Talking Points: Who’s helping who?

What’s the buzz from the world of sports? Here are some items that will have people talking:

1

Eighteen months after arriving from war-ravaged Sudan — and just as they are beginning to feel at home — four young men find themselves at center court in a controversy over high school sports recruiting as officials unravel exactly how they came to tiny Mooseheart High School in Batavia, Ill.

The Illinois High School Association board will consider Monday whether the three basketball players and one cross country runner are ineligible to compete for the Red Ramblers, after the coach of a rival school’s basketball team raised questions.

The administrators at Mooseheart, a privately funded school 35 miles west of Chicago, say they accepted the students as part of a long tradition of helping troubled and poor youth.

Of course, these troubled and poor youth just happen to stand 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8 and 7-feet tall.

2

After Bellevue beat Eastside Catholic 35-3 for the Class 3A football state championship last weekend, coach Butch Goncharoff gathered his players around him and said, “I’ll tell you right now. Best team in the country.”

He might be right.

Bellevue was ranked No. 2 nationally by Sports Illustrated and ESPN in the final weeks of the season. Now the Wolverines are poised to claim the top spot.

Manatee from Bradenton, Fla., ranked No. 1 going into this weekend, lost 35-18 on Friday to St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida’s Class 7A semifinals.

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