Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while thinking that someday Des Moines, Iowa, is going to have the same basketball shrine-like quality and sheen as French Lick, Indiana …
Strong returns to NFA
It was great to see former Norwich Free Academy football and wrestling star Khaleed Exum-Strong working with the Wildcats running backs at a recent practice. Strong, who looks like he can play on Sundays, has joined first-year coach Dylan Schroth’s staff this fall as an assistant coach.
“He’s one of the best modern running backs in NFA history,” Schroth said. “He’s holding up some high standards. He’s got those guys working hard every day.”
The Wildcats are going to rely on the “Four Horsemen” group of junior Luchen Lercius and sophomores Magnus King, Xavier Sebastian, and Jha’Meer Quinn-Haskins to carry the football after the graduation of Gage Hinkley, who is playing at Division I Rhode Island as a freshman linebacker.
ECC defensive coordinators are probably still having nightmares thinking about the Wildcats running back tandem of Marcus Outlow and Exum-Strong, who helped NFA reach the 2012 Class LL state championship game (a loss against Xavier).
Two years later, Exum-Strong rushed for 2,100 yards as NFA rolled to another Class LL title game appearance (a loss against Southington). His football accolades included two-time All-Conference, and All-State honors. He spent a prep year at Trinity Pawling and was selected All-Conference and All-New England.
“We’re just so fortunate to have a young man who exemplifies what we preach in terms of the hard work and dedication. He’s a role model,” former NFA football coach Jemal Davis told The Bulletin in 2014. “Everything that you want in a son, you see in Khaleed. He doesn’t take anything for granted, he’s not critical of anybody, leads by example. Those are the qualities that you want in your leader.”
Exum-Strong’s wrestling exploits at NFA included ECC, State Open and New England championships.
“The whole thing about Khaleed - he is like a gladiator,” former NFA wrestling coach Kirk Jenkins told The Bulletin in 2014. “He always lives (for) and rises to the occasion.”
In 2021, Exum-Strong earned the Northeast-10 Conference Most Valuable Player award after rushing for a league-best 140.6 yards per game and nine touchdowns in NE10 play, as well as a remarkable 7.3 yards per carry for Assumption College (Worcester, Mass.).
Exum-Strong finished his career (2017-2021) at Assumption second in school history in both rushing yards (2,862) and touchdowns (35).
College hoops bonanza
The place to be for college basketball fans this fall isn’t the Palestra, Pauley Pavilion, Rupp Arena, Allen Fieldhouse, Cameron Indoor Stadium or the Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx. It’s the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced that tickets for all regular-season college basketball games at Mohegan Sun are now on sale. (Tickets for the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement exhibition game on Oct. 14 between UConn and Rhode Island will go on sale Friday, Sept. 13.)
The 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena will host 20 college basketball games this season.
"Mohegan Sun will be an exciting home for hoops during the fall and winter, as we’re set to host both the UConn Men & Women, Providence, UMass, and so many other great college programs,” Jeff Hamilton, president & general manager of Mohegan Sun, said in a press statement. “Our partnership with the Basketball Hall of Fame has been remarkable, and we can’t wait to showcase this powerhouse lineup of basketball inside Mohegan Sun Arena, beginning October 14!”
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For more information, please visit hoophall.com .
Some of my favorite matchups include the Saturday, Nov. 23, tripleheader featuring Vermont vs. Delaware, Yale vs. Fairfield, and Temple vs. UMass; and a December 14 doubleheader of Providence vs. St. Bonaventure and my alma mater, Fordham, vs. Bryant.
Yankee Conference football
With Sacred Heart and Merrimack playing for the mythical Yankee Football Conference championship on Nov. 16, I’ve also decided to give the New England-based league, which folded in 1996, a rebirth. UConn’s 50-7 season opening loss against Maryland was the final straw.
You say “Big 12.” I say “Yankee Conference.”
Each week I will update my hypothetical 2024 Yankee Football Conference standings and crown a football champion at the end of the year. WEEK 1: Rhode Island 1-0; Maine 1-0; Delaware 1-0; New Hampshire 0-1; UMass 0-1; UConn 0-1.
Wild Card hopes fading
As of Friday afternoon, the slumping Boston Red Sox are 5.5 games out of the third and final Wild Card spot. The Sox were 70-70 entering Friday and their cold bats are showing no signs of heating up. This impending September swoon is going to be tough because I liked this team. The Sox have exceeded expectations. Until now.
But I'll be OK. I don't mind wearing a Minnesota Twins hat during the postseason.
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STUCK IN THE 70s
Loyal reader and Fordham classmate Stephen Feeley, who played basketball and baseball at Swampscott High School in Massachusetts, reminded me that Fran Sheehan, the bassist for rock and roll band, Boston , was a Swampscott High graduate who played on Big Blue’s 1968 Class B state championship basketball team. Sheehan’s teammate was legendary football, basketball and baseball star Dick Jauron.
Jauron also led the Big Blue football team to a state title in 1968 and was selected a Parade High School All-American. Jauron starred at Yale as a running back and safety and was named a First Team All-American in 1972. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jauron played eight seasons as a safety in the NFL with the Detroit Lions (1973-1977) and Cincinnati Bengals (1978-1980). He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1975.
Jauron became an NFL coach after retirement as a player. His head coaching career (1999-2009) included stints with the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills. He was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 2001 after guiding the Bears to a 13-3 record.
Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @jzanorNB .
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Zanor column: Former standout RB Exum-Strong returns to Norwich Free Academy
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