QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 2, 2023 Page 28
C M SQ page 28 Y K
Game ready at York with new coaches They’re ready to take student athletes who love basketball to the next level by Naeisha Rose Associate Editor
York College has new head coaches for both its men’s and women’s basketball teams. Leading the Cardinals for the teams are coaches Clarence Emengo and Jason Marshall, respectively. “My goal is to help increase the intensity, help [the student athletes] become a better team and also bring a lot of enjoyement to the communty,” said Emengo, the coach of the men’s team. “I think it is very important to get the community involved.” Emengo believes having more community support will help gameplay among the players. “I want to have a lot of fundraisers and open day camps,” Emengo added about the Division III team. If the opportunity arises, he would like to take the team to another division level, but his main focus is helping the team be its best. “On this level ... I want to have them understand basketball,” Emengo said. “You can run plays all day, learn when to do something and how to do something, but I want to work on their basketball IQ. I’m a man-to-man guy.” Emengo also believes in putting pressure on the ball and allowing the players to play their game while applying what he is teaching and understanding situation basketball.
SPORTS
Clarence Emengo, left, and Jason Marshall are the new head coaches of the men’s and women’s PHOTOS COURTESY YORK COLLEGE basketbal teams, respectively, at York College. “You can have all the skills in the world, but if you cannot apply it, it is not useful,” he said. “Understanding situations and when to make certain plays and also, if you are a f lashy player, understanding when to be flashy and when to have more substance.”
The coach is searching for players who understand defensive aspects of the game and how to be a team player. “A lot of time something might suffer in an individual game, but the bigger outcome is to win,” Emengo said.
The men’s team’s new season starts Nov. 8. “I’m hoping to build a legacy and culture and a habit of winning,” said Marshall. “I want to build the reputation for York’s women’s basketball team. When you play against us, you are playing against a lot of high-character players who are focused on academics but are going to compete at a high level, and they are unapolegetic about winning.” Marshall wants the athletes of the Division III team to also be good citizens not just at York, but throughout the greater Queens community. “As far as them as athletes, I need them to come to practice and to work every day with a good mindset,” he said. “Be a good teammate and be good to those in the campus community.” Repetition is key, the coach added. “We need to be consistently competitive with the top four teams in the CUNY Conference every year and I want somebody that is able to compete on the national stage at the NCAA at a national tournament.” “Being a Division III athlete is different,” he said. “You have to have a love of the game because you are not getting athletic aid. I want to build on that. We have to recruit the right players for the vision to do something special.” Q The women’s season starts Nov. 15.
BEAT
City, Strongest have Big Storm in Big East tentative contract
by Lloyd Carroll
For the latest news visit qchron.com
Chronicle Contributor
Last Tuesday, the Big East Conference held its annual basketball media day at Madison Square Garden. The number of credentialed media was the largest I had seen in years. This was expected considering St. John’s University’s hiring of Rick Pitino as the Red Storm’s men’s basketball head coach. Not surprisingly, the Red Storm table attracted the largest media scrum, a fact that certainly pleased Pitino, who enjoyed holding court. I asked Pitino about guard Chris Ledlum, who grew up in Staten Island and has a year of college eligibility after graduating from Harvard University last May. “He will be running the floor for us,” Pitino told me when I asked him about his role. I followed up by asking Pitino if he had ever coached a Harvard man before. He thought about it for a couple of seconds and replied, “Probably not. At least he is finally at a real institution of higher learning!” he chuckled. I heartily agree, especially considering recent events on that Cambridge campus. Center Joel Soriano was the Red Storm’s best player last year and is one of the few returnees. Pitino made it no secret he wanted to clean house on the team roster as soon as he signed his contract. He told guard Posh Alexander he should consider transferring to another college. Alexander complied as he left Queens for Indianapolis, where he will be playing for the Butler Bulldogs.
College athletes are not allowed to be paid directly by the schools for which they play. They are allowed, however, to make money through their name, image and likeness. I asked Soriano if he has landed any endorsement deals. “Not really. If we win, then those things will take care of themselves,” he said. Soriano’s teammate, guard Daniss Jenkins, who followed Pitino from Iona to St. John’s, echoed that. It is tough for college athletes playing in the greater New York metropolitan area to make money from endorsements because of the number of professional sports teams in our market. Xavier University guard Quincy Olivari told me one reason he selected that school was because it is in Cincinnati, which does not have either an NBA or NHL team. That makes it a lot easier to make money by appearing at local car dealerships and other southern Ohio/northern Kentucky businesses. Villanova University forward Eric Dixon was the only basketball player who wore his glasses to media day. He laughed when I said he should seek an endorsement deal with an optical company. “I should since I really need them!” he replied. Dixon wears contact lenses when he plays. I asked him if he must look for them on the floor after going for a rebound. “Every practice!” Q he quipped. See the extended version of Sports Beat every week at qchron.com.
by Michael Gannon Senior News Editor
Mayor Adams on Friday announced that the city has reached a tentative agreement on a 62-month contract with the union that represents its nearly 7,100 sanitation workers. According to a press release from City Hall, the contract with Uniformed Sanitation Workers’ Union Local 831 runs retroactive to Dec. 28, 2022 and expires Feb. 27, 2028. If approved by the rank and file, it will grant annual raises of 3.25, 3.25, 3.5, 3.5 and 4 percent. “New York’s Strongest have always been heroes, but in the last three years, they have stepped up more than ever on behalf of our city, taking on new responsibilities in every corner of the five boroughs and returning the dignity of clean streets to our neighborhoods,” Adams said in a prepared statement. “Our administration, thanks to the hard work of our sanitation workers, is restoring New York City to its rightful place as the cleanest big city in America,” the mayor added. “I want to congratulate
every sanitation worker on this agreement, as well as thank my friend, [union President] Harry Nespoli, and my team, led by [Labor Relations] Commissioner [Renee] Campion and [Sanitation] Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch, for their leadership.” “With this contract, we have shown once again how this union works corroboratively with this agency to benefit the residents of New York City while providing justified compensation and benefits for the workforce,” Nespoli said. “I commend Mayor Adams for recognizing the contributions of our members and Commissioner Tisch for her in novative approach to improving the life of all New Yorkers.” The Mayor’s Office said the city has now reached agreements with 90 percent of its unionized workforce under the Adams administration, calling it the quickest any mayoral administration has reached that milestone in modern city history. It also means that the city now has reached labor agreements with all of its Q uniformed workforce.
