Sloan Foundation Announces Benton, Illinois Native as Honorary Chair

Basketball Betting Lines

07/02/2006 - McLeansboro, IL (PRWEB) July 2, 2006 -- The Bobbye and Jerry Sloan Hand-in-Hand Foundation is excited to announce that Benton, Illinois native, Doug Collins will serve as the Honorary Chairperson for this year’s Hand-in-Hand Twilight Run & Friendship Walk. The event will be held on Saturday, August 5, 2006 at Dolan Lake Fish & Wildlife Area in McLeansboro.

Collins played basketball at Benton High School in the late 1960’s. He was known as one of the best college players in the country, playing at Illinois State University. He graduated from Illinois State in 1972 and was then chosen to represent the United States at the infamous 1972 Summer Olympics, in Munich, Germany.

“We are thrilled to have Doug as our Honorary Chair this year,” said Hand-in-Hand Vice President, Kathy Wood. “Doug’s career in basketball is amazing and what’s even more interesting is that it all started in southern Illinois!”

Collin’s professional basketball career lasted eight years as a player for the Philadelphia 76ers. He was a four-time nba All-Star. Collins was an nba head coach for three teams, the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons and the Washington Wizards.

Currently, Collins is an nba color analyst for tnt.

For more information or to register for the 5k run or one mile walk, go to the foundation website.

The goal of the Hand-in-Hand Foundation is to assist local communities by helping both individuals and organizations with the financial support they need to help them reach their full potential. It focuses on giving to those individuals and organizations that have specific interest in one of the following areas:

•    Education
•    Athletics

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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