MARCH 16 • 2023 | 41

Rudick would love to add former 
New York Yankees star Derek Jeter 
to the list because of Jeter’s Michigan 
roots. 
Jeter moved to Kalamazoo when he 
was 4 and graduated from Kalamazoo 
Central High School, where he was 
a baseball standout. He received the 
Kalamazoo Area B’nai B’rith Scholar 
Athlete Award following his senior year.
“Unfortunately, Derek’s appearance 
fee is too much,” Rudick said.
Schefter, 56, who is Jewish, wrote 
for several newspapers and worked 
at the NFL Network before becoming 
ESPN’s preeminent NFL insider in 
2009. He’s a 1989 graduate of the 
University of Michigan and a graduate 
of Northwestern University’s Medill 
School of Journalism.
Outside of sports, Schefter wrote a 
book — published in 2018 — about his 
wife Sharri’s first husband, Joe Maio, 
who died at the World Trade Center 
during the 9/11 attacks. The book was 
titled, The Man I Never Met.
Schefter also is a movie star. He made 
a cameo appearance in the movie The 
Longest Yard, released in 2015.
Schefter was supposed to receive 
the Schapp award in 2020, but the 
Greenberg Invitational was canceled 

that 
year 
because 
of the 
COVID-19 
pandemic.
Wittenberg, who was Jewish, died 
Nov. 20, 2022, at his Berkley home after 
a three-year battle with glioblastoma, 
an aggressive form of brain cancer. He 
was 48.
He fought the disease valiantly using 
a combination of traditional medicine, 
a keto diet and intermittent fasting, 
continuing to handle a full docket 
despite four surgeries, chemotherapy 
and radiation.
At the time of his diagnosis, he was 
given 12-15 months to live.
He was a judge in the 44th District 
Court, which serves Berkley and Royal 
Oak, where he doubled the size of the 
sobriety court program and created a 

teen court that supported at-risk youth.
He was re-elected unanimously for 
a third term as a 44th District judge a 
few weeks before he died. Judge Derek 
Meinecke, chief judge of the 44th 
District Court, came to the Wittenberg 
home to perform the swearing-in 
ceremony.
In August, Wittenberg underwent 
brain surgery for the third time.
Among the survivors are his wife, 
Staci, and four daughters.
“He had a unique judicial style,” 
Rudick said. “He did his best to help the 
people before him get back on the right 
path.”
Wittenberg grew up in Huntington 
Woods and went to Berkley High 
School, where he was a wide receiver on 
the football team.
The Greenberg Invitational is a 
fundraiser for the Lawrence & Idell 
Weisberg Cancer Treatment Center at 
the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
For reservations and sponsorships, 
call Rudick at (248) 390-5981, email 
him at zeedon1@gmail.com, go to www.
michiganjewishsports.org or check out 
the invitational’s Facebook page. 

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

What’s New? A Basketball League for 
Jewish Youth
The weekly Detroit Jewish Basketball League will 
return for its second season this summer. And for the 
younger set, the weekly Detroit Jewish Basketball 
Youth League will debut.
Both leagues are the brainchild of 22-year-old 
basketball fanatic Daniel Shamayev, who wants to 
bring the Jewish community together through bas-
ketball.
The youth league, for boys in grades 5-8, will 
have two sessions — June 11-July 9 and July 23-Aug. 
20, both at Farber Hebrew Day School. Cost is $85 per session.
There are changes in the adult men’s league, which had about 80 
players last year. There’s now a senior division for players ages 35 and 
older, and teams will have seven instead of eight players.
Also, games will be live-streamed. League play will be May 31-Aug. 
16 at Beech Woods Recreation Center in Southfield.
Cost is $170 per participant.
Interested in playing? Call Shamayev at (248) 797-3763, send an 
email to danielshamayev@gmail.com or go to detroitjewishbasketball-
league on Instagram. 

Cruise Hold a Jewish Heritage Night

Jewish Heritage Night Part II brought a couple hundred fans to a Motor City Cruise 
game last month.
Following on the heels of a Dec. 4 Jewish Heritage Night game for the Detroit 
Pistons, the Cruise, the Pistons’ G League affiliate, had a similar celebration Feb. 
13 during their 119-104 win over the Greensboro (N.C.) Storm at the Wayne State 
University Fieldhouse.
The focus of the night was on Ryan Turell of the Cruise, a 6-foot-7 small forward 
who is trying to become the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA. Turell signed 
autographs after the game.
Basketball players from Farber Hebrew Day School and Hillel Day School 
played on the court at halftime, high-fived the Cruise players as they entered the 
court for the game and stood next to them as national anthem “buddies.” 
Turell’s father, Brad, said in a video produced by the Pistons that he appreciates 
how Ryan has been treated by the Cruise and the Pistons and 
how both teams have reached out to the Jewish community to 
hold the special nights.
“There’s a lot of antisemitism that is very prevalent right now. 
It’s a tough time for Jewish people,” Brad said. “[Having the 
Jewish Heritage Nights] is a great acknowledgement that the 
Jewish community is important to the Pistons and Cruise.” 

Daniel 
Shamayev

DANIEL SHAMAYEV

Ryan Turell

MOTOR CITY CRUISE

