Ray Reeves leaves Finney for Community

Ray Reeves is the new boys basketball coach at Detroit Community. Kevin Dargin, athletic director at Community, made the announcement today (Monday).

Reeves coached at Detroit Finney the past two seasons. He was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University and a head coach at Detroit Denby before that.

Leaving Finney for Community was a difficult decision for Reeves for a number of reasons. The first is his son, Rashad Jr., who will enter his senior year at Finney in the fall. Also, Finney is expected to be one of the top teams in the Detroit Public School League. Finney has one of the state's top seniors-to-be in Isaiah Sykes, plus three other returning starters.

Reeves said his decision was based partly upon job security. A number of high schools in the Detroit Public Schools closed recently and although Finney wasn't one of them, there is no guarantee it won't close in the near future.

"I got about 15 resumes, and several phone calls about the position," Dargin said. "The reason we went with Reeves is his experience. We haven't gotten to the top. I had to get somebody in to get us ready to compete. I don't see us as one of the top charter schools, I see us as one of the top schools in the state. I've had a number of college coaches who endorsed Ray. My thing is about integrity. He knows how to deal with young men."

Reeves replaced Tony Woods, who resigned during last season. Lanier Randall, the junior varsity coach, served as interim coach. Community was 5-16 last season.

Dargin said the final three choices were Reeves, Nkwane Young (head coach at Detroit Douglass), and Chuck Albright, who coached Detroit Cleveland this past season.

Reeves said he will help Finney principal Al Ward in the search for a coach and that the school hopes to hire one in the next two weeks.

Further review

Do they really take the advice of the media?

The answer is likely no, but a column was written in The Detroit News following the 2008 boys basketball tournament suggesting that video replays be used at the end of a game, when applicable, to determined if a basket was scored before the final horn and if the basket was a 3-point basket or not.

In its April 13-15 meeting in Indianapolis, the National Federation of State High School Associations Basketball Rules Committee voted to permit state high school associations to use a replay monitor to review field-goal attempts at the expiration of time in the fourth quarter or any overtime period, but only in games when the last-second attempt would affect the outcome of the game.

The committee decided to give state associations the opportunity to use technology, if available, and John Johnson, communications director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, confirmed Monday that the MHSAA does possess the technology and it will be available for the semifinals and finals.

The ruling is a little late for 2008 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern boys team and its coach, Steve Harvey. Northern lost to Flint Powers in the Class B semifinals that season, 66-65, when a last-second shot was ruled a 2-point basket, not a 3-pointer. Television replays showed the basket should have been ruled a 3-pointer, sending the game to overtime.

Signings

John DiLaura, a catcher from Warren DeLaSalle, has committed to Michigan to play baseball. DiLaura was also selected to the All State Dream Team for bowling and was named Macomb County bowler of the year.

DiLaura will not receive an athletic scholarship but Michigan baseball coach Rich Maloney told DiLaura that a roster spot will be open.

DiLaura is a four-year starter in baseball, the last two as a catcher. This season he's batting .442 with two home runs.

DiLaura also considered Wayne State, Bowling Green and Harvard.

Dragan Bijelic, a 6-foot-3 guard/forward from Utica Eisenhower, signed with Madonna University. He helped lead Eisenhower to its first Macomb Area Conference Red Division Championship.

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