SPORTS DIGEST || YSU announces summer girls basketball camp

YSU announces summer girls basketball camp

Fresh off the program’s second 20-win season in the last three years, the Youngstown State women’s basketball coaches will host three individual camps and a team camp this summer on YSU’s campus.

Head Coach John Barnes and his staff will hold two sessions of an elite camp for high school players looking to play at the collegiate level. There will also be a half-day individual camp.

The elite camp will be designed for players entering grades nine through 12 this coming fall who wish to develop and showcase their talents as they prepare to play in college. The focus of the individual half-day camp will be to improve the all-around game. In the team camp, teams will be guaranteed four games with certified high school officials, and there will be an effort to match teams against clubs of similar talent to ensure competitive games.

Coaches and campers with questions should contact assistant coach Brenna Banktson at (330) 314-3155 or bbanktson@ysu.edu. More information and online registration is available on ysusports.com.

ISU athletic staffers among 7 dead in crash

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.

Illinois State University says its associate head basketball coach and a deputy athletic director are among seven people who died in a plane crash in central Illinois.

University President Larry Dietz confirmed Tuesday that assistant coach Torrey Ward and Aaron Leetch, the athletic department’s deputy director for external relations, were killed in the early-morning crash. Dietz made the announcement in an email to students, faculty and staff, saying “words cannot fully express the grief that is felt.”

Ward and Leetch were on a small plane that crashed near Bloomington, Illinois, on the way back from the NCAA basketball tournament in Indianapolis.

The Cessna 414 crashed just short of the Central Illinois Regional Airport shortly after midnight.

VCU hires former assistant Will Wade

RICHMOND, Va.

VCU has hired former assistant Will Wade to replace Smart as its basketball coach.

The 32-year-old Wade spent the past two seasons as the head coach at Chattanooga, going 40-25. He the first assistant Smart hired six years ago. VCU athletic director Ed McLaughlin wanted a coach who would continue the fast-paced, pressuring style the Rams used with great success under Smart.

At Chattanooga, Wade’s teams played the same style, but with the moniker “chaos” instead of VCU’s “havoc.” Wade was the Southern Conference coach of the year in 2014 after the Moccasins finished 18-15, including 12-6 in the conference. They were 22-10 this season, including 15-3 in league play, but each time they were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Ex-Toledo hoops players sentenced in probe

DETROIT

Two former University of Toledo basketball players have been given probation for their roles in a sports bribery scandal at the Ohio school.

Kashif Payne and Keith Triplett were sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Detroit. In addition to serving three years of probation, they must pay fines and perform community service. Two other former basketball players and three ex-football players have been sentenced to probation.

All pleaded guilty to conspiracy, admitting they accepted cash and other benefits from a Detroit-area gambler from 2004 through 2006. The players supplied information or altered their performance to affect the final score.

Payne got less than $2,000 in cash and groceries. Triplett received or delivered to other players between $2,000 and $5,000. Triplett was Toledo’s leading scorer during three of his four seasons.

Meeting

Girard High School Athletic Boosters will meet at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the high school.

Staff/Wire reports