By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC column is dedicated to Putnam resident Carol Artiaco.  An avid sports fan and follower of local athletes, Artiaco can be found at Day Kimball Hospital where she serves as the head of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.  In her role, she’s assisted many former athletes on their way back to Sports Avenue. 

The Putnam Science Academy basketball program has had a positive influence on the lives of many young basketball players during its brief existence.  Each year the Mustangs have sent a number of players on to the college ranks, some to noted NCAA Division I schools and many to highly competitive Division II and III colleges.

Next season as the PSA Mustangs transition into the Woodstock Academy Centaurs under coach Tom Espinosa, it’s a certainty that the Centaur Field House will be filled with interested fans and a number of interested college coaches.  The Reason – Mamadou Diarra.  And Hamidou Diallo. Diarra intends to announce where he will play at a press conference on May 22 at Woodstock Academy.

Diarra, who is only 17 years old, has caught the eye of college coaches for a couple of years.  Since arriving in Putnam, a community Diarra has fallen in love with, the 6-foot, 8-inch big man has been visited by the likes of Ed Cooley of Providence College, Jay Wright of Villanova, Archie Miller of the University of Dayton and Glenn Miller from the University of Connecticut.  Recently the interest shown by UConn has been recognized by a feature story in the Hartford Courant.

According to sources close to Diarra, he’s narrowed his college choices down to the UConn Huskies and Virginia Commonwealth University.  It’s been rumored that Diarra, who carries a 3.7 GPA in the classroom, will be making his college choice known in the near future.  Diarra was a recent visitor to Storrs where he enjoyed playing pickup ball with some of the current Huskies. 

Diallo, who is a year behind Diarra in school, has also been wooed by the likes of Connecticut, Providence College, Temple University, Iowa State and Minnesota.  At 6-4, Diallo has tremendous athletic ability.  He’s one of the rising prep stars in the nation, ranked the No. 9 shooting guard in the country by ESPN.  Last season, Diallo was the leading scorer for coach Espinosa’s Mustangs.  Diallo is also a product of Queens, N.Y. 

Remember those names, Diarra and Diallo, they form the basis of next season’s Woodstock Academy Post-Graduate program and should provide some exciting basketball moments for local and area basketball junkies as well as college coaches.

CIAC Student/Athletes

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference held its 32nd CAS-CIAC Scholar Athlete Banquet at the Aqua Turf in Southington on Sunday, May 3.  The program recognizes high school senior student-athletes, one boy and one girl, from each member high school.  The recognition is based on academic and athletic careers that have been exemplary, whose standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.  

A number of local boys and girls were among the honorees.  Josyln Tellier and Chicago Rogers were the Ellis Tech selections; Kailyn Marcotte and Owen Guillot, Killingly; Adrienne Lorange and Brandon Pfiefer, Plainfield; Lynsay Dashnaw and Jacob Guertin, Putnam; Julie Szamocki and Eric Magoffin, Tourtellotte; and Shaina Blain and Graysen DeLuca, Woodstock Academy.

College Baseball Coaches Making The News

As the college baseball season winds down two coaches from Southeastern Connecticut with high recognition in northeastern Connecticut have been making the headlines of the sports pages across Connecticut.

Roger Bidwell, who’s been the baseball coach and athletic director at UConn – Avery Point for 34 years, recently recorded his 1000th career victory for the Pointers.  Bidwell has a sparkling 1000-385-7 record during his tenure.  The milestone win came as Avery Point was on its way to capturing the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II New England Tournament.

The next day Bidwell didn’t waste any time in picking up win Number 1001 as he advanced his team to the NJCAA DII East District Tournament, which the Pointers were hosting in New London.  The winner will move on to the NJCAA World Series.

Meanwhile, across town at Mitchell College, former Plainfield High School standout Travis Beausoleil was leading Mitchell College to the NCAA Division III Regional playoffs in Pennsylvania.  This season the Mariners under coach Beausoleil finished the regular season at 28-6.  Beausoleil, who is only 28 years old, is quickly making a name for himself as one of the nation’s best young coaches.  He’s 85-51-2 since taking over the Mariners fortunes in 2012.

Redmen Shine at Wildcat Invitational

The Wildcat Invitational, put on annually by Norwich Free Academy and hosted at Mohegan Sun Country Club is recognized as one of Connecticut’s premiere high school golf events.  Led by Drew and John Aitken, who shot 76 and 77 respectively over the par 72 layout, Killingly missed notching the championship by one stroke.

The Redmen posted a team score of 316 and were beaten by East Catholic High School with an aggregate score of 315.  (East Catholic is coached by my Assumption College classmate Tom Malin, who earlier in the week won his 500th victory as the East Catholic golf coach.)  Connor Fillmore (80) and Connor Liebscher (83) rounded out the Killingly scoring.

Among the local teams, Woodstock Academy led by Seth Semmelrock (80) finished 10th.  Marianapolis finished 16th and Plainfield 17th.

Former Mustangs in the News

A pair of former 2013 Putnam Science Academy Mustangs, who spent two years playing on the junior college level, has signed National Letter of Intent papers to play NCAA Division I basketball next season. 

Mariega Clarke, who played at Carl Albert State College, is headed to the University of Texas-Arlington.  The 6-5 Clarke, who hails from New York, scored 226 points during his one season in Putnam.  He ranks 30th on the Mustangs’ all-time scoring list.

Ugur Hortum, who comes from Istanbul, Turkey, will be playing at Grambling State University in September.  One of PSA’s initial big men at 6-11, Hortum spent two years at Lewis and Clark Community College after leaving Putnam Science Academy.  While at PSA, Hortum recorded 145 points, placing him 35th on the all-time scoring list. 

Collabello Trending Now

You may not recognize the name Chris Collabello but to Assumption College alumni he’s creating smiles.  Collabello is the first Greyhound in the history of the school to make it to the Major Leagues.  After spending time with the Minnesota Twins two years ago, he’s emerged with the Toronto Blue Jays.  Since being called up, Collabello has been on fire, hitting .476 after five games.  He’s a former member of the Can-Am League Worcester Tornadoes, where he played for former Red Sox catchers, Rich Gedman and Roger LaFrancois.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: On Memorial Day, take a moment to remember those brave men and women who gave their lives in defense of our freedom.

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