Published: March 16, 2008 12:53 am         

Mr. Wells, Cokey true friends of Alhambra

Last year on Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament Sunday we were saying goodbye to our friends in Philadelphia, only to get the chance to welcome them home again for at least one more time. This year the ACIT says farewell to two of our all-time favorite coaches in William Wells and Cokey Robertson. Both veteran coaches of the Baltimore Catholic League, however, have made it quite clear it’s not really goodbye.

“My kids will be back, that’s for sure,” said Wells, who virtually founded the St. Frances Academy program 28 years ago. “And I’ll be back, too. Every year. We love the Alhambra and all of the good it does for so many special people. We love the people here.

“I’ll come back here every year.”

They call him Coach Wells, of course, and for a great reason. He, along with the late Ray Mullis of Cardinal Gibbons, has won more Baltimore Catholic League tournament championships (six) than any other coach. But there is something about Coach Wells’ presence that leads you to think of him as Mr. William Wells.

Goodness knows how many lives he’s saved over the years by keeping his kids involved in sports and in school, and off the streets. Here in Cumberland, we will miss this fine gentleman — his understated manner, his composure, his dignity and his truth — very much.

But, as Mr. William Wells said, “I’ll be back. Every year.”

So, too, will our own Cokey Robertson, who played his high school basketball at Central and Valley high schools. Coke coached his final game two weeks ago in the BCL tournament after 47 seasons, 40 at the high school level and the past 34 at St. Maria Goretti in Hagerstown.

He finishes as the second-winningest coach in Maryland history at 781-611 (.561) behind another fellow we all know and love, former DeMatha coach Morgan Wootten, who went 1,274-192 (.868). Robertson's 1,392 games coached are second to Wootten’s 1,466.

How fitting is it that both Cokey and Coach Wootten were involved in one of the most memorable ACIT games in history, the 1987 semifinal game in which DeMatha topped Goretti, 60-59? Two of the best guards in America played in that game, DeMatha’s John Gwynn and Goretti’s Rodney Monroe.

Gwynn, who went on to play for Connecticut, was the MVP of that tournament, leading the Stags to the title. Monroe, the outstanding player of that ’87 ACIT, finished his high school career and remains the leading career scorer in Maryland prep basketball history. He went on to star at N.C. State.

Many thanks to William Wells and Cokey Robertson for all they’ve done to help make the ACIT the greatest tournament of its kind.

You both know where to find us, so don’t be strangers.

Terps Talk

Overheard while sitting with out-of-town coaches in the ACIT hospitality room Thursday night while watching Maryland’s latest men’s basketball collapse: “Maryland doesn’t have any shooters, any big men, or anybody who can play point guard.

“Other than that, they’re OK.”

Also overheard: The growing speculation is freshman Terp Dino Gregory, former Mount St. Joseph center, will transfer to Morgan State.

If Maryland is able to bring in the people they want to next year (shooters, big men and point guards one would hope), somebody on the current roster is going to have to relocate.

Above the NIT?

We’ll say the same thing we said two years ago as Maryland fans are again saying the Terps should decline playing in the NIT because they have nothing to gain from it. Hey, if anybody in the world invites this Maryland team to play in their tournament, the Terps need to hop on the bus and get there before the people extending the invitation change their minds.

Look, it’s not as though this Maryland team is the 1974 Maryland team that turned down an NIT invitation when it failed to reach the 25-team NCAA field. That Maryland team was a great team, one of the three best teams in the country, and missed out on the NCAAs because only the conference champions advanced then.

In the ACC that year that team was N.C. State, which beat Maryland in overtime 103-100 in the ACC championship game, arguably the greatest college basketball game ever played. That was the N.C. State team of David Thompson that went on to defeat defending national champion UCLA (the Terps lost at UCLA in the season opener 65-64), and win the national championship themselves. Sorry, but I just don’t see Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson, Virginia or Boston College winning the national championship this year.

The 1974 Maryland team, in fact, had nothing to prove by playing in the NIT, so everybody in college basketball, including the NIT people, understood. It would be hard for anybody to understand, though, how a team that can’t hold a single double-figure second-half lead, a team that had third place in its conference, not to mention an NCAA bid, locked up less than a month ago but blew it, could be arrogant enough to turn down an invitation to any tournament that wanted them.

Gary Williams is not arrogant enough to turn down the NIT, not with six freshmen on the roster. No, it’s the entitled Maryland fans who are the arrogant ones.

Hey, if you don’t want to watch the NIT, don’t. Can’t blame you for that. Only the team that wins it can paint it any rose color it wishes to, but in this day and age of the 65-team NCAA field, the NIT is a tournament about nothing.

Although you can’t help but believe winning it last year certainly helped West Virginia this year.

Comcast still on

Just talked to Sports On TV Guy, and he wants everybody to know that, yes, he understands Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic was taken off the dial of Cumberland Atlantic Broadband cable subscribers. But he also wants everybody (presumably in Cumberland) to know that viewers in Frostburg, Georges Creek and surrounding West Virginia communities still receive Comcast. So, hel-looo? That’s why CSN is still listed in the Sports on TV listings. Duh.

For those of you who are infuriated by no longer receiving CSN and then having to pick up the paper to see what you’re missing, the natural order of balance isn’t confined to the four walls of your den. There’s a big wonderful world out there that also involves a lot of other people. Seriously.

Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.