With a full season of high school football still ahead, Cornwall Central (New Windsor, N.Y.) running back Tyree Smallwood has made his college choice, telling Syracuse University coaches he’ll play for the Orange beginning in 2011.
The 5-foot-11, 173-pound standout was a New York State Sportswriters Association third-team all-state choice in Class A last fall after scoring 27 touchdowns to lead Cornwall to its fifth straight Section IX title. He ran for 1,549 yards in just 174 attempts and was stellar in the final two weeks of the sectional playoffs with a combined 29 carries for 322 yards and five touchdowns (including a 63-yard pass play) vs. Saugerties and Wallkill.
Smallwood said he also had offers from Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Maryland and Michigan. He has been told he could line up at running back, receiver or in the secondary with the Orange. By committing now, Smallwood eliminates some of the circus that could distract him in the Cornwall backfield this fall.
"I want this season to be about concentrating on winning a championship," Smallwood told The Times Herald-Record. "Now my teammates won't have to deal with this."
Smallwood’s commitment is non-binding until he signs a National Letter of Intent on Feb. 2 of next year.
He is at least the fifth New York rising senior to have announced a choice thus far. The others are Kieran Borcich (Bronxville/Boston College), Devon Cajuste (Holy Cross/Stanford), Quentin Gause (Rochester Bishop Kearney/Rutgers) and Al Page (Bronx Columbus/Rutgers).
More football
* There will be a varsity season at Royalton-Hartland (Middleport, N.Y.) after all. Booster club president Rick DeWaters presented a check for $20,312 to district superintendent Kevin MacDonald to cover the cost for fielding a team in the fall.
The outside help became necessary after the school board opted this spring to cut football and modified sports to help overcome the projected loss of $2.3 million in state aid.
The development puts Roy-Hart back on track to open vs. Gowanda (N.Y.) on Sept. 3, and DeWaters said boosters are now focused on restoring modified sports one season at a time.
* The outlook isn’t nearly as good in Geneva, where DeSales officials have acknowledged the doors of the school could be shuttered by Aug. 1 if a $450,000 fundraising campaign does not succeed.
With a BEDS number of 80 students in grades 9-11, DeSales was the third-smallest New York State Public High School Athletic Association member to field a football team last fall.
Principal Gerald Macaluso and the school's trustees notified parents of financial issues in a letter dated May 31.
* Speaking of budgetary issues, there will be no freshman football in the huge Rochester suburb of Greece this fall as the school board dropped the programs at Arcadia, Athena and Olympia as well as a number of freshman baseball and softball across the four district high schools.
The board of education approved a $193.6 million contingency budget after voters rejected the initial budget by a decisive margin last month. The board went the contingency route in order to save the estimated $47,000 cost of a re-vote, thereby possibly saving several other sports from the chopping block.
* Former Iroquois (Elma, N.Y.) AD Chuck Funke, the Section VI football chairman since 1983, told The Buffalo News he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in mid-April.
Funke, 67, said doctors found a blockage that restricted food from entering his stomach, contributing to him losing about 40 pounds. He's eating through a feeding tube into his small intestine while undergoing chemotherapy treatments and has regained some weight recently.
"It seems something appears to be working," he told the paper. "Now that I'm eating a little more, I gained three pounds this week — just like a high school wrestler."
Baseball: Welcome to the pro ranks, Cito
Less than a week after his graduation from Irondequoit (Rochester, N.Y.), shortstop Chris "Cito" Culver made his debut as a New York Yankees farmhand by going 0-for-3 for the Gulf Coast League Yankees in a 4-3 loss to the GCL Phillies in Clearwater, Fla.
Culver, who signed for a reported $954,000 bonus after being drafted with the 32nd pick of the first round on June 7, batted second in the lineup and flied to center, grounded to second and grounded to shortstop.
If his adjustment to minor-league pitching was tough, then perhaps Culver’s introduction to the world of business was even rougher.
If you do a search for CitoCulver.com on the Internet, you soon discover that the domain has been purchased, though the owner has not developed the site as of yet.
Dig a little deeper and you find out that the domain was snapped up just hours after the draft by a Pueblo, Colo., resident whose Facebook page identifies him as a fan of ... that's right, the Boston Red Sox.
Yep, the best rivalry in big-league baseball is definitely still on.
Coaching notes
* Mike Poplaski, the founder of Salem's (N.Y.) wrestling program in 1968 and the Section II chairman in the sport for 21 years, has called it quits after more than four decades.
"It's been a great run, but it's time to put up my wrestling shoes," Poplaski told The Post-Star. "I'm excited about what lies ahead. My wife and I have some plans we're looking forward to, some traveling, things we've put off because I was coaching."
Poplaski coached six state champions and 20 sectional Class D championship squads. After a 3-11 first season, Salem never finished below .500 in duals in any ensuing season, and the Generals went 423-143-7 under Poplaski, who also coached varsity football from 1979-95.
* Ron Patnosh has retired after 45 seasons and 1,080 victories as the only varsity baseball coach St. Raymond (Bronx, N.Y.) has had, but he won't be leaving the scene altogether. Patnosh, 71, who founded the baseball program in 1966 and is second to Archbishop Molloy's (Queens, N.Y.) Jack Curran in CHSAA victories, will remain as the AD.
* Frank Carrozza, 63, is stepping down after 36 years as the athletic director at Minisink Valley (Slate Hill, N.Y.). Carrozza, who was also the wrestling coach for seven seasons, and his wife Shawn are both retiring from the school district.
* Mark Henry will step down as girls basketball coach at Ogdensburg (N.Y.) in order to replace the retired Bill Merna as the boys coach.
* Paul Schintzius resigned after 11 seasons as boys basketball coach at Sweet Home (Amherst, N.Y.). Schintzius, a member of the Panthers' 1984 state title team, won Section VI Class A championships in 2006 and '07.
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.
