THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, JAnuARy 23, 2026 Page 9 ‘I HEARD...’ ARMY: Malden High Football has most college football studentathletes of all teams in the GBL Revere High hosted a classy, well-run Holiday Basketball Tournament last week; Everett Boys Basketball has a spectacular pregame ‘intro’ show Everett Boys Basketball Head Coach Gerry Boyce talked to the team during a timeout in a seasonopening win over Malden. (Advocate Photo/Henry Huang) By Nico Toscani Kevin Exilhomme, a 6-2, 220 freshman defensive back at Central Connecticut State University, is one of eight former Malden High School student-athletes now playing on college teams, the most for any one school in the Greater Boston League. (Courtesy/CCSU Football) The start of a New Year brings out the best of a lot of things, including a full muster of the “I Heard...” Army, who trade ALL kinds of tall tales, gossip and scuttlebutt all day, every day, whether it’s true, untrue or somewhere in between! Here it goes: I HEARD THAT... ...Malden High School, for the first time in recent memory, had the most former Golden Tornados players on college football rosters this past fall than ANY other team in the Greater Boston League: Kevin Exilhomme (WR, Central Connecticut State); Jerell Calixte (OL, American International College-AIC); Aidan Brett (QB, Westfield State); Nathan Moreira (WR-DB, Westfield State); Christopher Da Silva Breguez (LB, Fitchburg State); Karl Lange (LB, Fitchburg State); Xavier Coulanges-Blaise (DB, Framingham State); Andrew Louis (TE, Framingham State). That’s EIGHT former Malden HS players on the list (please take a bow, hardworking MHS Head Coach Witche Exilhomme and his staff!), and the only other team in the GBL that’s close is Lynn English with SEVEN and for Malden, there is a ninth, James Hyppolite, a freshman linebacker at Bridgewater State College, who is still rehabbing from a high school injury and is expected to join the Bears on the field this Fall 2026 season. ...Revere High Boys Basketball Head Coach Dave Leary and his staff and the Patriot Athletic Department ran a classy, well-attended Holiday Basketball Tournament over Mike Mabee Jr., a former three-sport standout at Saugus High, took a shot during his senior season for the Saugus High Varsity Boys Basketball team. (Courtesy Photo) the school break last week, which was won by Stoneham HS, which beat East Boston and then knocked off host Revere in the Championship final. ...Malden High Boys Basketball won its first game of the season, 57-51, over East Boston at the Revere Holiday Tournament after a rough, 0-4 start. ...Malden High Boys hoop chances are certainly not helped by the absence of 6-5 senior “big” and three-year starter and captain Kaua Fernandes Dias Valadares, who reinjured his back in a loss to Somerville 10 days ago and has been out the past three games. ...That despite there were some reports of people around the region “shocked” with the abrupt resignation and departure of acclaimed (now former) Malden Catholic Boys Basketball Head Coach John Walsh just before the start of this 2025-2026 season, the rumors of such a move had been bubbling at the top of the gossip pot literally days after the Division 2 State Championship loss to Somerset-Berkley in the finals just under a year ago in March 2025. ...Coach Walsh is one of the most successful coaches — of any sport — in Massachusetts state history (and probably #1 in Boys Basketball) with a 266-58 overall head coaching record over 14 seasons at Danvers (123-24, three state titles: 2012, 2013, 2015); Central Catholic (51-16), and Malden Catholic (94-18, three state titles: 2022, 2023, 2024). Coach Walsh’s teams had an overall winning percentage of .821. SPORTS | SEE PAGE 14
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