{"id":78102,"date":"2016-03-28T16:42:09","date_gmt":"2016-03-28T16:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78102"},"modified":"2023-02-28T14:44:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T14:44:38","slug":"behind-mic-hall-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-hall-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been around Lehigh Valley sports for a long time.\u00a0 Some of you may think it\u2019s been too long.\u00a0 I hope that is not the majority opinion.\u00a0 But I digress.\u00a0 Each year, I attend the VIA All-Star Basketball Classic Banquet.\u00a0 I am always impressed with the quality of the speakers (Michael Irvin and Chuck Dibilio this year), the formal venue, the attendance and, especially, the Hall of Fame selections.<\/p>\n

By my count, there have been 186 individuals inducted into the VIA Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame<\/a>.\u00a0 I have had personal contact, either as a player, coach, or broadcaster with 138 of them \u2013 74%.\u00a0 The few I did not come in contact with accomplished their success either before I was born or when I was a young child.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s group is no exception.\u00a0 I know them well.<\/p>\n

Darnell Braswell<\/a> played for William Allen under Doug Snyder from 2002-2006.\u00a0 In his senior year, he helped lead his team to both the LVC and District XI championships.\u00a0 He was the second leading scorer that year behind Terrence Roderick.\u00a0 I remember that season very well.\u00a0 Darnell went on to play four years at DeSales University under Hall-of-Famer Scott Coval.\u00a0\u00a0 He is the all-time leading scorer at DeSales and two-time player of the year in the conference.\u00a0 His coach thought so highly of him that he is now the assistant coach and Coordinator of Athletic Recruiting.<\/p>\n

Deanna Rayam<\/a> played basketball at Freedom High School during the exact same years as Darnell.\u00a0 And I remember Freedom\u2019s late-season run.\u00a0 RCN was there.\u00a0 In 2006, her team won the District Championship by upsetting Parkland and went on to the third round in state playoffs.\u00a0 She was the third girl to score 1,000 points at Freedom and was third-team All-State.\u00a0 She went on to play at East Stroudsburg University leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists in the same season!\u00a0 No one had ever done that before.\u00a0 She scored 1,000 points at ESU, too.\u00a0 The ESU coach wants her to be her assistant, but she has chosen to devote time to her family.<\/p>\n

I REALLY remember Ron Hassler<\/a> because I followed him as a player and continued to watch his career as a coach.\u00a0 I broadcasted the game when he scored 48 points against Bangor in 1974.\u00a0 I announced many, many of his games when he coached at Catasauqua, Whitehall and Central Catholic.\u00a0 He won six League championships and 10 District championships.\u00a0 Basketball has been his life and a Hall of Fame one, for sure.<\/p>\n

Jack McCallum<\/a> is a nationally known journalist who has spent the past thirty years at Sports Illustrated.\u00a0 He has covered Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Masters, the NBA and he has written 11 books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Dream Team.\u00a0 He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.\u00a0 So how do I know this elite writer?\u00a0 When I was pitching for Moravian College (1964-1968), Jack covered our games for the Bethlehem Globe Times.\u00a0 I will always remember his article when I lost a \u201cperfect game\u201d after 6 2\/3 innings pitching against #9 Temple University.\u00a0 His article turned out to be much, much better than the outcome.\u00a0 I did not register another out!<\/p>\n

It is a pretty good career when you have rubbed elbows and, in some cases, thrown elbows with the elite of Lehigh Valley basketball.\u00a0 I wish I would have known the other 36%. \u00a0\u00a0But then I would be even older!<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Syracuse <\/a>and North Carolina<\/a> will play each other next Saturday in the Final Four. North Carolina beat them twice this year.\u00a0 Both schools have suffered from accusations of \u201cacademic fraud\u201d and I am sure there will be plenty written about that this week. North Carolina should win this game.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. I, for one, did not like the Notre Dame<\/a> strategy of holding the ball until there were ten seconds on the shot clock. That approach appeared to me to force Notre Dame into desperation mode each possession while North Carolina was scoring by running their offense.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Can Villanova <\/a>beat Oklahoma<\/a>? Can anybody stop Buddy Hield of Oklahoma?\u00a0 He scored 37 against Oregon and has averaged 29.3 points in the tournament.\u00a0 This Villanova team has an air about them, however.\u00a0 They held Kansas <\/a>All-American, Perry Ellis, to four points.\u00a0 There is a will and tenacity about this team and big-man, Daniel Ochefu, could be the difference.\u00a0 I like Villanova.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. I love \u201cMatch-play\u201d golf. This week, the PGA <\/a>featured the WGC-Dell match Play championship.\u00a0 Scores do not matter \u2013 what matters is how many holes have you won against your opponent.\u00a0 There is a winner every match and a loser.\u00a0 One goes on; one does not.\u00a0 Every hole matters.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I like to play and that\u2019s what I like to watch.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. As I write this, the Flyers <\/a>will make the NHL playoffs. They are tied in points with the Red Wings, but own the tie-breaker.\u00a0 That\u2019s the good news \u2013 the bad news is they would play the Washington Capitals<\/a>, the best team in the NHL.\u00a0 Do you believe that the \u201876ers<\/a> have still not won 10 games? \u00a0I wrote this same sentence last week.\u00a0 As of this Monday, they were 9-65, losing four more games this past week.\u00a0 The Phillies <\/a>are coming!\u00a0 And, once again, thank goodness for Villanova.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            I have been around Lehigh Valley sports for a long time.\u00a0 Some of you may think it\u2019s been too long.\u00a0 I hope that is not the majority opinion.\u00a0 But I digress.\u00a0 Each year, I attend the VIA All-Star Basketball Classic Banquet.\u00a0 I am always impressed with the quality of the speakers (Michael Irvin and Chuck…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Mic: Hall of Fame - 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