MaxWire National Blog

After a stormy departure last fall at Milton High School, one of the most successful coaches in Georgia basketball history will return to the bench in 2013-14.

David Boyd, who has won over 600 games and six state titles, was named head coach at Excel Christian Academy (Cartersville, Ga.) on Monday.

Boyd has led four different Peach State schools to titles, but is best known for his recent run at Milton. He is fully retired from Georgia's public schools system but will also teach two English classes at Excel and possibly weight training.

"It would be a lot easier for me to sit back and enjoy the success my teams and players have had, but I felt like I had more to give," Boyd told MaxPreps by phone Tuesday morning.

Under Boyd's tutelage, Milton won state crowns in 2010 and 2012 and became one of the elite public school programs in the country. The Eagles were ranked in the top 15 nationally to finish the season by MaxPreps each year from 2010 to 2012.

The standouts from that run include Evan Nolte (Virginia), Dai-Jon Parker (Vanderbilt), Julian Royal (Georgia Tech, George Mason) and Shannon Scott (Ohio State).

But things ended on a sour note for Boyd at Milton as allegations of undue influence (recruiting) led to his ouster last September. He may have been a victim of his own success to some extent as players began gravitating toward a program that played a national schedule, including appearances at prestigious events like the City of Palms Classic, Beach Ball Classic and Spalding Hoophall Classic.

Boyd won't be starting from scratch at Excel Christian Academy. Under former Marlins minor leaguer and Kennesaw State basketball player Jon-Michael Nickerson, the program went 26-3 last season and reached the Class A quarterfinals.

"It's a situation I'm very comfortable with," Boyd said. "I'm excited about teaching and coaching and making a difference, as well as making a difference in a young person's spiritual life. That's something that's very important to me."

Nickerson left to take a position under Josh Pastner at the University of Memphis.

The new position at Excel isn't the only change in Boyd's life. The veteran coach will also marry fiancee Geniese in June.

Most baseball coaches in Oklahoma have collected uniforms and gear since the playoffs ended on May 11, but not at Rattan, Cashion, Roff, Sterling and Wright City.

The Class 1A playoffs have been on hold since May 3 when a judge in McCurtain County granted an injunction to school officials at Wright City, whose team had to forfeit its tournament opener after it was discovered that it had played two games too many during the regular season.

The injunction allowed Wright City to play its playoff opener, but the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association decided to suspend play until an appeal could be heard by the Supreme Court.

According to the Oklahoma City Oklahoman, both the OSSAA and McCurtain County have filed their briefs with the Supreme Court, which could render a decision soon or send the case back to a lower court to be decided.

Three first-round games have already been played with Rattan defeating Thomas-Fay-Custer 15-5, Cashion topping Binger-Oney 3-1 and Roff knocking off Glencoe 12-5. Roff would play the winner of the Sterling-Wright City matchup, if the game is ever played.

The poor high school gents at Archbishop Carroll (Miami).

Imagine trying to be the big man on campus – or at the very least impressing your date at senior ball. You buy the fancy clothes and dinner, score a cool ride to pick up your date, supply a luscious bouquet of flowers or a sweet corsage.

The he shows up.

The Heat is on.

He is Heat starting guard and future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, whose specialty is stealing the ball for breakaway dunks and who on Friday stole the show by surprising Carroll senior Nicole Muxo at the senior prom on Friday.

Muxo made a sweet YouTube video and asked Wade months ago to be her date and Wade was gentlemanly enough to decline only because the Heat are in the middle of defending their NBA title.

However, with Friday off thanks to Miami's quick disposal of the Chicago Bulls, Wade surprised Ms. Muxo and the entire Carroll class by attending the dance at La Jolla Ballroom in Coral Gables. For good measure, he presented her roses.

As if his presence wasn't enough.

According to the Miami Herald, Wade actually called Muxo moments before walking into the prom to tell her to have a good night. He was right outside. He then walked in for just an extra surprise factor.

Wade danced with Muxo and stayed almost an hour. Ms. Muxo did have a "legitimate" date Laurent Chaumin who good-naturedly told the Herald: "At least we both know how to dress."

Wade said "I'm the third wheel. I'm like both their dates," then later Tweeted: "I had a blast at Prom. Never be 2 scared to ask."

I was able to spend time with Wade at a Gatorade Replay event in Chicago two years ago and found him down to earth and genuine and fun. This just backs up all those notions. 

Esperanza (Anaheim, Calif.) was supposed to host a Southern Section Division II boys volleyball match last Saturday (May 11) against Dos Pueblos (Goleta, Calif.).

But the Aztecs decided to reschedule to Monday. The reason: senior prom conflict. Not theirs but that of Dos Pueblos.

As first reported by the Los Angeles Times' Eric Sondheimer, the Aztecs accepted Dos Pueblos request to change the Saturday night start time, something they definitely didn't have to do.

Anaheim and Goleta are 120 miles apart and the Dos Pueblos players would have missed all the festivities. A dozen seniors are a part of Dos Pueblos' team.

"It was a classy move by Esperanza to help us out, and we really appreciate it," Dos Pueblos Athletic Director Dan Feldhaus told Sondheimer.

Bob Ladouceur is looking relaxed these days, comfortable with his new role as De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) running backs coach.

He might be taking on some new and bigger responsibilities: Helping out with the San Francisco 49ers.

According to a report from Matt Maiocco of csnbayarea.com, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh reached out to the Hall of Fame coach who compiled 399 wins and at least eight mythical national championships before stepping down in January.

See a slideshow of Ladouceur through the years

Ladouceur is still a big part of the De La Salle program and will coach the varsity running backs this season and be on the sideline for every game. He stepped down from his head coaching duties in January after the Spartans won their fourth straight California Open Division Bowl Game title.

According to the report, Harbaugh asked Ladouceur about possibly helping the 49ers in a consultant capacity concerning "team dynamics."

Ladouceur, 58, has been at all the De La Salle spring practices and workouts and is fitting in perfectly with his new role, said new head coach Justin Alumbaugh, who is also one of the legendary coach's best friends. De La Salle figures to battle for another mythical national crown in 2013.

"He's still my mentor, he still sits two feet away and every day before we walk out to the field he gives me another tid-bit to think about," Alumbaugh said Thursday after workouts. "I think he's happy in his new role. He seems a more spry. This is a well-earned change in roles. I think he's enjoying and embracing it and seems a lot less wound up."

Calls to Ladouceur have not yet been returned.