Post by BTriggs on Sept 22, 2003 12:51:46 GMT -5
Ivan Chiriaev, a 7-foot stringbean Russian who lives in Canada, is one of the more interesting prospects this recruiting year.
Chiriaev (pronounced Cheery-EFF) speaks limited English. But he's aware enough to know that his combination of height and potential means NBA possibilities.
"He's very much focused, probably too much so in my opinion, on the NBA," said Mike Johnston, who coached Chiriaev last season at a suburban Toronto high school. "Physically, he's made huge strides. He's added 50 pounds. But he needs to get a lot stronger. I think a year of college would be best. At least."
Chiriaev would seem to need to improve his English to be a college student.
His new high school coach, Ron Esteban, said the big man was learning the language. But Chiriaev had much room for improvement.
"Sometimes it's better to display what I need to explain because sometimes English is not there for him," Chiriaev said. "He can blurt out a sentence (in English), but obviously it's not grammatically correct."
This doesn't stop Esteban from thinking Chiriaev can do college work "as long as he has help."
The language barrier hasn't stopped several schools -- including UK, Florida, Florida State and LSU -- from recruiting Chiriaev.
No-respect alert
Kentucky can use Slam magazine's pre-season rankings as motivation. The magazine ranks the Cats at No. 13, which should launch a no-respect theme.
Here's Slam magazine's top 25:
No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Syracuse, No. 5 Kansas, No. 6 Arizona, No. 7 North Carolina, No. 8 Missouri, No. 9 Gonzaga, No. 10 Texas, No. 11 Illinois, No. 12 Florida, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 14 St. Joseph's, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 16 Pittsburgh, No. 17. N.C. State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 19 Notre Dame, No. 20 Louisville, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 22 Wake Forest, No. 23 Marquette, No. 24 Stanford and No. 25 Utah.
Higher calling
UK fans may remember Ralph Drollinger, the former UCLA big man who was part of two national championship teams coached by John Wooden.
Where is Drollinger now? He's part of a gospel ministry that preaches to state legislators.
The Capitol Ministries dream started with Drollinger. After a number of years playing basketball with Athletes in Action, a sports ministry of Campus Crusade, and a spell in the NBA, he ministered with Sports Outreach America.
Seven years ago, Drollinger saw a significant need for ministering to state legislators. The program includes prayer breakfasts, Bible studies and one-on-one ministering.
The trial city was Sacramento, the capital of Drollinger's native California. Success there led to an expansion to the capitals of Oregon, North Carolina. Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Vitale is fame-ous
Irrepressible college basketball analyst !!!GREENIAC!!! Vitale was recently inducted into the 5-Star Camp Hall of Fame.
This marked the seventh time Vitale has been enshrined. He's also in the National Italian Hall of Fame, the University of Detroit Hall of Fame, the East Rutherford (N.J.) High School Hall of Fame, the State of Florida Hall of Fame, the Ellwood Park (N.J.) Hall of Fame, and the Basketball Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award.
Vitale, an active fund-raiser for cancer research, said the many inductions were a product of trying to be a good citizen and having fun.
Vitale has chronicled his broadcasting life in a new book, Living a Dream, scheduled to be in stores next month. The book coincides with his 25th season on ESPN's college basketball telecasts. Sportswriter !!!GREENIAC!!! Weiss worked with Vitale on the book.
