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Where Are They Now? A Trio Of Global Basketball Travelers

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11 months ago

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Where Are They Now? A Trio Of Global Basketball Travelers

Dennis Witkowski during his ABA basketball playing days.


As a former basketball player in high school, club and college, a current high school head basketball coach in Miami-Dade County and as an assistant college coach — now at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens and previously at Barry University in Miami Shores — basketball has allowed May to travel as far west as Montana, as far north as Chicago, as far south as Key West and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and to Europe, specifically to England’s most southwesterly outpost, the Isles of Scilly.

On that same European tour, he’ll never forget the trip to Rome.

“After playing for the Generals, I signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pipers of the old American Basketball Association,” Witkowski said. “After the Pipers folded, I played some pro basketball in the old Eastern League.”

While on the road with the Globetrotters, he helped break a social norm.

His memories of their exploits on the court bring a smile to his face.

May, 30, graduated from St. Thomas University in May 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Two years later, she earned her master’s degree in communications arts. She is currently a full-time teacher at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, near Miami, where she teaches public speaking and mass media. She is also the head coach of the girls varsity basketball team and an assistant coach for the girls varsity volleyball team, which won the FHSAA Class 2A state championship in mid-November.

As a member of the Generals, he was a member of the original “jet-set” crowd — a genuine globetrotting basketball player.

“It’s always fun returning to Wellington and to be a part of the Wellington Wolves’ March Madness tournament,” she said.

There’s a long-held belief that when you play competitive sports, the game you play can often be the vehicle that takes you to different parts of the state, country or other parts of the world. That is definitely the case for Dennis Witkowski, Nick Brown and Emily May — each of whom have a long affiliation with both the sport of basketball and the western communities.

Nick Brown — The varsity boys basketball team from Wellington High School has won one Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) state championship. That championship — a 57-56 victory over Oviedo’s Hagerty High School — took place on Feb. 28, 2015. The captain of that team was Nick Brown, who stood 6-foot-3 and was the team’s center. His memories of that win are strong. 

“In two years, I played in 500 basketball games in 45 states and 15 countries. We often played seven days a week, and sometimes two games on a Sunday,” Witkowski recalled.

One of the most memorable stretches of basketball for Witkowski took place in England in the summer of 1970.

May also maintains a role as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at St. Thomas, serving under head coach Candace Walker. May is also one of the coaches for Miami Impact, an all-girls travel basketball organization in Miami-Dade County.

May’s world travels are expected to continue this summer, when she is planning another coaching trip to England.

Emily May — The sport of basketball has been very good to former Wellington resident Emily May — and vice versa. As a basketball player, she is a former high school and college player, and a playing alum of the Wellington Wolves travel basketball organization.

“After high school, I played three years of college basketball at Elms College in Massachusetts,” Brown said. “I lost a year of college basketball because of COVID-19.”

“Sam Sawyer and I were roommates on the road,” Witkowski said. “We were the first inter-racial roommates with the Globetrotters.”

May, a 2012 graduate of Berean Christian School, had a four-year collegiate basketball playing career within the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Sun Conference. Her college basketball playing career started at West Palm Beach’s Northwood University (now Keiser University) and concluded at St. Thomas University. In her four years, she was a three-time Sun Conference All-Academic basketball selection, a national NAIA Basketball Scholar-Athlete and was selected to the Sun Conference All-Tournament Team in February 2017. During her collegiate basketball career, she was also a three-time team captain.

Nick Brown during his time with the Fort Lauderdale Herd.

After returning from Armenia in February 2021, he worked part-time for the Village of Wellington and as a clerk at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

While Brown is currently back in the western communities, where he works as an athletics program coordinator for the Wellington Parks & Recreation Department, basketball has been very good to him since being crowned a state champion nearly 10 years ago.

Dennis Witkowski — You may be able to take the man out of Wellington, but you can’t take the Wellington out of the man. Such is the case with former longtime Wellington resident Dennis Witkowski, who was the grand marshal of last month’s Wellington Holiday Parade.

