Coach Hewitt is a busy man

I guess when you have most of your next next recruiting class filled in already, you have a little more time to become a bigger voice in collegiate athletics. Coach Paul Hewitt is involved in many activities, including participating in a high profile committee that is discussing how to fix the mess that is youth basketball in this country. They met at the end of September in Indianapolis and the committee includes other such as NBA Commissioner David Stern, NCAA Prez Myles Brand, Jim Boeheim (Syracuse head coach), C.M. Newtwon and shoe reps (George Raveling - Nike, and friend of Hewitt, and Martyn Brewer - Adidas). Other members include Val Ackerman of USA Basketball, AAU Coach Boo Williams, Big10 commissioner Jim Delany, Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby and others.


Now, if you want to dig into this topic further, check out this site, which chronicles a lot of details, including the fact that the meeting was hosted by Nike's Phil Knight. Sort of puts the good-will idea of "fixing" the problem in a new light, since the shoe companies ARE the problem. Here's an interesting take on that summit.


Now, I think it's great for Coach Hewitt to do these things, but let's not pretend that larger forces aren't at work here - mainly how to develop a better system "for the kids" THAT DOESN'T IMPACT THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS COFFERS. The almight dollar folks. That's what's gonna drive the decisions, not "what's best for the youth". Please.


Now, back to Coach Hewitt. In addition to this, he's also a board member. That's right - he's on the board of H.E.R.O. (Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out), the only non-profit organziation in Georgia solely dedicated to improving quality of life for children infected with and affected by AIDS/HIV.


Oh yeah, he's also involved in coaching clinics, including back in his "hometown" of NY - Long Island in this case.


Nice going coach.