Keith Pompey has been an Inquirer reporter since September 2004, focusing on high school sports. He was named the 2007 Media Person of the Year by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. Keith is also the Pennsylvania representative on the McDonald's All-American High School boys' basketball contact committee.
On Fridays in the fall, Pompey appears on NBC-10's "News at 4" to analyze the region's top high school football programs and players.
He is a native Philadelphian and a University of Pittsburgh graduate.
Read our high school sports coverage.
NIFTY FIFTY
There are no limits.
Jordan article was excellent
Carla Williams should think about the student athletes that are still at Penn Wood . Why not be happy for them? And before she writes the next time she should forget about personal feelings or rumors she my have heard and GET HER FACT STRAIGHT. As a reporter MR. Pompey your facts were absolutely correct and the additional fact included here are a matter of record . Check any of the sources cited .
Is Penn Wood's Lenny Jordan truly a savior?
After reading the article about the Penn Wood Track Team, I can only imagine that either you are friends with Lenny Jordan and Penn Wood athletic director Rap Curry or they are cashing in a favor. Any journalist worth a grain of salt would base such an article on the achievements of the team since Lenny has taken over the coaching duties. However, if you researched before you printed you would have found that last year during the Indoor Championships at Penn State, Penn Wood had the State Champion in the 200 meter dash and the team place 6th out of over 300 schools in PA and they have been very successful throughout the years. You would also have known that the girl that he recruited from Penn Wood, who should have won the 200, was beaten by the Penn Wood runner. You would also have known that the team didn’t score one point this year at States. You also mentioned Nicole Leach and LaTavia Thomas as Mr. Jordan’s successes; however, these girls were recruited and coached by Tim Hickey, who left the coaching position at William Penn to coach these girls.
As a journalist, you should have asked yourself, if Mr. Jordan has been taking his team to Nationals for 11 years, why did the 12th year get him fired? And how well did Penn Wood do at Nationals this year? Perhaps West Catholic was finally ready to stop the “win at any cost” and the “rules are made to be broken” attitude.
If the article was written because Penn Wood attended and will attend the National Championships then your readers should know that this meet is open to any team and that there are no qualifying standards.
But know this, Mr. Pompey, as the former coach of the Penn Wood Girls Track Team; I am very offended by your article. Mike Wilwol, (the former boys coach) and I worked very hard to develop our teams and we were very successful. We had to spend plenty of our time and money to take these kids to meets when the buses would not show or the kids didn’t have money for food when we were at State meets or when they didn’t have shoes to run in, Mr. Wilwol even took Mike Hurley to UConn for a college visit when he couldn’t get his family to take him. Money seems to be flowing freely for Coach Lenny, which was not the case for us. We also never chose to go to Nationals because we did not want our kids to be humiliated by teams that would blow them away, which is what happened at Nationals during the Indoor season. Shame on you and Rap Curry for suggesting to your readers that Lenny Jordan is some kind of Penn Wood savior and that this team was not credible or proud before him.
Carla Williams
To answer your question, yes I did my research. I am also aware that Brittany Wallace won the 200 meters at the 2007 Pa. indoor state meet. This article was not written to offend you or the former boys' coach. It just stated that Jordan, the Inquirer's 2006 Southeastern Pennsylvania girls' track coach of the year, is the new coach at Penn Wood.
Here's a link to the article in question:
La Salle Penn Relay DMR team
Next Basketball
Plse Respond
Tyreke Evans Where?
Do you have a "gut feeling" where you think he ends up? Nationally, all signs point to Memphis who has this guy called "world wide Wes" who has a tremendous influence on past and present recruits in regard to Memphis. Did Tyreke really say he was leaning to Villanova or was that your interpretation? I certainly feel that Villanova is the better fit for him as Memphis will lose three very good players to the NBA and Nova plays in a much better conference. Thanks for your time.
Your article on Tyreke Evans baffles me.
You could argue that no coach in the NCAA has done less with more talent than Jim Calhoun. Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, and Rudy Gay all lost to George Mason with an opportunity to play for a National Championship. Prior to this year's tournament he called out his team and said that he didn't like the team. That they didn't care. That's encouraging for a coach to say to a group of 19 and 20 year olds. Then they went out and lost to San Diego. After the loss he said that the loss hurt him more than it hurt the players.
But this is where you would send a kid.
I am not even sure what rationale you gave. Because Richard Hamilton is a good NBA player? That makes sense? I am pretty sure Speedy Claxton appreciates all that Jay Wright did for him.
This is in response to your asking me where I would send a kid:
If a kid wanted to be an NBA all-star, I would send him to a place known for producing NBA all-stars. Just like I would send him to a great medical school if he wanted to become a doctor. There's a very good chance that Tyreke Evans will go to Villanova. His staying in the Philadelphia area is the best thing for local college basketball fans. But is it really the best thing for him? I know Jay Wright is a great basketball coach. And he did produce Speedy Claxton, Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry. But, 12 of Jim Calhoun's former Huskies are playing in the NBA.
Even though Calhoun underachieved against George Mason, he's a renowned coach. The Hall of Famer has two national championships, six Big East titles and over 700 career victories. And the three players you spoke of - Marcus Williams, Josh Boone and Rudy Gay - are all in the NBA. Evans' goal is to join them.
Like I stated in my column, UConn is known for producing standout NBA guards. Why not go there?
04/08/08
high school baseball
khalif Wyatt#5(norristown)
I'm not to going to answer your question at the expense of hurting a basketball player's feelings. Just look at the Nifty Fifty. The Nifty Fifty is based on how players project on the next level. Scholarship offers and major-college interest are factored in. The Nifty Fifty includes players from South Jersey, Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania suburbs.
State Championship
Terrelle Pryor is a bit arrogant (the WPIAL/PIAA golden boy) and a hot head.(Starting fights, taunting fans, disorderly conduct citations, etc.)
TP has very thin skin. It doesn't take much to get him mad.
I sure hope S. Mansion comes through with a
big win. From what I've read this team has heart and a humble spirit.
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