Leading off today: Scout.com has tabbed Churchville-Chili's Averin Collier as New York's leading football prospect in the class of 2008. Collier is a 5-foot-11, 195-pound running back. Collier has not made a college commitment yet, but his brother Kevin is on scholarship at Pittsburgh.

   The rest of the top five consists of Syracuse CBA receiver Marcus Sales, St. Anthony's defensive tackle Scott Vallone, Onondaga running back Latavius Murray and Utica Proctor receiver DeAndre Preaster. Vallone and No. 7 Devon Watkis, an offensive tackle for Longwood, have made oral commitments to Rutgers.

   The list of the top 20 players is available on the Scout.com site.

   Island's take on football playoffs: Newsday's latest installment of "Issue of the Week" asks whether Long Island should compete in the NYSPHSAA football tournament.

   The short responses from a mix of coaches, ADs and observers were a mixed bag -- as one would expect. Though I think Long Island needs to find a way to get involved in the playoff system, I respect the opinions of those who dissent.

   With one exception.

   "We don't have to prove anything to anybody," Newsday high school sports historian Andy Slawson said. "Long Island is big enough."

   That's wrong. Though no team anywhere should feel the need to prove themselves you would hope they would be eager to challenge themselves against the rest of the state. Long Island has a large number of schools, but certainly not so many that the Island bowl champions each November should ever feel as smug as Slawson apparently does.

   Long Island participates in the state tournament in most sports but hardly dominates. Sections 8 and 11 combined for 11 state championships in the just-concluded school year, which is as many as Section 5 rolled up all by itself. And Sections 1 and 2 were close behind with nine and eight trophies, respectively.

   New to the crew: There have only been one Burt Beagle, but fortunately he had a nephew. As a result, the New York State Sportswriters Association has filled its vacant New York City correspondent position.

   Joe Glus, Beagle's nephew, has agreed to give us a hand with ranking football and boys basketball teams from the New York City area during the upcoming school year. Glus covers high school sports for News 12 The Bronx Sports -- a subscription-only service available for free to metro-area cable subscribers.

   Beagle was the one of the NYSSWA's key contributors of information for more than three decades before his death in March of this year. He attended numerous CHSAA and PSAL games each season.

   Newfane's Lang wraps up career: Dick Lang, who coached wrestling at Royalton-Hartland and then Newfane beginning in 1978, has retired.

   Lang's wrestlers over the years included future Olmpian Lou Rosselli (Royalton-Hartland) and Ryan Needle (Newfane), who rolled up a Section 6-record 240 career victories.

   Lang retired after 34 years working as an environmental conservation officer with the state DEC.

   Gatorade honors two more hoopsters: Basketball players Kevin Love, who will attend UCLA, and UConn recruit Maya Moore of Suwanee, Ga., were honored Wednesday by Gatorade as national high school athletes of the year.

   Love averaged 33.6 points and 17 reboundsto lead Lake Oswego, Ore., High to its third consecutive state title-game appearance. He was a four-year varsity starter. His father, Stan, starred at Oregon and played in the National Basketball Association.

   Moore led undefeated Collins Hill High to its third consecutive Georgia Class 5A state championship. The 6-foot senior averaged 25.5 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4 assists last season.

   They are the second consecutive basketball players to win, joining 2006 honorees Greg Oden of Ohio State and Christ The King's Tina Charles of UConn.

   Extra points: Buffalo JFK phys ed director Dawn Bak is the new athletic director at Tonawanda. Glenn Bateman, in the district since 1975, will remain there as a phys ed instructor. . . . Former White Plains football star Spencer Ridenhour is transferring out of Penn State after failing to land a starting spot in the secondary. The Journal News says he's shopping for a Division I-AA program, where he would be eligible immediately and be able to play two seasons. Ridenhour set White Plains career records for rushing yards (3,676) and TDs (57).

   The Diane Brennan Scholarship Fund, set up in memory of the late New York Daily News writer, will allocate all $10,000 of its annual scholarship money to Alanzo George's ongoing recovery. The 6-foot-9 Tilden basketball standout was paralyzed from the neck down in a March automobile accident. The Alanzo George Road to Recovery Trust has raised more than $60,000 to help offset George's medical bills.

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