The 2010 NBA Draft: Washington Wizards Select John Wall as the First Overall Draft Pick

The 2010 NBA Draft was held on June 24, 2010 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, was broadcast in the United States. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.

The Washington Wizards, who won the draft lottery on May 18, 2010, used their first overall draft pick to draft John Wall from the University of Kentucky. The Philadelphia 76ers, who also beat the odds in the draft lottery to obtain the second pick, selected Evan Turner from Ohio State University. The New Jersey Nets, who had the worst win-loss records in the previous season, used the third pick to select Derrick Favors from Georgia Institute of Technology.

NBA First Round Draft Picks

Monty Williams Named New Coach of the National Basketball Association’s New Orleans Hornets

In June 2010, Montgomery (Monty) Williams was offered and accepted a three-year contract to be the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets. Williams was born October 8, 1971, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is a retired professional basketball player and now current head coach for the New Orleans Hornets.

A 6'8" small forward from the University of Notre Dame, Williams was an NBA first-round pick despite a pre-existing heart condition. He was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round (24th overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft. He played in 9 NBA seasons from 1994 to 2003. He played for the Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.

In his NBA career, he played in 456 games and scored a total of 2,884 points. On April 8, 1997, he scored a career high 30 points as a member of the Spurs against the Denver Nuggets.

In 2005, Williams was hired by new head coach Nate McMillan as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Juan Samuel Named Interim Manager of the Baltimore Orioles

Juan Samuel was announced as the interim manager of the Baltimore Orioles on June 4, 2010. He took over for Dave Trembley, who led the team to a 15-39 record. Samuel was born December 9, 1960 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. A former second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1983 through 1998, Samuel played for the Philadelphia Phillies (1983-89), New York Mets (1989), Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-92), Kansas City Royals (1992, 1995), Cincinnati Reds (1993), Detroit Tigers (1994, 1995) and Toronto Blue Jays (1996-98). He batted and threw right-handed.

In a 16-season playing career, Samuel was a .259 hitter with 161 home runs and 703 runs batted in (RBI) in 1720 games.

Since retiring from play, he has coached at various levels and in various roles. He coached third base for the Detroit Tigers in 2005 after having coached first base for the team since 1999. He managed the Double-A Binghamton Mets for the 2006 season, and was named the 3rd base coach for the Baltimore Orioles in October 2006, where he remained through the first part of 2010.

In August 2008, Samuel was inducted into the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame at Citizens Bank Park.

Hank Aaron Goes 4-for-4 – Once Again

(Cooperstown, NY) – Hank and Billye Aaron announced the latest addition to their Chasing the Dream Foundation, which was created to assist young people in the pursuit of their dreams.

Adding to the Foundation’s previous initiatives of assisting 755 children between the ages of 12 and 18 and the recent addition of “44 Forever” which will support forty-four young teenage children each year in perpetuity, the Foundation announces its latest program entitled “4 for 4.”

Continuing to play off of Hank’s magic baseball numbers, the Foundation will endow four-year scholarships for the benefit of deserving youngsters who have chosen to pursue their dreams by attending college. With particular emphasis on prior dream chasers who have now reached college age, Hank and Billye have introduced their second perpetual program by offering two scholarships at Morehouse College, and one each at Texas College, Billye’s alma mater, in honor of Bishop Marshall Gilmore and Mrs. Lillie Claybon, as well as  Fisk University and through the Dream Chaser Fund with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in honor of  Commissioner Bud Selig, an alumnus, who is the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. 

During Hank’s illustrious career, he actually went 4-for-4 a total of twelve times. The goal now is to create twelve perpetual scholarships at a number of colleges and universities that will be granted each year to further assist dream chasers realize the goals they might otherwise never achieve. The scholarships represent the latest installment in the fifteen year old Foundation which Hank and Billye started to begin giving back to the children they believed were most at risk of never having a chance to dream or not having anyone who wanted to help them get a start in life.

After achieving the original goal of assisting 755 children, Major League Baseball and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America joined the Foundation’s efforts and created the “44 Forever” program which was endowed by Major League Baseball and will be administered by the Boys and Girls Clubs, in perpetuity. Following that successful initiative, the new “4 for 4” scholarship program, which will be administered by the selected schools, was, according to Billye Aaron, “a natural choice to extend our support to dream chasers new and old, as they enter the next stage of their lives.”

“Billye and I have been blessed with a great many friends, who were there for us during our lives and now join us in our efforts to help young people become more than even they can imagine,” said Hank. “It is so rewarding to know that children will continue to benefit from “44 Forever” and “4 for 4,” long after we are gone. We hope they will remember us for this work, not just for the records I set on the field.”

Billye Aaron added, “I am particularly grateful to Major League Baseball and to the Boys and Girls Clubs for their support and their deep and genuine desire to create better tomorrows for the generations of dream chasers to follow.”

The first recipients of the “4 for 4” scholarships were on hand at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where Hank’s permanent Chasing the Dream exhibition will remain on display, commemorating his achievements on and off the field.

“I know I’ve gone 4 for 4 before, but never at the Hall of Fame. What a thrill; what an honor,” Hank concluded. lwgulley@bellsouth.net


Obituary: William "Willie" Pope / Negro Leagues pitcher for the Grays, Crawfords (Dec. 14, 1918 - June 10, 2010)

By Malik Smith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

William "Willie" Pope, a valued pitcher for the Homestead Grays and one of Pittsburgh's last links to part of its storied baseball past, died [Thursday] in the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in O'Hara. He was 91.

Mr. Pope, born in Birmingham, Alabama, was the oldest of 11 siblings born to Jackson and Mary Pope. He also had one adopted sibling.

One of his brothers, Dave Pope, also played baseball and made it to the major leagues in the 1950s. Mr. Pope's younger brother, Charles, said William also was a heavyweight boxer with the Pittsburgh Golden Gloves during the early 1940s.

The 6-foot-4 Mr. Pope began his career as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1946, but was mostly known for playing with the Grays during the 1947 and 1948 seasons. During the 1947 season, the right-hander notched a 6-7 record, but pitched a no-hitter against the New York Cubans.

In the 1948 season, he was a major contributor to the Grays team that won the last Negro National League Pennant and won the Negro Leagues World Series against the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League.

The Negro National League folded after the 1948 season, partly because Jackie Robinson's move to the major leagues caused a decline in interest for Negro Leagues teams.

"Black baseball was in dramatic transition at the time," said Rob Ruck, a University of Pittsburgh professor and Negro Leagues expert.

Although Mr. Pope never made it to the majors, he never lost his love for baseball. He played in the Canadian Leagues from 1949 to 1951, and then in the minors from 1953 to 1955.

After his playing days were over, Mr. Pope managed a baseball team in the Hill District and owned a restaurant on Centre Avenue. Mr. Pope also ran for the position of ward chairman and worked for the city of Pittsburgh for 25 years as a surveyor.

Much of Mr. Pope's life after sports was dedicated to bettering the city of Pittsburgh.

In 1988 Mr. Pope was invited to be honored by the Pittsburgh Pirates along with other remaining members from the Grays' last championship team.

Along with Clarence Bruce, a former Negro Leagues player with the Crawfords, and Al Gordon, the first Black front office employee for the Pirates, Mr. Pope did his best to revive the history of Negro Leagues baseball in Pittsburgh.

"Mr. Pope's death marks the end of an era; virtually everybody who played for the Grays and Crawfords and then made his life in Pittsburgh is gone," Mr. Ruck said.

Mr. Pope is survived by his wife of 59 years, Ethelia Pope; nine siblings, Evelyn Pringle of Newark, N.J., Charles Pope of Wilkins, Howard Pope of Pittsburgh, Calvin Pope of Pittsburgh, Doretha Beatty of Pittsburgh, Aretha Dooley of East Orange, N.J., Mary Thompkins of Pittsburgh, Robert Jones of Bridgeville and Virginia Pope of Murrells Inlet, S.C.; and a sister-in-law, Naomi Davis of Detroit. Malik Smith: mksmith@post-gazette.com.

England’s Lewis Hamilton Wins the Canadian Grand Prix, Second Consecutive Formula One Victory

Lewis Hamilton raced to his second consecutive Formula One victory and his second Canadian victory in four years at the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton held off his teammate, Jenson Button, to take the season points lead from Mark Webber. He started from the pole position en route to his 14th career victory.

Top Ten Finishers

Former Three-Sport Student Athlete at Howard University, Tony Mack, Elected Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey 

Washington, D.C. – Tony Mack, a former three-sport student athlete at Howard University, has been elected the Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey.

Mack, who graduated from Howard in 1989, was a member of the football, wrestling and baseball teams from 1984-88.  The Howard University Hall of Fame inductee played baseball under former head coach Chuck Hinton.  He wrestled under former wrestling coach and current Howard alumni trustee, Dr. Paul Cotton.  Mack played football under former head coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Willie Jeffries.  Mack was also a teammate of current Director of Athletics, Charles Gibbs. He was a member of the 1987 football team that won the MEAC Title and finished 9-1.

Mack resides in Trenton with his wife Kara, son Tony II, and daughters, Carrington, Madison and Kennedy.   One of only two three sport athletes at Howard in the past 25 years, Mack will officially begin duties as Mayor on July 1.

Penn State Volleyball Standout, Megan Hodge, and Connecticut Basketball Star, Maya Moore, Co-Winners of the Broderick Cup as the College Female Athlete of the Year

The Broderick Cup is a sports award for college-level female athletes. The award is voted on by a national panel of more than 1,000 collegiate athletic directors. It was first presented by the late Thomas Broderick, owner of a sports apparel company, in 1977, with the first award going to Lusia Harris, who played basketball at Delta State University.

This year’s tie was the first since 1984, when the award was shared by Southern California’s basketball player, Cheryl Miller, and Florida’s swimmer, Tracy Caulkins.

Winners are chosen in each of the 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports; three additional athletes are recognized as the Inspiration Award winner and Division II and III Athletes of the Year. Nominees are selected not only for their superior athletic skills, but also for their leadership abilities, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.

Votes were tabulated from over 900 NCAA-member schools.

Recent Winners