By Keith McShea
Rasaun Young is the all-time leading scorer for the University at Buffalo basketball program.
But these days, he's known -- very well-known -- as the head coach of New Rochelle's boys basketball team.
New Rochelle was thrust into the national sporting spotlight Sunday when it defeated state superpower Mount Vernon for the Section I Class AA championship on an absolutely amazing shot.
The buzzer-beater from three-quarter court, released with 0.1 seconds on the clock by senior Khalil Edney, gave New Rochelle a zany, must-be-seen-to-be-believed, 61-60 victory.
Down two points, Edney inbounded the ball from under his own basket with 2.9 remaining. His pass toward standout Joe Clarke (30 points) was tipped to Mount Vernon's Devonte Banner, who lobbed the ball into the backcourt toward teammate Traquann Scales. A streaking Edney, breaking from his spot inbounding from the baseline, leapt to intercept it and quickly heaved a two-handed shot at the buzzer.
When the shot went in, New Rochelle went into a wild celebration. The shot was intially waved off, leading Mount Vernon to start a wild celebration at the same time. After a few moments, the officials conferred and signaled that the shot was good, as New Rochelle's celebration continued and Mount Vernon was left stunned.
Check out MSGVarsity.com's highlight of the basket.
I highly recommend watching the last few minutes of the original MSGVarsity broadcast to get the full context of New Rochelle's remarkable late rally (it was down most of the game) as well as the scene at the end of the game as the events unfolded.
Read LoHud.com's story and watch their video (from the opposite angle).The video went viral, receiving multiple viewings on SportsCenter. The teams stars, as well as coach Young, were interviewed by ESPN and were guests on Good Morning America, among other media stops.
Here's an interview with Young and Edney for ESPN.
At UB, Young completed his career with 1,908 points. He averaged a conference-high 19.8 points as a senior, 19.6 his junior year and 17.2 for his career (he was red-shirted one season). A three-time, first-team All-Mid-Continent Conference pick for teams coached by Tim Cohane, Young was also the UB statistical leader in 10 other game, single-season and career categories upon his induction to the UB Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
Western New York high school fans have heard of New Rochelle, Edney and Clarke before. The Huguenots, with Edney playing quarterback and Clarke doing quite a bit of everything, dominated Orchard Park, 34-6, in this season's Class AA championship game at Syracuse's Carrier Dome.
New Rochelle basketball continued its postseason Wednesday night when it played Section IV champion Binghamton in a state regional playoff game.
