Scholastic Roundup: It’s homecoming on the road for this LIU freshman

November 4, 2022 Andy Furman

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LIU’s women’s basketball team will open their season on the road Monday at Ohio University.

But for freshman Claire Henson, well, it’ll be a home game.

She’s from nearby Germantown, Ohio – Ohio University is in Athens – and her family and friends plan to be in attendance.

The 5-10 guard graduated Valley View high School in 2022.

A four-year letterwinner, she was named the D2 Ohio State and Miami Valley Player of the Year after her senior season.

The drive from Germantown to Athens is approximately two-and-a-half hours – separated by 148 miles.

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Former Yeshiva University star Ryan Turell wants to be the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA. He took a big step toward that dream last weekend.

Turell was drafted by the G League’s Motor City Cruise, the minor league affiliate of the Detroit Pistons. He was selected 27th overall, toward the end of the first round of the three-round draft.

While playing in the G League does not guarantee a spot in the NBA, it means Turell could be called up to replace an injured or underachieving player, or that he could earn a chance to play off the bench later in the season.

The Cruise opens their season tonight (Friday, Nov. 4th) against the Cleveland Charge. Turell plans to play on Shabbat, as long as he can walk to games and practices.

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Belated Happy Birthday to Boys High grad – and Basketball Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens who turned 85 last week.

He was inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame; first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States Olympic “Dream Team,” for which he was an assistant coach.

In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th season celebration list as a player and coach.

A high school teammate of the late Tommy Davis, who played baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wilkens is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Wilkens scored 17,772 points during the regular season, was a nine-time NBA All-Star and was named the 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP.

Peter Vecsey, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a writer and broadcaster, remembers Providence teammate John Egan, who recently passed.

“That Friars team was one of my all-time favorites,” he writes. “Coached by Joe Mullaney from Queens. He started for the 1947 Holy Cross NCAA champions – ahead of Bob Cousy. I saw them play every time they were at the (Madison Square) Garden.”

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Xaverian’s girls swim team got off to a good start with victories over Saint Vincent Ferrer and Fontbonne Hall. Sam Zaets, Kelly Shashaty and Sophia Virella captain the squad.

Tom Ferrante, a member of the New Utrecht High School Football Hall of Fame, reports a Utrecht footballer in Louisiana could use some prayer power. Wayne McGinnis (’74-’76) has serious kidney problems, he says, and is hoping to get the call for a transplant.

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Elyas Ayyoub, a sophomore from Capetown, South Africa, finished second overall last Friday at B&D Acres in Western Pennsylvania to earn first-team All-NEC honors for LIU.

He ran the 8K course in 24:52. 4 – 16.5 seconds behind winner Jean Uminski a freshman from Wagner College. Aidan Haughian finished second for the Sharks with a time of 26:29.0 – good for 24th overall. LIU finished fifth of nine teams with 121 points – Wagner won the title.

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St. Edmund Prep’s Carol Melo’s two digs brought her total to 320 this season – good for second-best in a single-season behind Anna Carbone’s 337 in 2013 for St. Joseph’s University. The Bears’ women’s volleyball team defeated Purchase in their final match of the season, last Thursday. Rachel Meltsin, a Madison High grad, had five digs and eight assists.

Medgar-Evers women’s volleyball team honored their seniors – Cristina Carnegie and Cristal Joseph prior to their victory against York College last week. Britonya Lloyd paced he Cougars with a team-high eight kills to go along with nine digs; Joseph registered six kills and a team-high 11 digs.

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Theo Goldman scored two goals – including the equalizer – for the Pratt Institute men’s soccer team to rally from a two-goal deficit to pick-up a 3-3 draw with York College, Saturday.

Brooklyn College’s women’s soccer team closed out their 2022 season, Saturday, falling to CCNY, 4-0 in the semifinals of the CUNYAC Championship Tournament at Kingsborough Community College.

Brooklyn College seniors Ashley Fung and Alanis Guinada were recognized prior to the Bulldogs’ last volleyball match last week – a win over Pratt on Senior Night. Fung finished with the lone double-double of the match – putting away 10 kills and coming up with 11 digs. She also assisted on a pair of blocks.

And the Brooklyn College men’s soccer team ended their season falling to Hunter College in the quarterfinals of the CUNYAC Championship Tournament, 3-1. The Bulldogs avoided a shutout with a goal by Danny Torrentes assisted by Benedick Augustin.

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The St. Francis College women’s soccer snapped a three-game stretch without a victory over LIU, when they topped the Sharks, 1-0 last week. Freshman Samantha Kipperman scored off a feed from Barbara Zagonyi. The win capped Senior Day for the Terriers as they celebrated its 12 graduating seniors.

Despite the loss, the LIU women Sharks qualified for the post-season as they clinched the sixth and final NEC playoff berth when Howard and Wagner played to a scoreless tie last Thursday.

The Terriers – men’s and women’s – cross country teams, competed for the 2022 NEC Championships, Friday at B&D Acres, Tyrone, Penna.

Both the men and women placed ninth. Lance Hubert clocked at 27:24.8 – for a 41st place finish; Willard Parker was the next Terrier at 31:38.3.

In the women’s 5K race, Viola Alisch was tops for St. Francis – placing 52nd with a 20:28.6 time. Lara Jacobs was at 20:51.9.

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] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR