Danny Lynch remembers Don Landolphi really well.

“When I read he was elected to the New York State Hall of Fame,” he wrote, “it reminded me how, unfortunately, great coaching was a thing of the past.

“I was a baseball player at St. Francis College when Don was coaching at Brooklyn College. We were nationally ranked in 1968 and 1970. We routinely beat established powers like St. John’s and Seton Hall. But we lost most years to Don Landolphi’s Brooklyn College teams.”

Lynch, who later went on to coach the Terriers of St. Francis College, said Landolphi’s team defense always seemed to be one step ahead.

And “fuhgeddaboudit — his quick pick-off plays. Trust me. If Coach Landolphi was the Yankee manager when Jazz Chisholm was a Yankee, believe me he would have been positioned properly to give a good target and Anthony Volpe – remember him — he’d have his body coiled correctly to make a good throw. I just wonder how many times the Yankees had even practiced that play. I’m pretty sure the Brooklyn College players, the Italian National Team and Coach Landolphi’s sight-challenged teams worked on it — before it cost them a game.

“And I remember my father Danny Lynch, Sr., (the former Terriers’ Athletic Director and basketball coach), saying that Don was a very good basketball referee. I’ll take that with a grain of salt. I mean, since when do the words ‘good’ and referee’ find their way into the same sentence?”

**

Moving to basketball, Lynch had some words on Brooklyn’s Boys and Girls High School.

“Their list of truly great players is as impressive a list as any high school in America,” he says. “But the greatest team in Boys’ history — and possibly the greatest team ever in the history of U.S. high school basketball history was their 1959-60 team.”

That team was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. Connie Hawkins was their star; another one of their key players was Tom “TK” Kurowski. He went on to star at St. Francis College. He was the second leading scorer behind Jimmy Raftery on the 1962-63 team that was the No. 1-ranked team in the East.

That Terrier team was a National Invitation Tournament selection, losing in the first-round, 71-70, to the nationally-ranked University of Miami team led by Rick Barry.

Kurowski was being recruited by the likes of St. John’s, Providence and Niagara, but in a brilliant move, Les Yellin, longtime assistant to the legendary coach Danny Lynch, took Kurowski out to dinner. Where did he take him?

To the Lynch home where Helen Lynch cooked the Polish native a Kielbasa and Pierogi dinner. That sealed the deal.

**

Father Dwayne Davis, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands, administrator of Our Lady of Christians, Midwood, and dean of Brooklyn B11 was recently inducted in the Catholic Youth Organization of the Diocese of Brooklyn Hall of Fame.

Joining Davis — Brooklyn native Kevin Dumbach (posthumously). He developed a passion for track and field, the sport that he would coach in CYO. He served as parish athletic representative at St. Pancras and then as track coach at St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing. He was also a CYO track official and committee member. He died in February, 2025.

Larry Giambalvo, served as a basketball official and baseball/softball umpire since the early 1990s. He also served as the public address announcer for the CYO diocesan championship games for 15 years — he joined the class that was recognized for dedication, service, encouragement of spiritual growth, and commitment to bringing Catholic values and vision to life for the diocese’s youth.

**

Haylie McNerny is the new athletic trainer for St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn. The Keyport, New Jersey native earned her Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine magna cum laude from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, December, 2023.
She most recently served as a certified athletic trainer at Division I Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

The St. Joseph’s University, Brooklyn, 2025-26 Bears Scholar-Athlete Team, honored 44 student-athletes who achieved a grade-point-average of 3.5 or higher.

Representing 11 varsity programs, this year’s roster marks the 10th selection in department history and the second since transitioning from calendar-year to an academic-year format. During the Spring 2026 semester, Bears’ student — athletes posted a collective 3.265 GPA, with every varsity team maintaining a combined GPA of 3.0 or-higher.

The members of the Bears’ Scholar-Athlete Team:

Men’s Soccer
Matthew Cottone
Joaquin Franco
Lorenzo LaRosa

Women’s Soccer
Casey Hobbs
Ashley Pintado

Women’s Volleyball
Taylor Knight
Anna Makarouna
Jillian McGinty
Mariana Medrano
Rachel Meltsin
Alesia Wallin

Cross Country
Joshua Gordon
Jody Louro
Jennifer Sarji

Men’s Basketball
Noah Gray
Henry Sues

Women’s Basketball
Jasmine Chan-Clayton
Kristen Donovan
Nikki Grech
Aaniya Telford
Jizelle Velazquez
Judith Vila

Men’s Volleyball
Etvola Sango

Flag Football
Kristen DeMarco
Stefanie DeMarco
Reanna Noon

Baseball
Matt Arcati
Vincent Camerada
George Demacopoulos
Justin Haluck
Joe Meglio
Nicholas Mirabella
Chris Perez
Daniel Popovitch
Christopher Stegmuller
Kris Vinski
Camden Wallace

Softball
Makena Burr
Leila Heller
Jessica Jakob
Brielle Nelson
Audrey Scott
Valarie Scott
Hannah Whitson

**

Regina Sillito says she likes the word grit – because it means, “I’m going to work, I’m going to fight for everything, and I’m going to build something and believe in myself.”

The “Genie” is the new coach of women’s volleyball at Kingsborough Community College. “I’d like to see confident, strong athletes who believe in what they’re doing and want to become great,” she said in a prepared statement.

“I’m a teacher, a mom, and a passionate sports enthusiast,” she said. “I love volleyball, and I think it can be life-changing. I want Kingsborough to be an exciting place to play volleyball.”

**

In a performance that defined the 2026 outdoor season, Kingsborough Wave Track and Field star Marianna Richards solidified her place as the fastest woman in National Junior College Athletic Association Division III track and field this spring. She captured two national titles — winning gold medals in both the women’s 100m and 200m finals at Mohawk Valley Community College in May.

She was officially named the 2026 NJCAA DIII Outdoor Track & Field Women’s Track Athlete of the Year for the Northeast Region. In the 100m prelims, she qualified second overall with a time of 12.25. In the 200m, she sat as the fourth seed after clocking a 25.67 in qualifying heats. When the finals arrived, she won the 100m in 12.89. She then took gold in the 200m (26.12) —beating the field by over two-tenths of a second to complete the national sweep and secure her second gold.

The Kingston, Jamaica, native completed just her first-ever collegiate season in track and field.

As a member of the Lady Wave basketball team, she averaged more than 10 rebounds-a-game for the 15-8 squad.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR