Court stars of tomorrow

Hurley, the former Seton Hall basketball standout and brother of Duke legend Bobby Hurley, coached the 6-foot-5 guard on the U.S. All-Stars team at the Capital Classic in College Park this past weekend.

“He’s got a star quality about him,” Hurley said of the Baltimore St. Frances star. “I’ve coached some great players on the high school level that carry themselves with that same confidence and personality.”

Mosley scored 16 points with six assists and four rebounds in the game and was extremely deceptive. He’s methodically slow with the ball, but routinely blows past defenders. He is a finisher with an unselfish streak who admittedly needs to work on his perimeter game.

Among other local players of note:

» Georgetown fans also got an eye-full of recruits like Baltimore’s 6-foot-11 Henry Sims (17 points and seven rebounds), 6-foot-8 Chris Braswell (12 points, 11 rebounds) of Prince George’s County and Bishop O’Connell’s Jason Clark (16 points).

Sims could sit behind one of the nation’s top recruits, Greg Monroe, next year, but showed improvement around the basket and an ability to run up and down the floor. He needs to bulk up, but if Monroe leaves school after a year or two, Sims could be ready for a bigger role.

» Slashing point guard Andre Cornelius (13 points, eight assists) seemingly has big-time talent. But at 5-foot-11, he wasn’t going to land at a major college program. For which George Mason is thankful.

Hurley called him “a great, great steal.”

“I guess that’s why [Mason] wins as much as they do, because they’re really good evaluators of who they can get and he’s a great get,” Hurley said of Cornelius.

He needs to improve from the perimeter. But he knows that and said he is shooting 1,000 times a day.

Millar might need to ease up a bit

1 Pipe down! Brett Favre will keep making life tough on himself if he continues to leave open the possibility of a return. Reporters will continue to pester him about this topic the more he suggests he’d return under certain circumstances. He needs to watch his words.

2 Walk him! Joe Girardi learned a valuable lesson Saturday night. With runners on second and third, he opted for Mike Mussina (he of the 84 mph fastball these days) to pitch to Manny Ramirez. Who then drilled a two-run double. Girardi should have known better.

3 Be careful! Gilbert Arenas recently blogged that he wanted Cleveland, based on the Cavs’ struggles. But do you really want to rile up LeBron James? Gil is a terrific player … who has never advanced past the second round.

4 Ease up! Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar has played in all 12 games so far this season. Considering he’s 36, batting .227 and hasn’t played in more than 140 games since 2004, it’s time to Cowboy Down a little.

5 Whiff! Any talk of a Grand Slam by Tiger Woods evaporated Sunday. After he wins the next three majors, however, he’ll return to Augusta for a possible second Tiger Slam. Or not.

NFL Network searches for the right guy

Bryant Gumbel was a poor match for what the NFL Network wanted. In essence, they turned a receiver into a quarterback by forcing Gumbel to become a play-by-play guy when he’s better as a studio host.

Now, onto his possible replacement for the Thursday night games. Based on interviews with numerous broadcasting insiders, The Examiner’s Jim Williams compiled a list of candidates.

The leader could be Spero Dedes, whom apparently is loved by NFL Network bigwigs and who has handled preseason telecasts the past two years.

Cris Collinsworth, who is the color analyst, could be switched to the other role and teamed with Marshall Faulk. Collinsworth was nearly partnered with John Madden on NBC, according to NBC President Dick Ebersol.

Kenny Albert  and Thom Brennaman, both of whom work for FOX. Brennaman could be on the short list, sources said.

Finally, James Brown might handle CBS Sunday hosting duties and call Thursday games.

Column inches

Opinions from around the nation on the hottest topics in sports:

» [Trevor] Immelman is neither Rich Beem nor Shaun Micheel; he’s not Ben Curtis or Todd Hamilton. Take nothing away from some of this decade’s unlikeliest major champions, but each should be considered a bigger shock to the system that summarily churns out major champions of single-name proportions than the most recent entrant into the club.

— Jason Sobel writing about the staying power of Masters champion Trevor Immelman (ESPN.com).

» After what happened last year, it’s never too early to get the attention of these Mets. That wouldn’t be pressing the panic button; it’s more like pressing the play button. The Mets should be able to handle the kind of competition they’ve come up against. They haven’t played anything close to the ‘27 Yankees yet.

— Kevin Kernan on the sloppy plays of the Mets (New York Post).

» It had nothing to do with Kevin Durant’s heroics and everything to do with the fans, a near-capacity crowd standing and chanting: “Save Our Sonics.” It’s been heard here before, but not to this magnitude, and not for this long. Fans were loud and bonded as one, and if you weren’t moved, you weren’t breathing.

— Jim Moore on potentially the final minutes of the Sonics in Seattle before moving to Oklahoma City. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

» The Flyers needed this game from Biron. It was clear from Game 1 that they were capable of beating Washington. Yes, the best player in the series is Washington’s phenomenal Alex Ovechkin. But the Flyers handled him for most of Game 1 and did an even better job [Sunday].

— Phil Sheridan writing about Philadelphia goaltender Marty Biron (Philadelphia Inquirer).

On the record

“I think it’s the right thing to do, because he’s going to be the top pick in the draft.”

— Kansas State coach Frank Martin about star freshman forward Michael Beasley.

“It’s a bunch of [expletive]. I hope his coworkers kick the [expletive] out of him.”

— Hank Steinbrenner, on the worker who buried a David Ortiz jersey at the new Yankee Stadium.

Three up

Lorena Ochoa »

Does she ever lose anymore?

Chicago White Sox »

Has the hangover from the 2005 World Series finally ended?

Los Angeles Lakers »

Team in first, Kobe deserves MVP

Three down

Justin Rose »

Faded like a weekend duffer’s tee shot

2007 MLB Playoff teams »

Five of 10 under .500

New York Yankees »

Look who’s afraid of a little curse