Hi Tom. First, my condolences to you and you family for your loss. I've been around here long enough I remember covering Rodney when he was an athlete at Urbana High School. I can't imagine anything worse than parents having to bury a child, even if that child is an adult. It's not the way it should be. I'd like to give kudos to WCIA for the tribute it did Monday on its 6 p.m. newscast. It was very fitting and very well done. I don't think you can truly measure how many lives a person like Rodney touched and how much his influence will continue to be felt for years. I posted a blog on the News-Gazette web site last week and my main point was that he will be remembered for years, not just by family, but by those who were fortunate enough to know him. To me, that is the biggest tribute, that his memory and his good deeds will remain a positive focus for people. I expect there will be a tremendous turnout today for the remembrance at Stone Creek from 5-7 p.m., followed by the service at 7 p.m. I was amazed, some years back, at the turnout for my mother's visitation and she was a person who wasn't in the public eye, but yet there were a steady stream of well-wishers throughout. I have no idea if there's any truth to this, but I remember one person telling me that for everyone I saw in that line, there were 10 other people that wanted to be there, or thought about being there, but for whatever reason could not make it. I'm sure there will be hundreds more tonight that will be there "in spirit."

Sorry for rambling. Now for your question. I've tried to stay optimistic throughout these weeks since the high school season ended, but to me, the question for the coach now becomes, Who are you waiting for? If you want him, make an offer. If not, let him know so he can pursue other offers before those schools go a different direction and use up all of their scholarships. There comes a time when you can't continue to string a teen-ager along, obviously one who would love to play for his hometown college. It's not fair that he wait and wait while other schools decide to move forward without him. He could wind up going to Illinois as a walk-on by default because all other schools have filled their needs. That wouldn't be right. I really hope that something significant happens this weekend on his official visit, which Cameron will work around a wrestling event which I believe will mark the end of his regular season.

Hi Caleb. I think I’ve figured out what Fisher is doing with its Hall of Fame. When it was started in 2009, athletes from the beginning of time through the 1960s were inducted. There were 17 members in the charter class. In the second year, only athletes from the 1970s were inducted and there were 15 selections. Last year, they turned to the 1980s and had 16 choices. This year, for the 1990s there were 12 picks. I believe they are taking a year off from inductions and in early 2015, they will induct athletes from 2000-2010. Granted, it’s a lot of inductions for the first four years. When I think of a Hall of Fame, I don’t just look at the here and now, but 50 years down the road. I would much prefer a charter class of the top seven or eight athletes, regardless of era, and then subsueqent classes of no more than four. In that way, you still have outstanding athletes to recognize 50 years from now. Maybe (hopefully) in the future, there will be fewer inductions on an annual basis, making sure the Hall will indeed be a true honor.

My all-time Area Honor Roll? Ten people? Good grief, what better way to get hundreds of people angered within minutes when they don’t see their name or that of one of their children! There are dozens AND dozens of truly deserving candidates and I’ve been racking my brain to come up with a representative list of the area elite.
Here’s what I have, considering only athletes who have already graduated from high school. To be fair, I’m listing five male athletes and five female athletes with a list of three “near-misses” for each gender.
In truth, there’s more like a hundred near misses and I apologize to those — you know who you are — who could just of easily have been on my list. In my mind, there was only one “lock” on this list.
For our coverage area, which ranges from the state line on the east to LeRoy on the west and from just south of the Kankakee area to the north to almost as far south as Mattoon, there has not been a better basketball player than Centennial’s Roger McClendon. There’s a reason he’s the only McDonald’s first-team All-American from this area. He had all the skills, ball handling, shooting, defense, rebounding, passing and was an outstanding defender. On top of that, he was as courteous and humble as any athlete I've ever covered.

Here goes:
MALES (listed alphabetically)
Keon Clark    Danville    1993
Darrin Fletcher    Oakwood    1984
Kirk Mammen    Urbana    1987
Roger McClendon    Centennial    1984
Todd Peat    Champaign Central    1982
    
MALES (Near misses)
(also listed alphabetically)
Dusty Burk    Tuscola    1998
Dennis Graff    Gibson City    1972
Dennis Stahl    Champaign Central    1983

FEMALES (listed alphabetically)
Bonnie Blair    Centennial    1982
LaToya Bond    Urbana    2002
Gia Lewis    Centennial    1997
Sydni Meunier    Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley    2012
Courtney Porter    Shiloh    1990

FEMALES (Near misses)
(also listed alphabetically)
Kandy Lindsey    Bismarck-Henning    1999
Terra Ramsey    Westville    2007
Yolanda Smith    Rantoul    1998