Friday, July 29, 2016: Add these names to the annual prep-school exodus

   Leading off today: I still intend to come back this weekend to tie up some loose ends from the NYSPHSAA meetings in Verona, but first it's time to play catch-up with some news from this week:

   Leaving N.Y.: Two boys basketball players who would have been near the top of the list among returning all-state players instead apparently are packing their bags and headed to prep school.

   Jalen Hawkins, who averaged 32.3 points as a Utica Proctor junior to land on the Class AA fourth team, has opted to attend St. Thomas More in Connecticut. He told nycHoops.net he felt playing in Utica was limiting his ability to attract college interest.

   "Where I am from in Section 3 it seems like if you don't go to one or two schools you aren't going to really get the exposure you might deserve," Hawkins told the website.

   Iona has extended the only known offer, with a handful of schools from the MAAC and Atlantic 10 among those who might step up be the start of the new school year.

   Meanwhile, eighth-team pick Aundre Hyatt apparently is done at Archbishop Stepinac and will take his portfolio of a dozen or more Division offers to the Miller School in Virginia. The 6-foot-6 swingman, who averaged 15.7 points as a sophomore last season, intends to reclassify and head to college in the fall of 2019.

   "I thought it would be a better opportunity for me in the future," Hyatt told The Journal News. "They are giving me an extra year to develop my body and my skills and I'll be playing against good competition."

   Earlier this year, 12th-team all-stater Sid Wilson of St. Raymond's also announced he was leaving for prep school. And the paper reported Iona Prep guard Bryce Wills (who holds some Big Ten and ACC offers) is also gone.

   Also planning to prep: Record-setting South Park quarterback Tyree Brown has changed his mind. Brown, the New York State Sportswriters Association co-player of the year in Class A last fall, has decided not to enroll at Division III St. Lawrence University, instead putting his eggs in the prep school basket.

   Brown told The Buffalo News he has enrolled at Canada Prep Academy in nearby Welland, Ont., where Bennett High Brandon Brown has also enrolled.

   Tyree Brown is looking to make a relatively minor upgrade to his academic transcript that would make him fully eligible to play in Division I. He's expected to play wide receiver and defensive back at Canada Prep, making the most of his uncanny ability to turn on a dime.

   "He's the perfect candidate for prep school," South Park coach Tim Delaney said.

   Coaches on the move: Ray Gallagher of TheExaminerNews.com posted this to Twitter:

BREAKING Former Somers girls b-ball coach Kristi Dini looks like sure bet 2 land in Put Valley pending BOE approval.Tigers land #LeadingLady

— Ray Gallagher (@DirectRays) July 27, 2016

   Dini was coming off a 19-3 season at Somers when she was informed in April that she would not be brought back as the girls basketball coach.

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    • Doug Rowe, who left Baldwinsville this spring out of frustration after 26 seasons, has been appointed girls lacrosse coach at Rome Free Academy.

   Rowe, fed up with a handful of parents and what he regarded as a lack of support from school administrators, also retired from teaching. He told Syracuse.com it makes the 50-mile commutes from home to Rome a relative non-issue.

   Staying put: Mario Torres will keep his football job at Granville after the school board met for 2½ hours in executive session in Tuesday.

   The Post-Star reported the situation had been unresolved since Torres' name was listed on the agenda for appointment at the May 31 meeting but no action was taken. Another candidate was brought forward for consideration at the June 13 meeting, but that motion was defeated during a contentious meeting and Torres was reappointed.

   However, that vote was declared invalid because the school board's policy requires a recommendation from the administration. On Tuesday, Torres was approved by a 6-1 vote with two board members absent.

   Following up: The October 2014 investigation by The Journal News has resulted in a 17-count felony indictment for second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument against former Westchester Community College men's basketball coach Tyrone Mushatt.

   Mushatt, 43, is accused of submitting falsified transcripts, helping at least eight players transfer Division 1 and other four-year colleges. He was arraigned Thursday in front of Westchester County Judge Barry Warhit, who ordered Mushatt to surrender his passport and released him without bail.

   The paper's reporting led to several players, including former New York scholastic athletes, having their college plans derailed. No one else has been implicated according to the indictment, but the document says Mushatt did not act alone.