While Witkowski and his wife Maureen now live in Palm Beach Gardens, after living in Wellington for 40 years, he was well known in this area for his 35-year run as the director of the annual holiday parade, as well as the owner of one of Wellington’s early restaurants.

After graduating from Elms in May 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in sports and business management, Brown moved to eastern Europe, where he played pro basketball, beginning in October 2020.

Then, in the fall of 2022, he accepted a brief, three-week basketball-playing opportunity in the Dominican Republic.

“In Rome, we played in an open-air arena under the stars in an ancient Roman coliseum, where the court was surrounded by statues of great Roman athletes,” Witkowski said. “The Italians love basketball.”

There was life in basketball for Witkowski after leaving the Globetrotters organization.

“I played a season of pro basketball in Yerevan, Armenia,” recalled Brown, now 27. “It was a beautiful place to live. I played for two teams with very American-type names: U.S. Dallas and the Supersonics.”

In recent years, May has returned to Wellington every March to help coach the Miami Impact teams that play in the March Madness basketball tournament hosted by the Wellington Wolves.

Even though Brown’s formal competitive days are in his past, he’s proud to say that he can still dunk the ball.

After retiring from playing basketball, Witkowski got involved in the restaurant business, where he started as a singing waiter at the Red Onion in Manhattan. He’s still in the restaurant business. Witkowski, who was the original owner of Cobblestones in Wellington, is one of the owners of the Stadium Grill in Jupiter.

Emily May coaching for Miami Impact.

Upon graduation from Berean, she was the school’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball.

After returning home, Brown then started working full-time for the village, where he helps coordinate many athletic initiatives, one of which is the youth basketball program.

“I scored no points, but I played defense, grabbed a number of rebounds and had many assists,” recalled Brown, a junior on that team.

“We played 10 games in seven days at the Wembley Arena in London,” Witkowski said. “Two of our games were broadcast live on the BBC. People thought that we were the second-best basketball team in the world.”

At 6-foot-8, it’s easy to see why he was such a prominent figure on the hardwood. He played college basketball at Fordham University in New York. After graduating in 1969, he had a two-year stint as a member of the Washington Generals (aka, the New Jersey Reds, the Chicago Demons and the United States All Stars), the regular “opponent” for the Harlem Globetrotters. Witkowski played alongside Frederick “Curly” Neal and Meadowlark Lemon, two of the greatest Harlem Globetrotters of all time.

Outside of parade circles, Witkowski is also a former college and professional basketball player.

“Being with the Globetrotters was like being a part of one big family,” recalled Witkowski, whose nickname was Wit. “There was a closeness to our group, which included both teams, our referees, the public address announcer, and others.”

His final organized basketball stint was in 2023 when he played with the Fort Lauderdale Herd.

“I helped sell many basketballs while working at Dick’s,” added Brown, whose favorite basketball to play with is the Wilson Evolution.

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USC Women’s Volleyball Falls to Cal Poly in NCAA Second Round Bout

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December 6, 2025

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LOS ANGELES – The fourth-seeded No. 14-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (25-7) fell in five sets (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 15-7) to Cal Poly (27-7) in the second round of the 2025 NCAA tournament and was eliminated from the postseason at Galen Center on Friday, Dec. 5.
 
KEY PLAYERS

  • Fr. OPP Abigail Mullen led all scorers with 21.5 points earned on a match-high 17 kills (7e, 39att, .256) to go with 10 digs for her eighth double-double. She also had five blocks and two service aces.

  • Fr. S Reese Messer put up her 11th double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs. She also added six blocks (one solo) and had three kills on eight swings (.375).

  • RS So. OH London Wijay had 10 kills (3e, 38att, .184) and 12 digs for her eighth double-double (17th career).

  • RS So. MB Leah Ford had nine kills (1e) on 17 swings to hit .471 and led the team with seven blocks.

