Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015: The 2014-15 New York school year in review (con't)

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   By the time it was over, Florida A&M has yanked full scholarships from two former New York standouts who attended WCC after learning an assistant coach has been fired amid a criminal investigation into transcript fraud. FAMU withdrew the scholarships of Jamell Walker (Mount Vernon) and Damien Davis (Wings Academy) and dropped them from the roster.

   WCC assistant coach Richard Fields was fired Oct. 16 after admitting he provided a phony transcript for Walker and forged the signature of an administrator on an eligibility form for Walker, WCC spokesman Pat Hennessey told The Journal News. Fields denied meeting with WCC officials, being fired or knowing anything about transcript fraud allegations.

   The fallout continued with St. John's University ruling incoming junior forward Keith Thomas academically ineligible based upon concerns about the former Yorktown player's WCC transcript. Thomas has led all NJCAA Division I players in the nation rebounds per game (15.7) while at Westchester Community College, and the loss of his services was one more nail in the coffin for coach Steve Lavin, let go at the conclusion of the NCAA season.

   Fields filed a notice of claim against WCC, alleging school officials knowingly made false statements to the paper about him.    Still reeling from NJCAA and New York State Office of the Inspector General investigations, WCC officials said in July the school would not compete in men's or women's basketball in the 2015-16 season.

   We noted several athlete deaths earlier in the annual recap. Three men with ties to the New York State Sportswriters Association were among the other sporting figures who passed away during the 2014-15 school year.

   Rockland Hall of Fame inductee Dick Yerg, 75, an authoritative high school sports reporter and editor for many years in the Westchester/Rockland region, died in Florida. He was one of six founders of the NYSSWA in the 1960s and helped lead the organization's campaign to get state administrators to consider extending the eight-game football season and launch a state basketball tournament.

   George Davila, a mainstay of Long Island basketball as an assistant coach, statistician and historian, died at age 62. A handyman who also worked in real estate, the Queens native attended dozens of games each season and kept meticulous records. He supplied weekly rankings updates to the NYSSWA.

   Jack White, 70, who literally wrote the book on Nassau County high school sports, died in his Hicksville home. He was another of the behind-the-scenes advisers regularly assisting with weekly state rankings, all-star selections and maintaining records.

   In the journalism world, veteran Utica newspaper man Les Diven died at age 85. Diven began at the paper as a part-timer in 1948 while still in high school. He joined the Utica Daily Press full time in 1965 and retired in 1993.

   Others who we lost were among the giants of their respective sports.

   St. Francis Prep's Vin O'Connor, the second-winningest football coach in New York, died at age 85. The 2014 season was O'Connor's 61st on the sideline, and he won 341 games and 16 CHSFL championships.

   Retired East Hampton mentor Ed Petrie, New York's winningest public high school boys basketball coach, died at age 82. Petrie's teams won three Section 11 titles and one NYSPHSAA championships during his 52-year career, which ended in 2010 after 754 victories.

   Woody Davis, the legendary Long Beach swim coach, died at age 82. The Air Force veteran won more than 500

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dual swim meets and 17 Nassau County championships, 14 times posting undefeated seasons.

   Stanley Riggs, who compiled an amazing record of 245-5-1 in wrestling at Peru before retiring from coaching in 1995, died at age 75 from injuries sustained in a South Carolina accident. He was inducted into multiple halls of fame after finishing with 18 sectional championships and guiding Peru wrestlers to 23 podium finishes at the NYSPHSAA championships.

   Saratoga teacher and coach Brenda Adams died in January at age 54. Adams had resigned as golf coach over the summer after 10 seasons, but when the Blue Streaks competed in the state qualifier in October, Adams was there to see three Saratoga competitors advance to the state tournament.

   Section 2 colleagues thought so highly of Adams that they nominated her to be the Times Union golf coach of the year even though she technically did not coach the team during the season. The paper did bestow the honor on Adams.

   Glen McGinnis, who coached a variety of sports from football to basketball to swimming over 58 years, died at age 81. After helping SUNY Brockport to a share of the 1955 national soccer championship with Penn State, McGinnis began his coaching career in 1957 at Guilderland, moving to Cornwall four years later. His Cornwall boys basketball teams posted back-to-back 21-0 seasons in 1971-'72 and '72-73.

   Syracuse CBA football assistants Tony "Midnight" Silvaggio, 74, and Michael Masucci, 65, died before and after the season, respectively.

   Don Jantzen, who helped build the Shoreham-Wading River wrestling program into prominence and whose sons combined for six state titles as Wildcats, died at age 60. Jantzen joined S-WR as an assistant in 1992 and became head coach in 2001. He retired after the 2007 season when his youngest son, Corey, clinched the second of his two state titles.

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