Friday, Dec. 23, 2016: Twelve to join BCANY Hall of Fame in March

   Leading off today: There will be a distinct Section 1 flavor to the next induction class for the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame, organizers have announced.

   Coaches Gary Gray (Nyack boys), Rick Korn (North Rockland girls), Dan Ricci (Ossining girls) and Chris Roff (North Rockland boys) are among the 10 coaches and two contributors who will be enshrined next March in Glens Falls, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York announced.

   Gray retired in 2007 with 432 career victories in 26 seasons, winning four Section 1 championships; Korn rolled up 370 wins in 28 seasons; and Roff stepped down last spring with a Rockland County-record 466 victories in 29 years on the sideline.

   Ricci is over 430 victories in 25 seasons, with his Pride having nailed down the last four New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championships.

   Also slated for induction:

    • Pat Bassett, who won 337 games and eight Section 3 championships as coach of the South Jefferson girls.

    • Gerald Metcalf, who chalked up 370 with the Carthage boys before retiring in 1998.

    • Thomas Miller, who coached boys at Edwards-Knox, Indian River and Massena to 402 triumphs before retiring last spring. His Massena squads won 11 Section 10 titles.

    • Jeannette Mosher, now in her 19th season as the women's coach at SUNY Cortland and closing in on 400 wins with the Red Dragons.

    • Don Silveri, heading for his 600th men's college victory this season. After stints at Erie Community College and Daemen College, Silveri was hired at Villa Maria in 2014 to re-institute its athletic program as the AD and men's basketball coach.

    •Anthony Smarrelli who retired in 2006 with 390 boys wins with Syracuse Nottingham and Bishop Grimes.

    •Joe Murphy and Bill Wetherbee are being inducted in the contributor category to acknowledge 28 and 26 years, respectively, of work with the state tournament committee in Glens Falls in addition to duties in Section 2. Murphy was the floor supervisor at the Glens Falls Civic Center and Wetherbee was the "voice" of the arena.

   The induction ceremony will take place March 25, 2017, as part of the activities in conjunction with the Federation Tournament weekend at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

   Cazenovia great dies: Retired Cazenovia football coach Tom Neidl has died, his family disclosed Wednesday evening. He was 60 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer.

   Neidl ran the Lakers for 25 seasons (after 11 years as an

assistant) and a 178-54-1 mark before retiring after the 2014 season. His teams earned seven Section 3 championships.

   "Coach Neidl was the face of the Cazenovia Lakers' athletic program for nearly three decades after a 25- year career as head football coach and varsity track and field coach," said Cazenovia AD, who played quarterback for Neidl. "In an era when many of the Cazenovia sports teams were struggling, Mr. Neidl and his staff found a way to revive Cazenovia football, which I believe then paved the way for many of other athletic teams to also believe in success."

   Added Section 3 football co-chair Bob Campese: "Tom was an outstanding coach and even a better person. He served on the football committee for over 20 years with professionalism and integrity."

   Quick note: I didn't see it in time for the previous blog, but Oriskany had its state-best, 30-game boys basketball winning streak snapped with a 70-57 loss to West Canada Valley on Wednesday. The Redskins' last loss was to New York Mills in the Section 3 semifinals in 2015.

   More later (I hope): There were some excellent matchups around the state on Thursday and I've been hanging on to a few notes that are in danger of getting stale, so I'll try to post a second blog later on Friday in between wrapping Christmas gifts and hammering away at a stack of emails I've been neglecting.