Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The year is young, and Bob Hurley, the legendary high school basketball coach, already has had a pretty good 2011.
Earlier this year, Hurley earned his 1,000th career victory as his St. Anthony team beat St. Mary's of Jersey City by 30 points. Later in the season, he coached St. Anthony to a somewhat-unexpected win over top-ranked St. Patrick in the de facto high school national championship game. And he and the Friars capped a perfect 33-0 basketball season with a win over Plainfield in New Jersey's tournament of champions.
And on Sunday night, the old-school coach got featured on "60 Minutes" in a good way -- meaning the interview was scheduled, and no grizzled reporters showed up at his gym unannounced.
The video of the "60 Minutes" feature and more are after the jump.
Having spent seven years as a teacher working with students from troubled backgrounds, I simply could not ignore the storyline in Saturday's victory by Indianapolis Metro in Indiana's Class 1A championship game.
In viewing the team photo, one can't help but think something is missing. When so many teams have players, coaches, cheerleaders and mascots cluttering the picture, Indianapolis Metro's team photo may be the smallest you will find. Eight players and two coaches - taken on a generic white backdrop. The team does not have a true home court and practices at city parks.
I still remember Keith Smart's game-winning jumper in the 1987 NCAA title game like it happened yesterday. Growing up a Syracuse fan, that shot was a dagger through the heart as I truly believed there was just no way Billy Owens and Derrick Coleman would be denied a title.
Fast forward to 2011, and Indiana has not won another championship, having appeared in the finals only once since the 1987 title.
Additionally, the program has had five coaches since with the past handful of years being among the most difficult in the program's history due to NCAA violations and poor play.
Only one of California's 10 boys teams playing in state championships Friday and Saturday are from private schools. The lone public school qualifier is Summit High of Fontana, a big underdog to a California state power named Archbishop Mitty from San Jose.
When private schools dominate, folks are going to complain. One example came this week in a newspaper called the Colfax Record. Colfax is a city about an hour north of Sacramento, where the championships are being played and actually closer to Mitty than the sentimental favorite Summit.
''Clever undercover scouting and recruiting off of the radar of the CIF takes skill,'' the columnist writes. "Not being confined to the same geographic boundary lines as public school coaches makes your surveying area nearly endless. That’s enough to wear any coach out.''
The CIF is the California Interscholastic Federation, by the way.
Summer basketball has forever changed the high school basketball landscape. Sentiment is divided as to whether the overall impact has been negative or positive, but few would argue the path to major Division I basketball leads through the summer circuit.
However, one athlete has defied the odds in earning a spot amongst the top 50 players in the country. Otto Porter, the 6-foot-9 forward from Scott County Central in Missouri, has received major college offers from Missouri and Georgetown having played basketball only for his high school.
With the NCAA tournament hitting full speed this week, there's something obvious about its appeal: Tournaments are a great thing in sports, and there's no better team sport for a tournament than basketball.
So why not a national high school tournament? It could be done. But would it be worth it?
‘'I think it would be good for high school basketball,'' said Sharman White, head coach of Miller Grove in Georgia, a team that is ranked in the top 10 in every national poll. ''I would support it.''
Miller Grove is like many teams these days that play national schedules of two to four out-of-state tournaments a year. Playing another wouldn't be difficult, at least not for the team and players. They're used to it.
Here are some of the issues to be addressed:
What do Denzel Washington and E.B. White have in common?
Washington, the actor, and White, the author of Charlotte's Webb and Stuart Little, are graduates of Mount Vernon High School in New York.
The school is more famous for something else, though. Can you guess?
Why, it's high school basketball. This isn't the SB High School March Madness page for nothing.
Mount Vernon's boys team is seeking a ninth state title in New York on Sunday, when it plays Jamestown in a game that SB Nation will report.
Six former NBA players have played at Mount Vernon. Among them are Scooter McCray and Rodney McCray, the brothers who played with Dr. Dunkenstein, Darrell Griffith, on Louisville's 1980 national championship team. Gus Williams was probably the best ex-Mount Vernon player.
That was a long time ago when those guys played, but Mount Vernon has not slowed in their absence. The current coach, Bob Cimmino, arrived in 1994, and he's won four state titles (2000, 2004, 2006, 2007) and over 350 games. His future NBA player was Ben Gordon, now with the Pistons.
If you remember Dr. Dunkenstein, you might also remember "The White Shadow,'' a TV show from the 1970s
There was a nice human-interest story by Brendan Hall of ESPN Boston on Friday about Leroy Hamilton, who averages 11 points and six rebounds for Massachusetts' newly crowned Division 2 champion, New Mission of Roxbury.
Hamilton is only 6-foot-3, not that tall for a leading-rebounder/scorer type, but he's got other challenges, as well. Hamilton has only a pinky and a thumb on his left hand.
''I don't even think half the school knows because he's just so high-functioning,'' head coach Cory McCarthy told Hall for the ESPN Boston article.
We don't have Hamilton's final stats from Saturday's game, in which New Mission beat Northbridge 67-57 for the championship. Not that it matters.
Congrats to Hamilton, and a big thanks for his hard work that paid off for him and served as an inspiration to others.
In watching Georgia Public Broadcasting's coverage of state high school championship coverage, I remember thinking to myself. "This looks like something I would watch on ESPN."
Unfortunately, potential federal cuts to public broadcasting leave future coverage in doubt.
For many high school athletes, a state championship appearance will be their only chance to play in front of a televised audience providing the opportunity to not only create, but capture those memories for a lifetime and share them with future generations.
Of states we've covered here at HS March Madness thus far, Illinois receives my vote for having the most media friendly championship schedule of any state.
In scheduling four championship contests over the two week long event, the state presents writers nationwide an excellent opportunity to thoroughly cover championship games across all four levels.
At no point does it feel like a mad dash to disseminate information and the feeling is quite welcomed.
Additionally, the state provides both web and television feeds, along with post game box scores which seem to be released almost instantaneously.
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