The Black Women in Sport Foundation’s 2012 Next Step Women of Color Mini-Forum, hosted at Temple University by the Department of Athletics and the College of Education and supported in part by the NCAA, will be held on April 18 at Ritter Hall, Room 211, located at 1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The mini-forum is a professional development and preparation program to increase the portion of women of color collegiate head coaches and athletic administrators at 4-year NCAA institutions. The mini-forum is an interactive and networking opportunity to discuss and explore strategies to recruit, inspire, educate and retain women of color in the intercollegiate coaching and athletic administration positions with practicing professionals.

The moderator will be Nikki Franke, Temple’s head fencing coach. The panelists will be Marilyn Stephens, Cheyney University, head women’s basketball coach; Margaret Ottley, West Chester University, associate professor of sport psychology; Amanda Janney, Temple head women’s field hockey coach; Lynsey Grace, Community College of Philadelphia athletic coordinator and Kari-Lei Maddox, Delaware State University assistant lacrosse coach.

Philadelphia 2012 Unsigned Senior Basketball Shootout

There will be an opportunity for all high school senior basketball players who haven’t signed a letter of intent to showcase their talent at the Philadelphia 2012 Unsigned Senior Basketball Shootout. The games will be played at Imhotep Charter, 21st and Godfrey Avenue, on Sunday, April 15. The games will take place at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. For more information on this event, go to runhouse.net.

Phoenix Club announces college players of the year

The Phoenix Club of Philadelphia will recognize the college player of the year, presented to Philadelphia area basketball players (male and female) who have excelled in college during the year. The male award will be given in the name of Wali Jones and the female award will be given in the name of Marilyn Stephens. Both players are products of the Public League. Jones was a great player at Overbrook High and Villanova. Stephens was a star at Simon Gratz and Temple.

This year’s winners are Ramone Moore, Temple, and Gloria Brown (University of Texas – El Paso). The Phoenix Award presentation will be held in June at the Union League of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Big 5 awards

The Philadelphia Big 5 head coaches and media have announced their college basketball awards.

Player of the Year – Zack Rosen, Penn

Most Improved Player – Earl Pettis, La Salle

Rookie of the Year – Jerrell Wright, La Salle

Coach of the Year – Fran Dunphy, Temple

Scholar-Athlete – Zack Rosen, Penn

Team of the Year – Temple

Best Free Throw Percentage – Maalik Wayns, Villanova

Leading Scorer – Zack Rosen, Penn

First team: Zack Rosen, Penn; Ramone Moore, Temple; Maalik Wayns, Villanova; Khalif Wyatt, Temple; Langston Galloway, Saint Joseph’s.

Second team: Tyreek Duren, La Salle; Earl Pettis, La Salle; Carl Jones, Saint Joseph’s; Ramone Galloway, La Salle; C.J. Aiken, Saint Joseph’s, Juan Fernandez, Temple.

Shey Peddy Big 5 women’s basketball player of the year

For a second consecutive year, Temple basketball standout Shey Peddy has earned Big 5 Player of the Year honors. Peddy will receive this honor at the annual Big 5 Women’s Basketball banquet on April 25 at Drexelbrook in Drexel Hill.

Contact staff writer Donald Hunt at (215) 893-5719 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

It’s been a great year for Earl Pettis, La Salle’s 6-foot-5 senior guard, one of the top players in the Atlantic 10 Conference and the Philadelphia Big 5 this season. Pettis led the Explorers to a 21-13 record and helped them land a spot in the NIT.

He was La Salle’s leading scorer tallying 15.2 points a game. The former Neumann-Goretti standout also received the Chris Daniels Most Improved Award from the A-10 and was named second-team All-Big 5.

The next accomplishment for Pettis will be on Sunday, May 20 when La Salle holds is commencement exercises at McCarthy Stadium. That’s where Pettis will graduate with his degree in sociology.

“I think graduating from any school, university or college is big,” Pettis said. “For me, it’s real big. It’s a blessing that I’m able to finish college and graduate on time. My major is sociology. I did a lot of papers. Actually, my last paper was 30 pages and just finished that up. It was pretty tough. I went to study hall about two hours a day until I got it done. Graduation is going to be a big day for me. I’ll have a lot of my family and friends there. They’ll all be there to support me.

Pettis had to roll his sleeves up on and off the court. He didn’t start his career at La Salle. He transferred to La Salle after spending two years at Rutgers, where he began his college career.

There’s a big commitment to being a college athlete at the Division I level with the practices, games, and classes. It takes a great deal of time and organization to stay on top of everything.

“Organizing and time management are important,” Pettis said. “When you get done practice, try to get some school work done. You don’t want to let the school work pile up. It can really take a toll on you.”

Pettis had the right formula for success. That’s what most student-athletes need to move forward. He’s a good example for a lot of young kids today who are interested in playing college sports. Pettis grew up in South Philadelphia and played basketball at the playground near 15^th and Morris Streets.

Dr. John Giannini, La Salle head basketball coach, knows the importance of playing good basketball, but also the value of education. Actually, when it’s all said and done, it’s all about receiving a good education.

“It’s a great accomplishment and it lasts forever,” Giannini said. “The education never leaves you. The degree never leaves you. Everyone talks about it being able to get a good job and that’s really important. But I think equally as important is becoming an educated person. Right now, Earl is someone who has good ideas and can speak intelligently about a lot of good things. That’s what you really want out of your college experience. You want to better yourself and Earl has done a good job of that.”

Pettis has been working out in preparation for a career in professional basketball career. He’s interested in going to an NBA camp or possibly going to Europe to play professionally. Pettis has allowed basketball to provide him with a good education as well as a bright future.

Contact staff writer Donald Hunt at (215) 893-5719 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Mike McCall Jr. scored 16 points and Kwamain Mitchell had 15 to lead Saint Louis to a 78-71 win over La Salle on Friday night to advance to the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament semifinals.