Leading off today: Thomas Jefferson High in Brooklyn has named Dwayne "Pearl" Washington to coach its girls basketball team,
The Daily News reported over the weekend.
The fomer Boys & Girls and Syracuse University hero, who had a brief NBA career, was a surprise selection on the eve of the season. Rueben McLaughlin, a former coach at Abraham Lincoln, had coached Jefferson players in tournaments over the summer and had been running preseason practices at the school.
McLaughlin was suspended from his coaching job at Lincoln in January 2004 after the PSAL accused him of recruiting a player who was on active roster at Bishop Loughlin, the paper reported. The player in question didn't appear in a game for Loughlin that season and left the school due to financial difficulties, but McLaughlin was disciplined and Lincoln forfeited two games.
"I respect Pearl Washington," McLaughlin said. "I grew up watching him play basketball. Pearl and I are friends. I recommended Pearl if it wasn't going to be me."
Washington has in recent seasons been a teacher's assistant at Canarsie. At Jefferson, he inherits a team in transition. Calvin Young abruptly resigned last season after the holiday break, leaving boys coaches Lawrence Pollard and Seldon Jefferson to guide the team to the PSAL tournament and a loss to Manhattan Center in the "AA" semifinals, 56-53.
Bethlehem coach resigns: Ron Smith, head football coach at Bethlehem for seven years after seven seasons as an assistant, told his players on Sunday that he is stepping down to spend more time with his family and working on gaining his education administrative certificate.
He was 26-37 in seven seasons.
The Times Union also reported that Catholic Central coach Sam Marro will not be retained after going 14-40 in six seasons, including 1-8 in 2008.
Ex-Long Island star found dead: Will Barrow, 22, a former Baldwin football and lacrosse standout who starred later in lacrosse for the University of Virginia, was found dead in Charlottesville, Va., his family said.
Barrow was a three-year starter on the Baldwin football team and set a school record with 22 career interceptions. He was MVP of the 2004 New York City-Long Island all-star game. In lacrosse, he scored 40 goals as a senior and was an honorable mention All-American.
Newsday reported authorities are investigating his death as an apparent suicide.
Maple Grove connection: One of the stories coming out of the weekend state football semifinals was the ease with which Maple Grove downed defending state champion Walton in Class D at PAETEC Park in Rochester.
Coach Curt Fischer's Red Dragons broke to a 28-6 lead in the first half and won going away, 49-14. Afterward, Fischer placed a phone call to sixth-year Southwestern
