Scholastic Roundup: A weekend for stories at St. Francis College

November 18, 2022 Andy Furman

Scholastic Roundup logo

Share this:

His record is pushing some 53 years – and this weekend John Conforti will be back with his Terrier teammates saying farewell to the Dan Lynch ’38 Gymnasium on Remsen Street.

The basketball Terriers – both men and women – will play their final games at the facility as they move to Pratt Institute as their “home” for the future.

The men host St. Peter’s University, Saturday afternoon (2 pm) and the women host University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Sunday (1pm).

The weekend is billed as Legends of Remsen Street, and John Conforti is as much a Terrier legend as anyone.

The Xaverian High (’66) graduate finished his three varsity seasons (‘67-’70) with 1,434 points – all-time number two scorer at that time.

But what will be remembered – January 10, 1970.

That’s the date John Conforti made 20 field goals and scored 45 points against Wagner College.

Both records still remain at St. Francis College.

John Conforti, as a senior at Xaverian, was the leading scorer in New York City at 27 points-per-game.

He still holds Xaverian’s scoring records for average and points-per-game. In fact, only three jerseys have been retired by Xaverian in basketball – Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, three-time all-Ivy selection from Yale, Steve Leondis and John Conforti.

* * *

And if you happen to skip the Legends of Remsen Street this weekend, you just might miss this Conforti story.

“I try not to get into this, so many years later,” he writes, “but a martini later, I want to tell this story.”

He says, Xaverian played St. John’s Prep at the Prep when they (Prep) were undefeated.

Lou Carnesecca, the St. John’s University basketball coach was in the house scouting future performers – Ralph Abraham and Jim Smyth.

Xaverian won the game – and Conforti poured in 42 points.

St. John’s recruited both Prep players, and Conforti said they had, “no interest in me.”

Four years later Carnesecca invited Conforti to the New York Nets’ camp saying, “I made the mistake once, but not again.”

* * *

The Greater New York Sandlot Athletic Alliance’s 17th Annual Raymond F. Church Service to Youth Baseball Awards Dinner was held at Russo’s on the Bay, Howard Beach, this week.

Don Landolphi, former Brooklyn College baseball coach was Special Honoree – he’s an ABCA Hall of Famer and Coordinator of Italian Baseball for the Blind in America.

Guest speaker was Lincoln High grad and former Chicago Cubs Pro Scout for 30-plus years – Billy Blitzer.

* * *

LIU looks to close its football season with a fourth-straight win tomorrow (Saturday) at Sacred Heart. The Sharks defeated Stonehill, 34-28 in the home finale last week.

Ayinde Johnson claimed the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor, Luca Stanzani earned Rookie of the Week and Will Lynch earned Special Team Player of the Week.

Stanzani, a true freshman from Clearwater, Fla., improved to 3-0 as a starting quarterback.

* * *

Kingsborough CC opened their basketball season on the road, dropping an 87-69 decision to Borough of Manhattan CC – it was the first game for Coach Dr. Lambert Shell. The Wave was led by freshman Siraj Elshiekh with 24 points, five rebounds and six steals.

A pair of Lady Waves earned post-season wards. Freshman Noarie Proverbs earned Rookie of the Year honors. She led the volleyball squad with 140 kills and was second on the team in digs (205) and total blocks. Additionally, she earned NJCAA All Region XV honorable mention status. Freshman Anessa Leka was named the CUNYAC sportsmanship Award winner.

* * *

Alyssa Fisher of St. Francis College’s women’s basketball team has been named NEC Player of the Week. She scored in double figures in all three games she played – including a 24-point performance against Rider. For the week, she averaged 16.3 points-per-game.

* * *

LIU’s women’s volleyball celebrated five seniors in their regular season finale. The honorees were: Anastasia Scott, Riana Blount, Karolina Nova, Barbara Hoskova and Anisa Lopez. LIU closed the regular season winning four of its final five matches.

* * *

The City University of New York Athletic Conference announced its 2022 men’s and women’s soccer All-Stars and Medgar-Evers’ teams combined for three honorees.

The men saw ace defender Daniel Hacket named as a Second Team All-Star, while Isaac Akindipe earned a spot on the Sportsmanship team.

On the women’s side, Alexandra Salvatierra was named to the Sportsmanship squad.

Obtaining CUNYAC honors is starting to become commonplace for Hacket, the 5-7 South Shore High School grad. Last year, in his freshman season with the Cougars, he played and started in all 14 of the team’s matches, registering 19 shots – good for second-most for the Cougars. With Hacket anchoring the defense, the Cougars yielded just 15 first-half goals in 14 games. During the 2022 season, Hacket was once again the best defender.

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