In brief: Spokane Shock tab Biletnikoff

Arena football: Spokane is expected to name Fred Biletnikoff Jr. as its new offensive coordinator, according to Arena Football League sources.

Biletnikoff was the head coach at Central Valley, one of Spokane’s rivals in arenafootball2, but the Coyotes decided not to play in 2010. He is the son of Fred Biletnikoff, the former Oakland Raiders receiver who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

Biletnikoff will replace Matt Sauk, who left Spokane to become offensive coordinator for the AFL Utah Blaze. Spokane was 9-0 against Biletnikoff’s Central Valley teams from 2006-09 – three of those outcomes decided by two points and one by three points.

Jim Meehan

Ex-Garfield, SU star Harrell dies

Basketball: Keith Harrell, a silky-smooth standout on basketball teams at Garfield High School and Seattle University who later became a sought-after motivational speaker, died Monday after a battle with spinal cancer. He was 54.

Harrell, who lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a 6-foot-7 star on perhaps the greatest high school basketball team in state history, the 1973-74 SuperDogs.

The Garfield team went unbeaten in winning the Class 4A (then AAA) state championship.

Harrell, the cousin of Garfield and University of Washington football star Bruce Harrell, was a two-time captain for Seattle University.

Nicknamed “Silk” for his fluid moves on the court, he scored 1,141 career points.

He was a four-year starter who as a senior played with future NBA draft choices Jawann Oldham, Carl Ervin and Clint Richardson for a Seattle team that finished 15-11 and knocked off Washington and California.

After graduating with degree in community service, he had a 14-year career as a sales representative with IBM and became one of that company’s top sales and training instructors. Harrell then made himself into a successful motivational speaker.

Seattle Times