Photos by Ronald Beverly
Reynold s Park director Bryant McCorkle presents Josh Howard with a plaque of appreciation last Saturday.
Howard excites Reynolds Park kids
More than 60 kids
attend camp
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE
There were scattered
showers outside last Saturday,
but it seemed bright and sunny
inside Reynolds Park Recre
ation Center. Most of the pos
itive energy was exerted by
the more than 60 kids who
packed the gym for a free bas
ketball camp put on by Dallas
Maverick star Josh Howard.
Many kids were at the cen
ter two hours before the camp
actually began to try to get a
jump on the excitement.
"This is something that
we're very excited to do," said
Reynolds Park director Bryant
McCorkle. "The kids really
had a great time today because
they all look up to Josh. I was
able to get Josh here through
his friends and his agent, and I
I. know that I had a ball today."
Howard hosted his official
camp earlier this summer, but
he wanted a chance to give
back to Reynolds Park, the
Howard takes time to teach local kids some basketball.
center that he basically grew
up in. He also wanted to treat
the kids that participate in the
center. As a matter of fact,
only kids from that center and
area around the center attend
ed the camp over the weekend.
"We could've had a lot
more kids here today,"
McCorkle said. "There were
only kids from this center
here, and that was good. It
really made these kids feel a
little more special because
they all felt like Josh was
doing this for them, and he
basically was."
The kids all got a chance to
go through various player
development drills with
Howard and a number of other
basketball instructors. After
the drills, the kids listened to
Howard speak about various
topics. Then, all of the partici
pants were given photographs
autographed by Howard, Nike
T-shirts and key chains.
"I can't say enough about
how much this meant to us,"
McCorkle said. "This meant a
whole lot. I mean, this was a
real biggie for us."
Howard wasn't the only
person giving out gifts of
appreciation. McCorkle also
presented Howard with a
plaque to recognize his dedi
cation to his community and
to thank him for always being
there to help out the kids.
"I presented him with a
plaque for the community
service that he always finds
time to put in," McCorkle
said. "To be honest with you,
he (Howard) looked like this
really touched him. 1 had
never really seen that side of
him. 1 could see that he was
really thankful to get the
plaque.
"The moment almost got to
me because I can't help but to
think about wheii Josh was
younger, coming through
here. And then I look at him
now. That's touching to the
people that really care about
him. 1 can't wait to do this
again."
Hill
from page B1
under team. Three players from
North Carolina are on the team. I
know ftiat we all play against each
other, but we're a family. So don't
step on our toes by speaking about
the caliber of competition in this
area."
Gould wasn't finished talking.
"The bottom line is he's
wrong," Gould continued. "He's
using Eric to get his name out
there. I keep hearing his name
(Brian Clifton) come up. He's get
ting quoted in all of these stories.
He's basically turning into Eric's
agent or something. And Eric is
such a good kid. I mean, he's a
great kid. Then you have this
coach that's trying to get his name
out through him (Wallace)."
Whatever the case may be
with Clifton is between him and
Wallace, I guess. I just don't think
that Wallace should leave. I mean,
what's wrong with playing at
Glenn, seriously? It would be dif
ferent if there wasn't a new 20
year-old age limit to enter the
NBA. Then, I guess, Wallace
fnight need to jump to a bigger
stage to get ready. Maybe. But
there's no rush now.
And playing basketball in
North Carolina isn't exactly like
playing tennis in Minnesota (a
mean, things are looking good for
Stephen A. I'm happy for him. I
hope that he can keep the show
going for a minute and make it a
siaie tnat s Known ror
hockey). This place is
and will probably always
be a hotbed for hoop tal
ent.
Another thing that
I'm wondering about is
whether Marshall Moses
and Sam Grooms have
been added into this rota
tion. I mean, it seems like
it would be easier to get
Moses and Grooms into
St. Vincent, St. Mary's
classic, like "Larry
King Live," "The
Tonight Show," or
maybe even the
"Daily Show." Who
knows? I know I'U
continue to look for
ward to seeing the
best guests, while
hearing some of the
best questions. I
expect to disagree a
few times, but I also
expect to learn
than it would be to get them both
into Glenn. So who knows how
this will turn out. We'll just have
to wait and see.
