Here is the State Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll.
Class 4A
1. Mead
2. Kentwood
3. Monroe
4. Lewis and Clark
5. Bothell
6. Rogers (Puyallup)
7. Spanaway Lake
8. Auburn Riverside
9. Olympia
10. Puyallup
Class 3A
1. Auburn Mountainview
2. Shorecrest
3. Kennedy
4. Camas
5. Mount Si
6. Mercer Island
7. Shadle Park
8. Sumner
9. Holy Names
10. Mt. Spokane
Class 2A
1. Grandview
2. Selah
3. Archbishop Murphy
"Fire and Ice" has lost its flame.
Avery Bradley will not return to Bellarmine Prep for his senior year.
"He’s a fine young man and a great basketball player," said Bellarmine Prep athletic director Ed Ploof. "We wish him well."
Bradley, one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits, has not enrolled at a new school, said Garry Ward, the coach of Bradley’s AAU team, the Northwest Panthers.
Ward said Bradley is considering schools that will help him "reach his goal of being academically eligible to play in college
…The summer has been good to Avery Bradley.
Just a few weeks ago the Bellarmine Prep standout found himself playing ball in Brazil on Nike’s dime. Not bad. This video from the Nike Global Challenge has been circulating around the Internet, growing his legend.
| Avery Bradley welcomes Uros Lukovic to the USA |
Now, with the summer hoops season drawing to a close, Bradley can look back and see that all the time spent playing ball in gyms,
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Fall camp is at the midway point, and a smattering of spectators at Timberline High’s football practice Tuesday in Lacey brought up one popular topic.
Jonathan Stewart.
Stewart is not only easily the school’s most-recognizable football star, he’s in his own camp in the NFL, trying to secure a spot in the rotation with the Carolina Panthers.
But inside the fence, on the field, second-year coach Nick Mullen was orchestrating an offensive drill, secretly hoping his scout-team defense would hold up.
When the offense moved the ball closer to the goal line, Mullen looked back at his assistants, “I hate being an offensive coach,” he said.
And for the next few plays, the second-team defense stuffed the offense – so inspiring that Mullen jumped in the pile to celebrate while the offensive players did 20 push-ups as punishment.
High school sports news from around the state:
It looks like basketball superstar Tony Wroten might be playing at Renton High School instead of Garfield this year. Wroten is widely regarded as the best sophomore in the nation.
The state cross country coaches’ preseason polls have been released. Here are some rankings of note: Gig Harbor’s boys are No. 2 and girls are No. 3 in 4A; Charles Wright’s boys are No. 2 in 1A; and the Northwest Christian (Lacey) girls are No. 1 in and boys are No. 2 in B.
Our sister paper
…Football got its start on Wednesday and the rest of the fall sports begin practice Monday.
I’m in Seattle covering the Mariners today (Saturday). Before the game starts, I had some time to scour Web sites around the state for prep sports news.
Just a reminder, The News Tribune’s high school football special section will run in the Thursday, Sept. 4 newspaper.
The Olympian’s Meg Wochnick visited with a couple coaches and has a rundown on some Thurston and Lewis county teams. There are video interviews with the coaches at Rainier and Yelm.
Spokesman-Review writer
…The first day of football is behind us. What does that mean? That there is much more football to come, of course.
Here’s my story in today’s paper. Wilson senior Desmond Trufant has plenty of suitors and has been offered scholarships by six schools. Trufant is also predicting the Rams will reach the postseason. I visited Wilson and Fife, and reporter Todd Milles stopped by Lakes and Rogers.
In case you missed it, Todd Milles has a nice take on new Lakes quarterback Dalton Gervais, a nephew of former prep coach Steve Gervais.
Click below for links from around the state.
In the distance, the infra-structure of the new Lakes High School is beginning to form.
But the Lancers’ football practice field is still something out of the 1940s.
It is a grass field. The topography is uneven. Running a pass route, a receiver can step into two potholes, and over a knoll the size of an anthill in just a matter of steps.
That is how Lakes, the No. 1 team in Class 3A much of last season, wants to treat teams in its new league, the SPSL 3A – like bugs to a windshield.
“Kids are kids, and they play how you tell them to play,” Lakes coach Dave Miller said. “As a coach, I’m trying to tell them it’s going to be a better league, better competition.