Christian Soto, a 6-7, 220 pound forward from Miami Christian School has
announced his intent to attend UC Riverside in the fall, Head Coach David
Spencer said Thursday.

A native of Puerto Rico, Soto averaged 16 points and eight rebounds for the
Knights, helping them to an 18-12 overall record and to the regional finals.
He was named to the state's 1-A honorable mention team by the Florida Sports Writers Association in 2005, the second consecutive year he received the honor.

"Although Christian will not turn 18 until late October he has a basketball
maturity beyond his years," Spencer said. "He possesses a feel for the game
that is difficult to teach and he made a very positive impression on his future teammates when he visited."

"Christian runs the court well and handles the ball as well as much smaller
players which should afford him opportunities to garner playing time very quickly," Spencer added.

An outstanding student, Soto is planning majoring in biochemistry. As the
signing period has concluded, Soto did not sign a letter of intent, but rather accepted the Highlanders' grant-in-aid offer.

Soto is the fourth player to commit to the Highlanders, joining guards Chris
Johnson (LA Jordan HS), Joey Knox (Westchester HS) and Sean Cunningham (Daniel Murphy HS) who each signed letters of intent in May.
 

***

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss head basketball coach Rod Barnes has announced that he has recommended the hiring of Grant Pate for the vacant assistant coach position. The appointment is pending approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning.
           

Pate has been with the Rebel program for the last six years, and had been serving as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations.
           

 “The chemistry of the staff is excellent right now, and Grant is the person that helps bring us all together,” Barnes said. “Grant’s loyalty and work ethic are unmatched. He has accomplished everything I’ve ever asked, and I know he’ll succeed in this capacity.”

Pate, a 1990 Ole Miss graduate, returned home to Oxford in August 1999, joining Barnes’ staff as the program’s administrative assistant. During his time with the Rebels, Ole Miss has recorded four winning campaigns and advanced to four postseason berths.
           

Pate came to Ole Miss from Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Ark., where he was an assistant coach on the Tiger staff since 1994. While at Ouachita Baptist, Pate helped direct the Tigers to the NAIA Division I postseason in 1995, 1996 and 1997. In the 1996-97 campaign, the Tigers won 17 games (17-10 record), the team’s most victories in 10 seasons. Pate also helped the Tiger program sign Jarris Kentle, who was named the MVP of the 1999 Arkansas Class 4A state tournament.
            

Prior to his time at Ouachita Baptist, Pate served as an assistant coach at Arkansas-Monticello from 1992-94. In his two seasons on the Runnin’ Weevils staff, Pate helped guide Monticello to consecutive appearances in the NAIA postseason in 1993 and 1994.
            

Following his first season at UAM in 1992-93, he assisted in the recruitment of two highly-touted players in Chris Daniels and Johnnie Reece. Daniels was named the MVP of the Arkansas High School All-Star Game in the summer of 1993, while Reece was a McDonald’s and Street & Smith’s high school All-America pick. The Runnin’ Weevils won 18 games in each of Pate’s two seasons and set 12 school records.
            

Following graduation from Ole Miss in 1990, Pate was named a graduate assistant coach at the University of West Alabama, where he joined Barnes on Rick Reedy’s staff.
            

As an undergraduate at Ole Miss, Pate was a member of the Rebel basketball program for three seasons from 1987-90. He served as equipment manager his first season (1987-88), and then was a student assistant his final two years (1988-89, 1989-90). The 1989 Rebel team received a bid to the NIT, and the 1990 squad advanced to the finals of the SEC Tournament.
 

***

Philadelphia, PA - La Salle University, the Big 5 and the entire Philadelphia sports community suffered another crushing blow when legendary public address announcer John McAdams passed away in his sleep early Thursday morning.

McAdams passed just hours after serving as the official scorer for the Reading Phillies' game against the New Britain Rock Cats on Wednesday night in Reading, PA.

"Johnny Mac" was one of the most beloved figures in all of the region.  It was always difficult to answer the question; "What does John do for a living?" because doing so would mean reading off an endless list of teams, radio stations and jobs he filled or worked with.  There was no one word or phrase that described him.

His first love was his Big 5 public address work in which he served as the announcer for all Big 5 City Series games and has been the primary PA announcer for the La Salle Explorers for over 20 years.  He has also served as the primary announcer for most of the University of Pennsylvania's teams for over a quarter-century.

It would be impossible to mention all of the roles he has played in the region's sposrtscape, but suffice it to say; if it was a collegiate, scholastic or professional sporting event in Philadelphia, New Jersey or Delaware - Johnny Mac was probably involved.

Some of his most notable work beyond the Big 5 came as the public address announcer for the Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league baseball team since the club's inception, the official scorer for the Philadelphia and Reading Phillies, the press box public address announcer for the Philadelphia Eagles and the voice of the Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championships. 

Beyond his exellence with the microphone, John was truly one of the most lovable individuals you could ever meet.  He routinely called to chat about games or players or whatever else came to mind but would always sneak in a one-liner or persoanlized joke that would put you in stitches.

Personally, I would like to express my gratitude for the friendship and guidance that I received from John.  Although I knew of the legend for years I first met him while interning for the Reading Phillies in 1996.  In addition to the many different jobs he was working, on his "off nights" he would drive up to Reading and sit in on the Phillies' radio broadcasts - without compensation.  It was at this point that John began taking a personal interest in my career.  Like many other young broadcasters and sports information professionals, John took it upon himself to guide us and, if needed, reprimand us for not working hard enough at our careers.  It was not odd for John to call me early in my career and ask, "Did you send that resume up to [Binghamton]?".  If the answer was "no" or "not yet" he'd quckly scold me and urge me to get going but always remind me that he only cared because he thought I was talented and really wanted to see me succeed.   This sort of guidance was awe-inspring for a young and impressionable recent graduate.  He has been one of my closest colleagues since and an even dearer friend. 

Johnny Mac died just months after one of his good friends and fellow icon Bob Vetrone left us.  It is difficult to imagine celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Big 5 without two of its greatest men.

John is survived by his beloved wife, Nancy who often accomanied him to his many events.

Good bye John.