Stephen A. Smith's show
started this week
One of my favorite colum
nists/analysts, Stephen A. Smith's
show "Quite Frankly" debuted
this week on ESPN. I've only
caught two episodes, but it looked
good so far.
He also had a feature on him
in the latest Sports Illustrated. I
something too.
That's what Smith brings to
the table. So check him out on
ESPN 2 at 6:30 p.m. during the
week.
My girl got traded
I usually don't give two
thoughts about trades that occur in
the WNBA. That changed when I
got the release about Dawn Staley
being traded to the Houston
Comets for two players and tW>
first-round draft picks on Monday.
"This move will help us con
tinue to rebuild our team. We
now have two first-round draft
picks in 2006 plus two proven
players in Rasmussen and Good
son," said head coach and general
manager Trudi Lacey.
"Dawn Staley has been a great
ambassador for women's basket
ball and the Charlotte Sting in
every possible aspect. She has
meant the world to our franchise,
and we wish her nothing but the
best. This gives her an opportuni
ty to compete for a WNBA cham
pionship," Lacey said.
Staley is my favorite female
athlete of all time, and 1 never
thought she'd leave the Sting
through a trade. I always thought
that she'd leave on her own terms,
and the Sting would always want
her leadership. But I guess ulti
mately this was the best thing for
her. Charlotte isn't having the best
season, and Houston is a champi
onship-caliber squad. So I guess 1
need to be happy for Dawn and
hope that she wins a title in her
new home.
Anthony Hill is the sports edi
tor for The Chronicle. He can be
reached at 722-8624 (ext. Ill) or
aftill@wschronicle .com .
Gray
from page B1
versity (Pa.) head coach Phil
Martelli, who was an assistant
coach on the 2001 USA, U21
"being let go who wasn't a good
player or didn't handle themselves
properly. They let their play do the
talking.
wono Lnampionsnip
Team that claimed the
1 gold medal in Japan.
"They've been
well schooled by their
college coaches, and I
think they've all been
raised . properly
because they all talk
about being very
appreciative of the
opportunity of being
able to represent their
was a lot of hours. You
peet to have sleepless
July as a college coach,
but I've had two on
this trip. Both times
were as we were
approaching the cut
down. I never want to
be in a position to take
away somebody's
dream or their aspira
tions. It was not easy;
these were not easy
choices that we had to
make."
country, to represent
their schools, their programs and
their families. I think those are
good values and it's a good core to
have to start with on any team."
"As a college coach, you don't
normally have to deal with this,"
Martelli continued - "But the play
ers who were let go gave us every
thing they had. There's nobody
In addition to
Gray, Redick and Withers, named
to the 2005 USA U21 National
Team were: Manly Collins (Tem
ple), Glen Davis (LSU), Nick
Fazekas (Nevada). Rudy Gay
(Connecticut), Taj Gray (Okla
homa). Allan Ray (Villanova).
Terrence Roberts (Syracuse),
Rajon Rondo (Kentucky), and
Marcus Williams (Connecticut).
"I'm really anxious because
when we first got together we told
them the goal was to win the gold
medal." added Martelli. "The gold
medal is not attainable on the first
day. Seven, eight or nine days in,
that doesn't change. ,-pie gold
medal is not attainable tinless we
maximize every day along the
path to the gold medal. 1 like our
chances with this group, though."
The American team traveled
to Mar del Plata, Argentina, to
compete in the opening game of
the 2005 HB A U2 1 World Cham
pionship against China on Friday
at 3:30 p.m. (all U21 World
Championship times EDT). The
United States will then go up
against Lithuania on Aug. 6 at
2:30 p.m. and Puerto Rico on Aug .
7 at 6:30 p.m.
After a day off. the United
States is slated to face Nigeria on
Aug. 9 at 3 p.m. and will close out
preliminary round play on Aug. 10
with a 12:45 p.m. contest against
Slovenia. The quarterfinals, semi
finals and finals will be played"
Aug. 12-14.
Acting as Martelli's assistants
are collegiate head coaches James
"Bruiser" Hint from Drexel Uni
versity (Pa.) and Dennis Felton
from the University of Georgia.
Contested Aug. 5-14 in Cor
doba and Mar del Plata, Aigentir
na. the 2005 F1BA Men's U21
World Championship will consist
of 12 national teams split into two
groups for preliminary round
robin play. The top four teams in
each group will advance to the
medal quarterfinals, while the
fifth- and sixth-place finishing
teams in each group will compete
for ninth through 12th places.