  • So. MB Mia Tvrdy played just the last three sets but finished with eight kills on 10 swings (.800) and had two blocks, two digs and a two-handed jump-set assist on a kill by Mullen.

  • Sr. MB Rylie McGinest had six kills (1e, 13att, .385) to go with one block.

  • Fr. LIB Taylor Deckert led the team with 13 digs and added six assists. Sr. LIB Gala Trubint had four digs and a service ace.

  • For the Mustangs, Emma Fredrick led with 17 kills and had 17 digs to lead all players. Kendall Beshear and Annabelle Thalken each had 12 kills. Beshear had 14 digs for the double-double and served a pair of aces. Emme Bullis put up 44 assists with 12 digs for a double-double.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Mustangs never trailed in the opening frame to grab a 25-19 win. Both teams registered 15.0 points, but the Mustangs committed fewer unforced errors to come out on top. The Trojans had 13 kills with five from McGinest but hit just .146 with seven errors on 41 swings. Cal Poly had just 11 kills but hit .258 and had a 3-1 edge in blocks. Both teams each served an ace, but the Trojans served six errors to the Mustangs’ two in the loss.

  • The teams were tied 13 times and the lead changed hands five times before Cal Poly took a 2-0 lead with a 25-20 win in set two. Mullen had five kills to lead the Trojans, but USC totaled just 10 kills and hit .147 in the set. Both teams had three blocks apiece, but the Mustangs still hit .270 with 15 kills (5e) on 37 swings with five more kills from Beshear. 

  • USC secured a 25-20 set-three win on the second of two service aces from Dani Thomas-Nathan. Tvrdy came in and sparked the Trojans with the first kill of the frame and finished with five on just six swings. Mullen tallied six kills on 12 swings without an error and helped USC hit .326 (18k, 4e, 43att). The Trojans had four blocks to help hold the Mustangs to a .194 attack rate with 10 kills (4e) on 31 swings. USC never trailed and led by five twice before winning by five.

  • Back-to-back Mustang errors broke the eighth and final tie of the fourth and put the Trojans in front, 11-9, en route to a 25-14 win. USC continued to push and moved in front by six, 17-11, on a block by Mullen and Ford. Back-to-back kills from Mullen put USC on top by seven, 19-12, and her tool kill made it a 10-point USC lead at 23-13. Mullen and Wijay each scored four kills in the fourth as the Trojans hit .448 (14k, 1e, 29att) and had three blocks to hold Cal Poly to a .081 hitting percentage with 12 kills (9e) on 37 attacks.

  • Cal Poly broke a three-all tie in the fifth with a 6-0 run and was never threatened on the way to a 15-7 win to seal the 3-2 win. Beshear had a six-serve run that included a service ace to put the Mustangs on top by six, 10-4. The Trojans could get no closer than within five despite every effort. The Mustangs hit .316 with eight kills (2e) on 19 swings over USC’s .091 rate in the fifth with five kills (3e) on 22 attempts.

MATCH NOTES

  • USC fell to 13-6 all-time against Cal Poly. The teams met for the first time since 2012.

  • The Women of Troy fell to 15-4 at home this season and to 231-64 (.783) all-time at Galen Center, which includes a 21-5 mark in NCAA tournament matches.

  • USC goes to 131-45 (.744) all-time in the postseason with an 85-38 (.691) mark in the NCAA tournament.

  • The Trojans fell to 14-11 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Facebook, X, TikTok, and Instagram.
 



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Indiana volleyball vs Colorado NCAA tournament final score, game updates, next

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December 6, 2025

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7:57 pm ET December 5, 2025

When does Indiana volleyball play next? Indiana volleyball next game, opponent in NCAA tournament

Aaron Ferguson

Details are still to come on the next weekend of the NCAA tournament. The certainties: IU is headed to Austin, Texas as UT hosts that quadrant as the No. 1 seed. The first and second rounds in Austin will finish Saturday night. No. 8-seed Penn State awaits the winner of Texas and Florida A&M in Saturday’s second round match.

