a city vs. suburban game, including private and public schools, might work for the future. Any takers?

Posted by Milton Kent at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Don't think Douglass point guard Omar Strong didn't have a good time at Sunday's Charm City Challenge boys all-star basketball game, because he did. It's just that he thought he should have gotten some hardware, namely the Most Valuable Player trophy, for his efforts in the 107-82 win by a team of Baltimore all-stars over a squad of United States players.

"I thought I got robbed,'' said Strong with a smile. "I didn't make all-nothing. That's crazy. But I had fun.'

Strong, who had 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting, along with three assists, probably should have been named as one of the game's top six players, but his Baltimore coach, Kim Rivers, certainly appreciated Strong's efforts.

"I have had headaches with Omar the last four years,'' said Rivers of Randallstown. "I know what he could do. He started the game. He came out like he usually does against Randallstown and got us off to a great start."

Strong, who is generously listed as 5-foot-9, averaged 21 points, four assists and 3.5 steals a game this season for Douglass, and dropped 50 in a regional playoff game. Pending retaking the SAT and ACT, Strong is looking to sign at either Middle Tennessee State or Virginia Tech. Wherever he ends up, Strong will bring a terrific presence to the college scene.

"I try to have fun,' said Strong. "I pass the ball here and there, and since I'm a point guard who can score, I try to score here and there. I try to do everything."

Posted by Milton Kent at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

While we were away covering the Maryland women's basketball team's run in the NCAA tournament, a couple of things of note occurred, the most significant of which was the top-ranked Mount Hebron girls lacrosse team losing 18-9 to No. 3 John Carroll Saturday.

It's not the margin of victory the Patriots posted over the Vikings that is particularly shocking, though a nine-goal margin in a game between top five teams is pretty surprising, especially with a lower-ranked team beating the higher-ranked one. No, the stunner here is that Mount Hebron lost at all.

Before Saturday, it had been 10 years since a Baltimore area team had beaten Mount Hebron. Ten years. Consider that every member of the Vikings team was in elementary school the last time Mount Hebron lost to a Baltimore-area school. Heck, the Vikings just got past losing their overall 103-match winning streak last season, and now this happens.

It was probably inevitable that the girls lacrosse field would eventually approach Mount Hebron, which, among other factors, has been hurt by redistricting, which dispersed some talent to Marriotts Ridge when it opened a few years ago. And the Vikings still have their streak against local public school teams intact.

But it is worth noting the end of perhaps the most significant run of dominance by any local team in recent high school history.

Posted by Milton Kent at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From The Sun's Stefen Lovelace:

Tavon Austin, Dunbar’s junior running back who holds the state career touchdown record of 92, has just picked up another football scholarship offer. Michigan has offered Austin a scholarship, Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith confirmed yesterday. The offer brings the total amount of scholarships offered to Austin to 12.

The Wolverines would bring Austin in to play running back. Every school that Austin is considering wants him to play running back or on the offensive side of the ball, Smith said.

Other schools that have made scholarship offers to Austin include: Maryland, Penn State, Illinois, South Carolina, West Virginia, Nebraska, Boston College, Rutgers, Virginia, Syracuse and Wake Forest.

Tavon Austin's class was misstated in a previous version of this post. The Sun regrets the error.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)