The USA men are not only
defending FIBA world champs at
the U21 level, but the U.S. squad
last summer dominated its FIBA
Americas competition in striking
gold with a 5-0 record. Overall, in
the three previous FIBA World
Championships for this age group,
the United States has won gold
twice and compiled a 22-2 record.
Photo by Charlie Waff
Wake's Cameron Stanley has taken over the scoring average
in the Pro Am league for the Cintas squad.
Mercedes squad
shooting lights out
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE
Four weeks into the RLBA -
Triad Pro Am league, and the
Mercedes-Benz squad has offi
cially taken over first place, and
Wake standout Cameron Stanley
has become the leading scorer in
the league.
Last Friday, the Mercedes
Ben/ squad played a tough Cintas
squad and walked away with a
117-113 victory behind a 37-point
performance by Rusty LaRue.
Craig Dawson also came up big
for the winners, chipping in 32
points and five rebounds.
The Cintas squad was paced
by Bryant Camp. He finished the
game with 46 points and 10
rebounds. Mike Smith chipped in
with 20 points, while Trent Strick
land finished with 19 points and
seven rebounds in a losing effort.
The surprise game of the
week had to be between the
Cobb-Vantress squad and Page
Printing. Page Printing was fight
ing for its first victory of the sea
son; and it got it thanks to the play
of Joe McClinton and Curtis Pass.
The talented Anthony Crews also
played big for the Page Printing
squad. McClinton finished the
game with 46 points, six rebounds
and four assists. Pass finished
with 26 points and eight assists,
while Crews chipped in with 25
points.
The Cobb-Vantress squad was
very disappointed after the game,
but it still received respectable
play from Thomas Burge, who
finished with 38 points, and Caleb
Kimbrough, who had 35 points
during the loss.
The Velocity squad shocked a
few people after it knocked off the
Norman Stockton squad 1 1 1 - 100.
Norman Stockton seems to still be
reeling back from last Friday's
defeat. The Norman Stockton
squad even looked as if it was
going to pull the victory off, but a
late Velocity surge proved to be
too much for the Norman Stock
ton team.
Brad Harris led Velocity with
30 points and five assists. He was
helped by Josh Shehan (24 points)
and Rodney Blackstock (25
points, six rebounds and five
assists). Norman Stockton was
paced by Wake Forest player
Mike Drum. Drum finished with
45 points and 10 rebounds. Fel
low Deac John Buck also had a
good game with 17 points and
seven rebounds in the loss.
The standings are as follows
(as of Monday): Mercedes-Benz
of WS (6-1), Velocity (5-2), Nor
man Stockton (5-2), Cobb
Vantress (2-5), Cintas (2-5) and
Page's Printing (1-6).
Here are the top scorers in the
league are (after four weeks):
Cameron Stanley (Cintas), 34
ppg; Chris Paul (Mercedes-Benz
of WS), 34 ppg; Rodney Black
stock (Velocity), 33 ppg; Chris
Oliver (Mercedes-Benz of WS),
30.25 ppg; Kevin Swinton (Cobb
Vantress), 29.60 ppg; Michael
Drum (Norman Stockton), 28.71
ppg; Anthony Crews (Page's
Printing), 28.29 ppg; Craig Daw
son (Mercedes-Benz of WS), 28
ppg; Trent Strickland (Cintas),
27.67 ppg; Rusty LaRue (Mer
cedes-Benz of WS), 27 ppg.
Chris Oliver (Mercedes-Benz
of WS) is still leading the league
in rebounds with 18.5 rebounds a
game. Kevin Swinton (Cobb
Vantress) is in second place with a
12-rebound-per-game average.
Friday's games are as follows:
The Velocity squad will try to
knock off the top team, Mercedes
Benz of WS, at 6: 15 p.m. Page's
Printing will try to continue the
winning when it bumps heads
with a reeling Norman Stockton
squad at 7:45 p.m. The final game
of the night will be between Trent
Strickland and Cameron Stanley's
Cintas squad and the Cobb
Vantress team. That game will
begin at 9:15 p.m. All games are
played at Forsyth Country Day's
Childress Gym.
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