Leading off today: The PSAL has relented and will let its basketball champions play in a made-for-TV national tournament at the end of the conclusion, The New York Daily News reported.
Sources told the paper that Boys & Girls (boys) and Murry Bergtraum (girls) will compete in the National High School Invitational in North Bethesda, Md., The tournament, sponsored by ESPN RISE, begins March 31. Eight boys teams and five girls squads from a handful of participating states are invited.
Boys & Girls opens the single-elimination tournament March 31 vs. Winter Park, Fla.. Bergtraum plays Hollywood, Fla., Christian on April 1. Both games will be broadcast on ESPNU.
"This a great thing for the PSAL and we're happy to be playing," Bergtraum coach Ed Grezinky told the paper.
Boys & Girls and Bergtraum will be competing in the Federation tournament this weekend in Albany.
Is this the end for Rice? The board of directors at traditional CHSAA basketball power Rice High is working to raise millions of dollars to finance a five-year plan to keep the Harlem school's doors open, The Daily News reported Thursday.
As is the case at many private schools following the 2008 recession, declining enrollment has created a troubling financial picture at Rice, which has produced a line of outstanding players including Dean Meminger, Felipe Lopez and Kemba Walker. Without a plan to stabilize its finances, the school could soon be history.
"Rice has been struggling over the past decade, but every year we seem to pull through," Stephen Fitzgerald, Rice's chairman, told the paper. "But this year feels a little different."
Fitzgerald said the school is scheduled to move to another Harlem location later this year. He said the school might go go-ed as one way to boost enrollment at Rice, which has 218 students this year.
National basketball award: Northport girls coach Rich Castellano has been selected the Russell Athletic/
