from the Paducah sun.

 

http://www.paducahsun.com/articles/stories/members_only/200601/27/5GGV_sports.html

 

Mackins back to Cairo: It appears that Trigg County star Russell Mackins is returning to Cairo, Ill., where he played as a freshman.

 

Mackins, a 6-6 junior forward, wasn’t in uniform when the Wildcats beat Lyon County this week in the All A Classic Second Region tournament. Reports are that he is moving back to Cairo for family reasons.

 

“Some things you just don’t have any control over,” Tilghman coach Bill Chumbler said. “I hate to see it happen, but I understand the situation. Russell’s a good kid, and I wish him well at Cairo. He might have to sit out for a while there, but I hope he gets a chance to play again this year.”

 

Larry Baldwin, Cairo’s coach and athletic director, told the Sun that Mackins enrolled there on Wednesday. Baldwin said he has yet to talk to Mackins about his basketball future and has no idea on whether he could be ruled eligible by the Illinois High School Association to play this season.

 

Mackins was averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds per game for the Wildcats, who are 12-3 going into tonight’s regional semifinal game with Providence. A win puts Trigg into Saturday night’s championship game at Dawson Springs against either University Heights or Fort Campbell.

 

T.J. O’Hara, a 6-7 senior, is likely to replace Mackins in the starting lineup for Trigg.

 

“Obviously, it chages our player rotation,” Chumbler said. “Russell was the first guy we looked to inside, and now it will have to be O’Hara and Jamaal Boyd. It could be devastating, but we had a chance to beat University Heights last year in the regional tournament, and we were without Russell then. It may take an adjustment, but we can battle through it.”

 

Chumbler said Mackins was recently starting to again show the explosiveness that characterized his game before he tore an ACL in a Christmas tournament last season.

 

“He had a couple of monster dunks against Caldwell County last week,” Chumbler said. “He’s starting to get it back. I’d say he’s about 90 or 95 percent now.”

 

Mackins was one of nearly a dozen players to leave Cairo’s program after it was banned from postseason play last year, a penalty incurred after an oncourt melee that occurred after the undefeated Pilots were beaten by Massac County in the regional finals in March 2004.

 

Included in the exodus were three players that are currently at Reidland — newly-eligible Mario Johnson and cousins Rod and Shawd Purdiman. Another talented player.

 

6-6 sophomore Isiah Simelton, starts at West Frankfort.

It's a good thing that Mackins did not play against Providence. That would have made it much tougher to avoid running the score up.

Wish this young man the best of luck.

Why is Chumbler the Paducah coach making all of the comments if he was playing at Trigg County??

Why is Chumbler the Paducah coach making all of the comments if he was playing at Trigg County??

 

Was wondering the same thing? :confused:

Why is Chumbler the Paducah coach making all of the comments if he was playing at Trigg County??

 

 

Because he has been at Trigg for the past 3 years.

It was a misprint ... the writer probably had a flashback to 2002. :lol:

Why did he leave? Problems with Chummy? Personal problems?

Family matters.