Riverside Academy basketball coach Timmy Byrd, far right, applauds senior basketball players Malik Crowfield, left, and Herb McGee, right, as they prepare to sign their national letters of intent during a ceremony held Friday in the school gym. Crowfield, flanked by his mother, Ilana, and stepfather, Kevin Nealand, signed to play for Virginia Commonwealth University. McGee, sitting next to his mother, Coretta Jackson, and family friend, Charles Hogan, signed to play for the University of South Alabama. (Lori Lyons/L’OBSERVATEUR)