Scholastic Roundup: For Brooklyn’s Keith Williams, the next stop is the NBA

May 7, 2021 Andy Furman

Bishop Loughlin sophomore Keith Williams showed off some of his raw talent when he scored 16 points in the second half of a comeback attempt against Iona Prep on Saturday. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

Keith Williams dribbles the ball while he attended Bishop Loughlin. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

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Keith Williams has declared for the NBA draft.

The senior guard at the University of Cincinnati – and graduate of Bishop Loughlin High School – was the leading scorer for the Bearcats last season.

Williams said he will sign with an agent.

“Thank you, Cincinnati,” Williams wrote in a post to Twitter. “You took a kid from Brooklyn with open arms and helped mold me into the man I am today. Four years of laughs, smiles, tears and adversity all contributed to my growth. For that, I am extremely grateful.”

Williams averaged a team-high 14.3 points-per-game and earned a second-team All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) selection. He thanked former UC assistant Darren Savino, former UC head coach and current UCLA coach Mick Cronin and former UC head coach John Brannen for believing in him and pushing him to become a better player.

Keith Williams. Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati

“To my brothers, I love all of you, Williams said. “I want to thank you for making my experience fruitful. You all challenged me on and off the court to be the best version of myself every day.

“To the managers and staff, you all sacrificed a lot for us on a day-to-day basis and made sure we were healthy and safe. Thank you.”

Over his four-year career, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Williams averaged 9.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per-game at Cincinnati. He scored 1,156 career points, 35th most in program history.

The 2021 NBA Draft is set for July 29th

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Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick had an asterisk put next to Roger Maris’ record 61 home-run season in 1961 with the Yankees.

Why? Because the feat was accomplished in a 162-game season – not 154 like Babe Ruth did.

It was roughly criticized and eventually eliminated.

So, Madison Bumgarner pitches a seven-inning no-hitter. And doesn’t get credit for the no-no.

And that doesn’t sit well with Spencer Ross, the New Utrecht grad who has sat behind the play-by-play microphone for every New York City major league sports team.

“The clownish Commissioner (Rob Manfred) announces that while it is an official game, it’s not an official no-hitter and not to be recorded as such. Because it was a seven-inning game,” Ross concluded.

When he pitched his no-hitter for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Atlanta Braves, lefty Bumgarner didn’t really throw a no-hitter. It was a seven-inning game, part of a doubleheader, and therefore played under the recent/temporary Covid-related rules. And because it was a seven-inning game and not a nine-inning game, Bumgarner won’t get credit from Major League Baseball or its partner in statistics, the Elias Sports Bureau, for throwing a no-hitter, Sunday, April 25th.

“In the Commissioner’s deluded way of thinking,” Ross continued, “this game that was a game, wasn’t. Based on that,” he said, “maybe seven inning games should only be recognized and awarded half a victory. And,” he added, “how long will baseball continue with that ludicrous rule that places a runner on second base to start an extra inning?”

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Clifford Welden sends along a nice note to Scholastic Roundup.

“I enjoyed the piece on LIU basketball,” he sent via e-mail, “as it brought back memories of my uncle Lou Zara who was an assistant to Claire Bee for several decades until the late 1950’s.”

He said Lou led college basketball in free-throws during his college days at Rider in the late ’20’s and early ‘30’s when Bee was his coach. Bee later took him on as an assistant at several colleges before building the program at LIU and building his record for wins, according to Welden.

“As a teenager, going to St. John’s (’78-’82), I spoke basketball with Lou at every family get-together,” he said. “After the gambling scandals LIU and other area teams took big hits,” he said. “Lou left the college ranks and moved to Massapequa and coached Hempstead High to several state championships while teaching.”

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And now for the Scholastic Roundup Quiz, courtesy of former Lafayette High basketball manager, (’67-’69) Ed Birch:

Name the only three Mets players (past and/or present) who played a minimum 10 years and never played for any other major league team:

Answer: Ed Kranepool, David Wright, Ron Hodges.

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]