7:55 pm ET December 5, 2025

Indiana volleyball celebrates Sweet 16 berth

Aaron Ferguson

Here’s how it looked as IU won its second-round match against Colorado:

7:50 pm ET December 5, 2025

Indiana volleyball highlights in win vs Colorado

Aaron Ferguson

Here’s a look inside Wilkinson Hall for IU’s win:

7:42 pm ET December 5, 2025

Indiana volleyball stats in win vs Colorado

Aaron Ferguson

The Hoosiers hit .378 for the match and had an 11-2 blocking advantage against the Buffs. The serving pressure wasn’t there like it was against Toledo, but IU played solid defensively and were able to clinch its second Sweet 16 appearance — its other was 15 years ago in 2010.

Candela Alonso-Corcelles led the way with 16 kills with just one error on 27 swings, an efficient .556. Freshman Jaidyn Jager added 15 kills (.375). The middles did plenty of work with Madi Sell having seven blocks and Victoria Gray adding four. Avry Tatum also had five blocks with eight kills. Setter Teodora Krickovic had 29 assists, eight digs and three blocks.

Colorado hit .208 for the match, led by Ana Burilovi’s 19 kills (.239) and an efficient seven on 11 swings for Cayla Payne (.545). But nine service errors did not help the Buffs, particularly with five in the first set.



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Kansas women’s volleyball vs Miami (Fl.): NCAA tournament final result

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3 hours ago

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December 6, 2025

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Updated Dec. 5, 2025, 8:26 p.m. CT



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Former UH volleyball player, youth coach accused of producing child porn

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December 6, 2025

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A former youth volleyball coach who played on the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team was arrested and charged with production of child pornography, allegedly with a former player.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Hawaii, announced Friday that Elias David, 37, of Waimanalo, was charged by criminal complaint on Dec. 3.

He was employed as a firefighter for the Department of Defense and worked at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Federal Fire Station 9.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI, a 17-year-old told her aunt she was having sexual intercourse with David, who was a family friend and her volleyball coach since she was 13 years old.

Court documents said the teen’s relationship began with David in 2023 after a volleyball trip to Las Vegas. She was 16 at the time.

The teen told investigators that David was providing extra training to prepare her for college. She also admitted to engaging in different types of sexual contact with David that including oral and vaginal sex, documents said.

She also said that their sexual activities occurred at the fire station where he worked, at a nearby warehouse, as well as at David’s home and vehicle, documents said.

David was arrested in July of 2024 for sexual assault in the second degree. He waived his Miranda rights and was interviewed.

During his interview with investigators, David said they “began to develop feelings for each other and ‘fell in love,’” and admitted that he and the teen engaged in a sexual relationship, documents said.

David said that the romantic phase of the relationship began around March 2023, and admitted to ordering ride share services for the teen so she could leave her house to meet him at or near his workplace, documents said.

Investigators said they found 97 graphic videos of the two of them on her phone and 78 emails referring to ride share trips and GPS location data.

David played for the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team in 2009.

If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.



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Iowa State Tops St. Thomas, Advances to Second Round

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December 6, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – No. 23 Iowa State (23-7, 12-6 Big 12) won in five against St. Thomas (21-10, 11-5 Summit) in the NCAA Championship First Round Friday night. No. 5-seed ISU advances to the second round to meet the winner of No. 4-seed Minnesota vs. Fairfield tomorrow at 7 p.m.

After St. Thomas took the first 25-21, ISU answered outhitting UST .552-.143 in the second to tie up the match with a set score of 25-13. The Cyclones took the match lead after another dominant set score of 25-16, but St. Thomas would win the fourth 25-21 to extend the match to a fifth. ISU used a 7-0 run in the fifth to flip the momentum and seal the victory.

Big 12 Libero of the Year Rachel Van Gorp was her usual self and had her third-straight match with 20 or more digs, ending the night with a career-high 33. The total is the second-most in an NCAA Tournament match by a Cyclone, and most since 2012. It was also match No. 35 in a row with double-figure digs and her 50th-career match in double figures.

