Brooklyn Boro

Scholastic Roundup: Brooklyn talent is getting honored in the NCAA

March 26, 2021 Andy Furman
Share this:

James Bouknight, a sophomore guard on the University of Connecticut’s NCAA basketball squad, was named District 1 (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut) Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, based on voting from its national membership of 900-plus.

The 6-foot-5 Crown Heights native – he attended LaSalle Academy – is one of the premier guards in the country, and a projected lottery pick.

Teammate Richie Springs, was a 6-9 redshirt freshman for UConn. He played two seasons at Bishop Loughlin under Ed Gonzalez

Bryant’s Jared Grasso was named District 1 Coach of the Year. He led the Bulldogs to the title game in the Northeast Conference, before falling to Mt. St. Mary’s.

The Champagnie twins were named to the All- District II (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, DC, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) team.

Julian played at St. John’s and brother Justin played for Pitt.

In total, the Big Ten Conference topped the lost with 13 selections, followed by The Big 12 (11), ACC (9), Big East (9) and SEC (8).

***

Georgia Tech can make some noise in March Madness thanks to Brooklyn’s senior guard, Jose Alvarado…He played at Christ the King in Queens as a prepster.

Hard to believe FDR High grad Jay Rokeach starts his 50th season behind the microphone, as the PA announcer for the University of Miami (Fla.) baseball team.

Remember Pete Gillen? He was the David Letterman look-a-like who coached basketball at Nazareth Regional.

He went on to success as an assistant to Digger Phelps at Notre Dame, and took head coaching jobs at: Xavier of Ohio; Providence and Virginia.

He does basketball on the CBS Sports Network these days…

***

Dianne Nolan has a career record of 575-509, which ranks her in the top-40 all-time in the Division I ranks.

She guided four of her teams to NCAA Tournament berths and one WNIT appearance. Nolan’s student-athletes held a 100 percent graduation success rate during her career.

She coached the Terriers from 1974-79 and ranks second on the St. Francis all-time wins list with 61.

She started her head coaching career at Brooklyn’s St. Francis College before moving to Fairfield, where she spent 28 years as the head coach.

She was inducted into the Fairfield County Hall of Fame, commemorating her years of success in the state. She served as the Fairfield coach for 28 years and was inducted into the J. Walter Kennedy Community Service wing of the Hall of Fame.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected]

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment