The 6-foot-9 power forward, who was the 2024 All-Tidewater Player of the Year, chose the Rams over Butler and Miami.

“I chose VCU because of the coaching staff and how I have been treated since day one,” he said. “After my official visit, I didn’t want to visit nowhere else. I felt at home.”

Barksdale was unstoppable during the Class 5 state tournament as he averaged 17 points and 15 rebounds during the postseason, including a 17-point, 14-rebound performance on VCU’s home court — Siegel Center — to help the Wolverines beat L.C. Bird for their second consecutive state title.

Barksdale, who recorded 25 double-doubles last season, also was named the Class 5 Player of the Year, the Class 5 Region B Player of the Year and the Peninsula District Player of the Year.

He talked about he hopes to bring to VCU.

“Fans can expect a a great teammate with a hard work ethic,” he said. “As well as many wins, competing for an A10 championship and an NCAA run.”

Barksdale is rated a four-star prospect by ESPN and Rivals. He is rated the No. 5 senior in the state by ESPN and No. 9 by On3 and 247Sports. He is rated the No. 16 power forward nationally by Rivals, No. 19 by 247Sports, No. 20 by ESPN and No. 68 by On3. And he’s rated the No. 119 player nationally by Rivals and No. 143 by 247Sports.

He also had offers from Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Richmond, Norfolk State and Hampton.

They have risen from legendary athletes at their alma maters, to highly respected coaches in their best sports, to stewards of athletic traditions they revere. Both intimate that echoes of their youths reverberate each time they walk into the school gymnasium or onto the softball field.

In addition to helping Poquoson win Bay Rivers District and region championships as an infielder in softball 15 years ago, Yarbrough (Page Turner back then) scored more than 1,000 points and is considered one of the school’s best basketball players. She went on to twice earn All-West Virginia Athletic Conference honors in basketball for NCAA Division II Davis & Elkins.

Yarbrough returned to Poquoson nine years ago as a science teacher and assisted her high school coach, Jeff Gross, with the girls basketball team. She succeeded Gross and coached the Islanders with younger sister Sydney Turner (also a Poquoson and D&E standout) at her side.

“When I walk into the gymnasium, I think about the sprints that I ran from the time I was on junior varsity and about the Courtland game,” Yarbrough said, referring to the night she made two winning free throws in a region basketball tournament upset watched by an overflow crowd. “You’d think it would be missed layups, but what I remember most are the bonds I made with teammates and coaches as a player, and then coaching with Coach Gross and my sister.”

Hunter played basketball and volleyball for York, where she is perhaps the greatest softball player in school history. Before playing on scholarship for Longwood University, Hunter (then Amy Morgan) — the 1995 Daily Press Softball Player of the Year, with a 14-2 pitching record and .606 batting average — led York into a state softball semifinal in front of the largest crowd ever at her home field.

Since returning to York as a math teacher, Hunter served 17 seasons in two stints as head softball coach. She guided the Falcons to the Class 3 state final in 2023 in her last game as coach, a game in which her daughter, catcher Morgan Hunter, played her last game.

“Every time I walk into the gym, it takes me back to my days playing volleyball and basketball here,” Hunter said. “I remember my last practice in softball, being out on the field by myself and realizing it would be my last time out there in that (coaching) role.

“I became emotional because York softball had been such a big part of my life.”

York athletics will remain a big part of her life. She resigned the softball position to serve as assistant athletic director to John Ashley in 2023-24, his last as the Falcons’ AD before retiring.

Hunter said Ashley was invaluable in preparing her for her new role because of his organizational excellence and knowledge. Yarbrough moved into the head AD position in July after a year of assisting her mentor, Mike Whittington, who left Poquoson to become AD at Lakeland High in Suffolk.

Hunter and Yarbrough are proud to be females in the Bay Rivers District, where the other eight ADs are males, but neither makes a big deal out of that.

“In my mind, there’s not a lot that guys can do that females can’t do also,” said Yarbrough, a wife (to John) and mother of two boys, 5 and 3, with a third on the way.

Hunter, who has a son, 21, and three girls — ages 19, 18 and 16 — said, “I’m excited for my own three girls to see me in this role. It was important that they got to see when I was coaching, that I could work, coach and be a mother and wife (to husband Jimmy) — do all of it.

“I think it’s important now for them to see role models in a male-dominated position who are female.”

Hunter said because all four of her children played sports for York (youngest daughter Camryn is currently a girls soccer player) and was an athlete and coach at the school, she brings virtually every perspective possible to being AD.

“This job is everything I love,” she said. “It’s sports, it’s working with youth, it’s mentoring.

“It combines all of the things professional in my life with the purpose of making these kids better people.”

And, like Yarbrough, she’s doing so at a place deeply embedded in her heart.

“To come up as an athlete at Poquoson, then to become a coach and now athletic director, it’s a sense of giving back to a community that gave so much to me athletically and academically,” Yarbrough said. “I love what I do because I get to help our students succeed and I get to support our coaches and their teams be successful.

“It’s bittersweet to give up coaching, because Poquoson basketball has been a lot of my identity and will always hold a special place in my heart. But I tell myself I’m giving it up to make our school better.”

Other AD changes in Hampton Roads

The other AD change in the Bay Rivers District came at Bruton, where Bryan Weaver, the former AD at Denbigh, replaces Paul Heizer, who moved to Richmond-area J.R. Tucker.

Lucas Brown moved from his position as AD at Kecoughtan to become AD at Warwick, replacing Chad Smith, now the AD at Tidewater Community College. Shawn Redd vacated his position as Kecoughtan’s softball coach to become the school AD.

Paul Macklin, the longtime AD at Woodside, also moved within the Peninsula District to become AD at Phoebus upon the retirement of Maurice Ward. Eric Battle Sr. is Woodside’s new AD.

Among South Hampton Roads’ new ADs: Churchland’s Christen Chavis, Manor’s Justin Davis, Lakeland’s Mike Whittington, Deep Creek’s Todd Parker, Booker T. Washington’s Oronde Andrews, Tallwood’s Wendy Baylor, Green Run’s Kelley Rummel and Kempsville’s Zach Wolff.

Chris Harper, a former women’s assistant coach for Christopher Newport and Apprentice School, was named Virginia Peninsula Community College’s head coach.

Harper now is the athletic director at Peninsula Catholic High. The CNU alum has more than two decades of high school and college coaching experience.

He replaces Mariah Parker, who coached for one year before stepping down to concentrate on her family.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S SOCCER

ODU opens with victory vs. VCU

Old Dominion showed why it was predicted to repeat as the Sun Belt champion, defeating VCU 2-1 Thursday in Norfolk on a night of season openers across Division I women’s soccer.

Rhea Kijowski’s goal put the Monarchs ahead 1-0, and Yuliia Khrystiuk’s long-distance shot doubled the lead. The Rams replied late, but ODU hung on.

In other season openers:

Radford 4, William & Mary 1: The host Highlanders, who were predicted to win the Big South, broke away from a halftime tie against the Tribe despite being outshot 20-6 for the match. W&M’s Ivey Crain took eight of those shots.

June Stevens assisted three goals in less than 10 minutes. Helena Willson broke a 0-0 tie in the 48th minute, followed by Lilly Short’s goal in the 57th and Eileen Albers’ in the 58th.

The Tribe’s Peyton Costello averted the shutout in the 69th, but Radford’s Ava Kertgate completed the scoring in the 83rd.

Mount St. Mary’s 4, Hampton 0: Scot Vorwold’s coaching era with the Pirates began with a defeat in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Luisangely Navas converted a breakaway just 1:03 into the game. Annika Sproxton’s penalty kick in the 10th minute, followed by second-half goals from Sydoney Clarke and Joelle Hamel, clinched the Mount’s victory.

HU was outshot 20-9, with Mattie Edozie and Menchville High graduate Madisyn Strange taking two apiece for Hampton. Pirates goalkeeper Kaitlyn Howell made six saves, and teammate Avery John added two.

Virginia 2, Towson 0: Laughlin Ryan scored her first UVA goal in the 34th minute off a Yuna McCormack assist, and Maggie Cagle converted a penalty kick in the 85th in Charlottesville. It was Cagle’s 13th career goal.

Virginia Tech 4, Campbell 0: Anna Weir opened the scoring in the 24th minute in Blacksburg, and the Hokies followed with goals by Kylie Marschall in the 43rd, Natalie Mitchell in the 56th and Ava Arengo in the 90th.

The Hokies outshot the Camels 22-2.

James Madison 3, Villanova 0: Brooke Potter, a former Lafayette High star who transferred from Wake Forest, scored in the 44th minute for the visiting Dukes. Ariana Reyes scored in the 18th minute and assisted Shea Collins’ goal in the 26th.

Two Liberty players make Hermann watch list

Liberty senior goalkeeper Ainsley Leja and junior forward Ivy Garner were among the 44 selections for the Hermann Trophy preseason watch list.

The award goes to the top player in Division I, as determined by the United Soccer Coaches.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

ODU chosen fourth in Sun Belt East

Old Dominion was predicted to finish fourth in the Sun Belt’s seven-team East Division, and the Monarchs’ Myah Conway made the Preseason All-Sun Belt squad, as selected by the conference’s 14 head coaches.

Conway has been on the All-Sun Belt first team for two consecutive seasons. Last year, she led the Monarchs with 518.5 points and 451 kills and was second on the team with 93 blocks.

James Madison, paced by preseason all-conference pick Miette Veldman as an outside hitter, was named the East favorite, followed by defending conference champion Coastal Carolina. Georgia Southern, ODU, Appalachian State, Marshall and Georgia State were third through seventh.

Texas State, which won the West Division last year, was picked to repeat. The Bobcats were followed by Troy, South Alabama, Louisiana, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas State and Louisiana Monroe.

The individual preseason awards went to Coastal’s Jalyn Stout (Offensive Player of the Year), Texas State’s Jade Defraeye (Defensive Player of the Year), Troy’s Janelle Stuempfig (Setter of the Year) and Louisiana’s Mio Yamamoto (Libero of the Year).

The Monarchs will host Christopher Newport for an exhibition at 3 p.m. Aug. 23 before hosting the Quest for the Crown Tournament on Aug. 30-31 to open the regular season. The Monarchs’ first match in that will be at 11 a.m. Aug. 30 against Marist.

The Sun Belt Tournament will return to Foley, Alabama, from Nov. 21-24.

HOCKEY

Admirals re-sign Winnipeg native

The ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals re-signed forward Kamerin Nault, who had 11 goals and six assists in 29 games last season. He became the latest returnee among several players who helped Norfolk end a long playoff drought last season.

Nault is a native of Winnipeg, the home of the Admirals’ parent NHL and AHL clubs.

GOLF

UVA’s Chang ousted from U.S. Amateur

The University of Virginia’s Paul Chang was ousted in the U.S. Amateur Championship’s round of 32 Thursday in Chaska, Minnesota.
Chang, a rising senior from China, fell 2 and 1 to Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island, Florida, after winning in the round of 64. Mawhinney, a rising 11th-grader who is on the U.S. Junior National Team, was one of 16 golfers who moved on to play another match Thursday.

Trailing by a hole after nine, Mawhinney won the 10th with a birdie-3 and the 11th with a par-5 to move ahead. He clinched the victory when Chang bogeyed the par-3 17th.

SAILING

Norfolk Collegiate alums take national title

Former Old Dominion sailor Parker Purrington, a Norfolk native, and fellow Norfolk Collegiate alum Alex Schuck took first place last weekend at the Hampton One Design National Championships at Norfolk Yacht and Country Club.

Hampton native Tyler Brown, a Kecoughtan High graduate who competes for Hampton University, shared second place with Argentina native Sabrina Abdelrahman in the 17-team field.

Plummer led the Commodores to four state tournaments, including the Class 5 championship in 2019 and runner-up honors in 2022. He guided Maury to a 131-23 record in six seasons, qualifying for a region tournament every time. His teams won two region titles.

He was named a state Coach of the Year, a region Coach of the Year twice and an Eastern District Coach of the Year three times.

“Coaching at Maury has been incredibly rewarding,” Plummer said. “Being able to work with such great talent and dedicated athletes was a privilege. I am truly blessed to have been able to make a difference in the lives of young athletes and be a part of something truly special. I love my school.”

Plummer will be joining a staff led by interim head coach John Richardson III, who led Woodside to state Group AAA titles in 2004 and ’05 before spending more than a decade-and-a-half as an assistant with Old Dominion and Virginia Tech. Richardson graduated from ECSU in 1995.

Last season, ECSU finished 11-19, 7-11 in the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. No players for those Vikings were from Hampton Roads.

The event will contribute financially to high school athletics in the area and is dubbed “Home Is Where the Heart Is.”

“To have all of the top professional basketball players from the Hampton Roads area under one roof is exciting to me,” Whitley said in a release from NSU. “I believe this event will be a great one for the community, and I hope it inspires the youth to be the best they can be on their journey to success.”

Whitley, a former player for NSU and Booker T. Washington High, has lined up quite a collection of pros for the game.

According to the NSU release, the player list includes two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year Joe Bryant (from Lake Taylor High and Norfolk State), Marcus Evans (Great Bridge, Rice, VCU), Keyontae Johnson (Norview, Florida, Kansas State), Briante Weber (Great Bridge, VCU), Chris Clarke (Cape Henry, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech), Devon Hall (Cape Henry, Virginia), Dereon Seabron (Lake Taylor, North Carolina State), Anthony Barber (Hampton High, N.C. State), Chris Evans (Chesapeake native, Coastal Carolina, Kent State), Dontrell Brite (Nansemond River, Mount Olive), David McCormack (Norfolk Academy, Kansas) and Jermaine Marrow (Heritage, Kecoughtan, Hampton University).

The day will include a 3-point shooting competition, dunk contests, prizes, giveaways and more. A donation will be made to the high school basketball program of each contest winner’s alma mater.

Tickets can be found on eventbrite.com.

Cape Henry Collegiate announced that Justyce Swango Melendez, an assistant coach for the last two seasons, will be the head coach for the Dolphins’ girls, succeeding Lance Hurdle.

Melendez played for two Princess Anne state championship teams before competing for Georgetown and Lenoir-Rhyne, where she served as a team captain and earned her bachelor’s degree in business marketing.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

JMU’s Dobbs nominated for Good Works Team

James Madison linebacker Jacob Dobbs was named a nominee for the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, as announced by Allstate and the Wuerffel Foundation.

Dobbs joined the Dukes in January after a stellar five-year career for Holy Cross, in which he started all 43 games and was a two-time FCS first-team All-American. His 432 tackles were the most in Holy Cross history.

BASEBALL

Pilots sweep doubleheader in regular-season home finale

The Peninsula Pilots closed their regular-season home schedule in fine fashion Friday night, pounding Tri-City 10-5, 14-2 in a doubleheader before 3,578 at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton.

The Pilots (34-12) will finish the regular season Saturday night at Morehead City before returning Sunday for Game 1 of a best-of-three Coastal Plain League Petitt Cup semifinal series against the Wilmington Sharks.

Peninsula won the East Division’s first-half title on the last possible day to clinch a playoff berth, then ran away with the second-half championship. The Sharks (26-18) have clinched the division’s second-best overall record and thus will face the Pilots.

In Game 1, Carlos Pena was 2 for 2 with a home run and four RBIs, Jevin Relaford was 2 for 4 and scored twice, Grayson Fitzwater scored three runs, and Henry Garcia was 2 for 4 with a run and three RBIs.

Seven Peninsula pitchers threw an inning apiece. Brian Ereu, Darrell Fletcher-Knight, Olvis Genao and Dylan Morrill shut out the Chili Peppers in their innings.

In Game 2, seven Pilots — Cole Koonce, Marcus Dux, Mitchell Wittkamp, Nate Varnier, Jacob Flicek, Gardner Meeks and Caden Plummer — combined to pitch a two-hitter and survived seven walks. Wittkamp, who struck out all three batters he faced, gained the victory.

The Chili Peppers (18-29) went ahead 1-0 in the first inning, but Peninsula went ahead to stay with a four-run second and took a 12-2 lead in the fifth.

The Pilots had 18 hits, including a home run by Fitzwater and a double by Trey Morgan, who was 3 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs. Relaford was 4 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs, Corbin Shaw was 4 for 5 with four RBIs and a run, Fitzwater and Jorsixt Jimenez each had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Luis Delacruz was 2 for 2 with a run.

COLLEGE TENNIS

ODU, NSU players gain academic honors

Six Old Dominion women’s players, four men’s players and both teams as a whole were recognized as 2023-24 Division I Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athletes.

Alexandra Viktorovitch, Allison Isaacs, Lidiia Rasskouskaia, Maury High graduate Mya Byrd, Sofia Johnson and Victoria Matasova all had grade-point averages of 3.5 or better on the women’s squad. Aryan Saleh, Jakob Cadonau, Maxime Mareschal-Hay and Thomas Nelson accomplished that on the men’s team.

The Norfolk State men’s and women’s squads also earned team academic honors.

Amber Fuller, Irina Iurea, Laura Ruiz and Sabina Iurea were the women’s ITA Scholar-Athletes, while Antoni Pankowski, Boris Lunin and Jakub Solarski earned the accolades on the men’s side.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S GOLF

ODU reveals schedule

Old Dominion announced its schedule, which will include four fall tournaments, beginning with Purdue’s Boilermaker Classic Sept.2-3.
ODU will host the fourth annual Evie Odom Invitational on Oct. 4-6 at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach.

The Monarchs will play five spring tournaments before the Sun Belt Championship at Lakewood Golf Club in Point Clear, Alabama, from April 14-17.

HOCKEY

Admirals bring back McLean, Iverson

The Norfolk Admirals re-signed defenseman Andrew McLean for the 2024-25 season. The 29-year-old Waterford, Michigan, native had eight goals, 25 assists and a plus-19 rating in 65 games last season.

Earlier this week, the Admirals re-signed forward Keegan Iverson for the 2024-25 season. The Minneapolis native had six goals, five assists and a career-high 169 penalty minutes for them last season. Coach Jeff Carr called Iverson “a major piece of our leadership group” in a team release.

BASKETBALL

7 Cities Pro-Am tourney bracket set

Six teams are in the bracket for the Hampton Roads 7 Cities Pro-Am Basketball League’s one-day championship tournament Sunday at Norview High in Norfolk.

The first round will feature NewRunz against ECG at 11 a.m., followed by Team Brown against Harvey Lindsay at 12:30.

In the semifinals, First Class Real Estate will meet Sunday’s first victor at 1:45 p.m., followed by the Tidewater Wildcats against Sunday’s second winner at 3. The championship game is planned for 4:15.

VIRGINIA BEACH — Ron Jenkins coached many athletes over his 30 years in Virginia Beach.

He loved them all. But there are some he considers his son.

Mario Mullen was one of those kids.

So when Jenkins received a phone call Friday from Mullen’s brother to inform him that Mullen had died, he was stunned and heartbroken.

“Anytime you lose a kid who you taught and coached, it’s a hard pill,” Jenkins said. “But this one has a little more impact because I did so much with him. Mario is a big part of the Bayside family and he’s going to be truly missed. I give all my condolences to his mother, his wife and his children.”

Mullen, who was 50, had suffered a severe illness, but Jenkins thought he was getting better.

When Mullen’s brother called Jenkins on Friday, he thought it was going to be good news.

“I had talked to his brother and his mother and they said he had been making some improvement,” Jenkins said. “I got immediately optimistic about what I was hearing and that they may move him from ICU and put him into a rehab center. But then Friday night his brother was in tears. I’m thinking he was calling me to tell me they found a place, but he called to say Mario passed. It’s just a sad, sad day.”

Jenkins first heard about Mullen when he was in middle school. Back in those days, eighth and ninth grade were together at Bayside Junior.

“I kind of followed him from that time on. I could see then that there was a considerable amount of the athleticism about him, especially playing in the post area,” Jenkins said. “He came over to us as a sophomore, and he was immediately an impact for us. He just had a knack for playing inside the post.”

In his junior year, Mullen helped lead the Marlins to back-to-back state titles in 1990 and 1991, and was named the Group AAA Player of the Year in 1991.

He went to Old Dominion, where he was a four-year starter and played alongside current Monarchs coach Mike Jones and assistant Odell Hodge.

He earned All-Colonial Athletic Association freshman honors. In 1995, he had 16 points and 10 rebounds to help the Monarchs upset third-seeded Villanova in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game during his college career.

Mullen became a special education teacher in Hampton Roads, including at Maury High, where he also coached the junior-varsity team.

When Ocean Lakes High had a head coaching opening in 2020, Mullen applied.

“He got me to write him a letter of recommendation, and I did. And he got the job,” Jenkins said. “I wasn’t shocked. A lot of people who were good players don’t go into coaching because it’s hard to get people to play like them. But he did, and we shared a lot of ideas. I went to a lot of his games.”

Jenkins warned Mullen that taking over a struggling program can be difficult, as Jenkins learned firsthand at Bayside.

“I told him that he would have to weather those storms and have tough skin. Eventually, if you keep pushing your program, you’re going to be just like me,” he told Mullen. “You just have to have patience and don’t become despaired. You got to work hard at it, you can’t give up. And he showed that fortitude and he was determined that he was going to make it better.”

Ocean Lakes struggled in Mullen’s three seasons, but he never gave up hope of being able to turn the program around.

Former First Colonial coach Mark Butts remembers Mullen well.

“I got to know him as a friend in my last few years of coaching,” Butts said. “I coached against him when he played in junior high and high school.”

Recently, Mullen asked Butts, who is an artist, to talk to his son about art.

“He was going to art school and wanted to start doing shows,” Butts said. “In talking to his son, you could tell what type of man and father Mario was. This one really hurts.”

Jenkins, who stepped away from coaching in 2002, said he and Mullen shared something in common when both of their fathers were sick at the same time. Mullen’s father had an enlarged heart and was passing away. Jenkins’ father had stage IV lung cancer.

“One thing his father told me before I passed, and I’ll never forget this, he looked at me and said, ‘Coach Jenkins, take care of my boy,'” Jenkins said. “And I tried to adhere to that ever since. He always has been like a son to me. I’m just thankful that I had an opportunity to coach him. If I had 15 players like him every year, I’d still be coaching.”

Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, after whom Bethel’s gym is named, and former Olympic gold-medal runner Francena McCorory are among the most recognizable names. So is Dennis Kozlowski, who coached Bethel to football and track glory since the school opened.

Also named: former pro golfer Skeeter Heath, former Tennessee Volunteers and NFL defensive end Todd Kelly, wrestler Stephen Forbes, Iverson’s basketball teammate Tony Rutland, football player Michael Dunn, coaches Mike Bailey and Eddie Williams, and contributor Liberty Baptist Church.

The induction is set for 2 p.m. Aug. 31 at a site to be announced. Area sportscaster Craig Loper will be the emcee.

Aug. 30, when Bethel plays Nansemond River in football at 7 p.m., is the Alumni Night of Champions. All championship-team alumni are asked to participate and be part of halftime activities.

In a release, Bethel athletic director DeRocke Croom — who used to compete against Kozlowski’s teams as a Hampton Crabbers quarterback — said, “We want to recognize as many as we can in the coming induction years. This is long overdue and we want to recognize all good things within our school, which includes athletics.”

On Thursday, many of the top high school players in the country were in the Bethel High gym named after Iverson to display their one-on-one, 3-point shooting and dunk skills in what were called “The Iverson Games.” And, to be sure, the dunk prowess of Isaiah Abraham, who will play next season for NCAA champion Connecticut, and the 3-point shooting skills of Gicarri Harris, signed by national runner-up Purdue, drew huge applause.

But the biggest buzz of the night came when Iverson walked into the Allen Iverson Gymnasium.

“I’m never washing my hair again,”  a boy, who looked to be about 10, told his friends because Iverson had touched his head.

Iverson’s effect on the all-stars in his game is similar, although none were born when he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals. Among them is Carter Bryant, a 6-foot-8 forward from California who will play for Arizona next season.

Jai Manselle, who co-founded the Allen Iverson Classic six years ago, feels Bryant possesses as much star potential as any of the 24 players in Saturday’s game, which tips off at 7 p.m. at the Hampton Coliseum.

“Carter Bryant is unbelievable,” Manselle said. “From an athleticism standpoint, I would not be surprised if he has more upside than anybody in this game.”

Bryant said Iverson’s legacy is huge on players of his generation.

“He was a person who made it possible for us to do a lot of things,” Bryant said. “A lot of younger guys now are trying to have tattoos, and things of that nature, and wearing their jewelry everywhere, whether that’s a chain or earrings or hats.

“He was the person that made that OK. The legacy and imprint that he’s put on the game is never going to be taken away.”

Following the Iverson Classic, Bryant enters a college landscape vastly different than the one Iverson entered as a Georgetown University freshman 30 years ago. Few side perks came with a college basketball scholarship back then and players were required to sit out a season if they transferred schools.

Bryant will receive NIL (name, image and likeness) money for playing at Arizona and his freedom of movement from NCAA school to school, without having to sit out any time, is virtually unlimited.

“There’s a lot of things that can affect you because of NIL and the transfer portal, but especially the NIL,” Bryant said. “A lot of guys know they’re not going to have as long a career in the NBA, so they try to extend their money as long as they can in the college game.

“Hats off because that’s a great opportunity for them. But it’s hard because guys like me and other freshmen want to show our capabilities, be able to play and, God willing, take ourselves to the highest level.

“My biggest thing wasn’t always money. Gratefully, I’m going to get paid for things I do on and off the basketball court, but for me it’s about the love of the game and (money) didn’t play too much into my recruitment.”

Elijah Moore, a Syracuse recruit who made 13 3-pointers and 67 points in a high school game for his team in Long Island, New York, this season, said the transfer portal is a concern, but one he can handle.

“It’s pretty tough knowing guys are transferring, but I’m just preparing myself by staying in the gym and working day in and day out,” he said.

Like Bryant, Moore is thrilled to end his high school career in Iverson’s all-star game.

“I’m very honored to play under Allen Iverson, a great player and a great person,” Moore said. “He had a big influence on me growing up, seeing the things he’s done to change the game.”

Bryant said, “I’m so grateful because not everybody is picked to play in this game. It’s just 24 of us and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Marty O’Brien, mjobrien@dailypress.com

Allen Iverson Classic

What: Allen Iverson Classic All-American Game

Who: It features most of the top 15 boys high school basketball seniors in the country.

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Hampton Coliseum

Tickets: Iversonclassic.com