NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame adds five
By John Schiano
Jul 30, 2010, 10:08am
Inductees include volleyball coach Sally Kus, who has won more than 800 matches.
Two of the most successful coaches in state history headline the list of new inductees into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Those being inducted Aug. 4 at the NYSPHSAA’s annual summer banquet in Ellicottville are Sweet Home (Amherst) and Cuba-Rushford girls volleyball coach Sally Kus, hockey coach Stanley Moore of Massena and administrators Nicholas DeCillis of Section XI, Martha Slack of Section X and James Tolle of Section VIII.
The five were endorsed by their local sections and then approved by a NYSPHSAA screening committee before selection for the hall, which was begun in 2002.
Kus posted a 794-29 record at Sweet Home from 1974 to 1996, including 20 straight Section VI championships, 15 straight state Far West Regional crowns and the first six NYSPHSAA Class A titles in the sport beginning in 1990. Only one other school – Eden, with seven – has earned more state titles in volleyball.
Various publications tabbed Sweet Home as mythical national champions in 1987 and '91. The Panthers set a national record in the sport with 292 consecutive victories, and more than 150 of Kus’ players went on to play Division I college volleyball.
Kus, who coached at the University at Buffalo, now coaches at Cuba-Rushford, where she is 57-7. She was named the National Federation volleyball coach of the year in 1987 and has also been inducted into the Sweet Home Hall of Fame (1993), the National Volleyball Hall of Fame (1996) and the Greater Buffalo
Sports Hall of Fame (1996).
Kus authored the book “Coaching Volleyball Successfully” in 2004.
Moore, who died last year, won 522 games and 17 Section X titles in a 33-year career at Massena. His teams reached the state tournament seven times, capturing championships in 1981 and ’82 to become the first two-time winner in the Division I tournament.
He also served as the sectional hockey chairman for eight seasons and coached the school's golf team for 23 years.
Prior to coaching, he played college hockey at Clarkson University.
Moore was previously inducted into the New York State Hockey Association Hall of Fame and the
Massena Central Athletic Hall of Fame.
DeCillis has been an administrator for more than half a century, including more than two decades on the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee. He spent 38 years as the Middle Country (Newfield) athletic director, during which time the district grew from one basketball and baseball team to 150 squads in a variety of sports.
DeCillis, who started as a physical education teacher at Middle Country in 1956, also went on to be the part-time AD at Sag Harbor for another 12 years.
DeCillis was president of Section XI from 1980-82 as well as the section’s chief officials negotiator for the last 25 years. He was elected into the Suffolk County Hall of Fame in 2006.
Slack worked her way up through the ranks in the Massena school district after beginning as a physical education instructor in 1973. She served on multiple NYSPHSAA committees and coached soccer, swimming and softball in addition to 31 years as the Section X secretary and treasurer.
Slack helped create the Massena High School Athletic Hall of Fame, where she was inducted in 1995.
Tolle is a past president of the NYSPHSAA (1994-96) and the New York State Federation of Secondary School Athletic Associations. After beginning as a teacher and administrator at Uniondale in 1959, he moved to Malverne and served as superintendent from 1979-92. He coached swimming and rifle at Uniondale.
He remains active as a consultant to Section VIII and has been a member of the NYSPHSAA Championship Advisory Committee since 1988. He’s chaired the CAC since 2009.
Pittsford-Mendon star will tee it up with the pros
Gavin Hall is going pro – for a week, anyway.
Hall, 15, has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the PGA’s Turning Stone Resort Championship next week in Verona, about 30 miles east of Syracuse.
Hall, who will be a sophomore at Pittsford-Mendon, is coming off an appearance in the semifinals at the U.S. Junior Amateur last week. He’s also qualified for the U.S. Amateur at the end of August in University Place, Wash.
As an amateur, Hall will be unable to keep any prize money should he make the 36-hole cut at Turning Stone.
Get ready for Lights, camera, Nacleno
Cardozo (Oakland Gardens) boys basketball coach Ron Naclerio will be going national in the fall in a reality TV show on SNY.
Naclerio told The New York Post recently that the unscripted show will roll out in between eight and 16 episodes. The series documents the 2009-10 season at Cardozo, which concluded with a 55-50 loss to Boys & Girls at Madison Square Garden.
"Not only will it be funny, entertaining and sad, but it will show some teaching lessons other kids and coaches can benefit from,” said Naclerio, who has developed a well-deserved reputation for being colorful and unconventional in nearly 30 seasons at Cardozo.
“It’s going to be real interesting,” forward Ryan Rhoomes told the paper. “We went through a lot of stuff. I want to see what everybody thought about it. We had a lot of difficulties on the team other than basketball.”
Mechanicville coach won't be back
Joe Loudis, 68, won't return from a leave of absence to coach the Mechanicville boys basketball team following a school board vote this month.
Loudis sat out last season while recovering from bladder cancer. Interim coach Rian Richardson was named by the board as the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame coach's replacement following a 6-14 mark last year.
"I'm very surprised," Loudis told The Times Union in Albany. "It's a slap in the face. I've been very loyal to them."
Loudis has won 421 games at Cohoes and Mechanicville. He took Mechanicville to the 2008 NYSPHSAA Class C final shortly after the cancer diagnosis.
Dr. Michael McCarthy, the Mechanicville school superintendent, confirmed Loudis' departure but said he couldn't comment on personnel matters.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