Iowa State had a dominant night at the service line, serving to the fourth 10-plus ace match this season, and 28th of Christy Johnson-Lynch‘s career with 12 through the night. ISU was led by Nayeli Ti’a with five aces to tie the NCAA Tournament school record, while Van Gorp had four, now the second-most in a tournament match.

Alea Goolsby had her 15th match this season with 10-plus kills, leading ISU with 15. Ti’a delivered 14 kills for her 13th match this season with 10-plus, and Lilly Wachholz (12) and Amiree Hendricks-Walker (10) made for four in double figures.

SET ONE

At 6-6, Morgan Brandt tricked St. Thomas with a setter kill while Tierney Jackson served up an ace but UST followed to again knot the score. The Tommies flipped the lead at 11-10 and took the next two as Iowa State called the first timeout. Ti’a slammed down her second kill out of the timeout, but St. Thomas kept with the lead reaching 20 first (20-17). ISU cut its deficit to one at 22-21, but the Tommies ended the first on a run of three for the set win.

SET TWO

Ti’a had a no-doubt kill to make it 1-1, while the Tommies denied ISU the lead while going up 4-2. Goolsby’s third kill tied it, and the Cyclones took their first lead at 6-5 on a block. UST flipped the advantage in its favor briefly, but ISU set out on an 11-0 run to take it right back and run ahead 18-8. A Brandt ace put the Cyclones at set point and an attack error by the Tommies sealed the set at 25-13. ISU did not have a single attack error in the frame.

SET THREE

Back-to-back aces by Ti’a brought Iowa State ahead 6-2, while Ti’a delivered another bringing the scoreboard to 9-2. Goolsby’s seventh kill at .400 capped a Cyclone run of seven on the next play, but a UST scoring run of four came soon after as the Tommies came within three (13-10). Iowa State had a run of four of their own to keep command of the lead, while the Cyclones took the match lead on Goolsby’s 10th kill at 25-16.

SET FOUR

A 4-0 scoring run took the Tommies ahead 7-3 as ISU then called an early timeout. Iowa State would go on to knot the score at 13s on yet another ace by Ti’a, while a UST attack error gave ISU its first lead of the set. That lead was not safe as the Tommies went ahead 19-15 to cause Iowa State’s final timeout of the set. The Cyclones had a late run of three, but St. Thomas pushed on to force a fifth at 25-21.

SET FIVE

Iowa State took the first point on a kill by Ti’a, but St. Thomas followed going ahead 5-2. ISU did not let up, hitting a run of four to take a 6-5 lead and cause a UST timeout. The run stretched to seven as Iowa State switched sides with the lead of 8-5, and Goolsby capped the run next with a kill. ISU would go on to win it 15-8 after a St. Thomas service error.



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Updates, highlights as Wisconsin advances with sweep vs North Carolina

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December 6, 2025

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9:43 pm CT December 5, 2025

See some highlights from Wisconsin’s NCAA tournament win vs North Carolina

John Steppe

9:39 pm CT December 5, 2025

Mimi Colyer’s stats vs. North Carolina in second round of NCAA tournament

John Steppe

  • 22 kills
  • 5 attack errors
  • 42 total attacks
  • .405 hitting percentage
  • 13 digs
  • 3 blocks

9:37 pm CT December 5, 2025

Wisconsin vs. North Carolina NCAA tournament final stats comparison

John Steppe

  • Kills: Wisconsin 60, North Carolina 37
  • Hitting percentage: Wisconsin .365, North Carolina .233
  • Service aces: Wisconsin 2, North Carolina 0
  • Service errors: North Carolina 5, Wisconsin 8
  • Digs: Wisconsin 56, North Carolina 40
  • Total team blocks: North Carolina 6, Wisconsin 5

9:33 pm CT December 5, 2025

Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield comments on Badgers’ NCAA tournament win vs. North Carolina

John Steppe



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