Dean Herrington said he has been let go as football coach at St. Francis after five seasons during which his teams won three league championships and made two Southern Section finals.
The team went 2-8 this season and failed to make the playoffs in a season in which there were numerous injuries at the quarterback position. St. Francis ended the regular season with a stunning 28-21 win over Cathedral.
Herrington also enjoyed success as head coach at Bishop Alemany and Paraclete. He said Wednesday night, “It was shocking but maybe a good parting of ways.” The school told him there were concerns about culture and morale issues.
Herrington should be quick to pick up offers from other high schools and junior colleges. He has been known for developing top quarterbacks.
He took over at St. Francis for his good friend and former Hart player, the late Jim Bonds.
Francis Ford Coppola wants an offer he can’t refuse — on his timepieces.
The Academy Award-winning director is selling seven watches from his personal collection, including his custom F.P. Journe FFC Prototype, estimated to sell for more than $1 million, according to a statement from Phillips, the New York City-based auction house. Phillips will hold the auction on Dec. 6 and 7.
The sale could help stanch losses from last year’s box-office flop “Megalopolis,” which cost over $120 million to make and was largely financed by the 86-year-old director. The movie grossed only $14.3 million worldwide.
The film, Coppola’s first since his 2011 horror movie “Twixt,” premiered at Cannes last year to largely negative reviews. The Times’ Joshua Rothkopf called it a “wildly ambitious, overstuffed city epic.”
At a news conference at Cannes, Coppola discussed the tremendous amount of his own money that he had sunk into the film, saying that he “never cared about money” and that his children “don’t need a fortune.”
Among the Coppola timepieces also going under the hammer are examples from Patek Philippe, Blancpain and IWC.
But the headlining piece is the F.P. Journe FFC Prototype that features a black titanium, human-like hand that resembles a steampunk gauntlet that articulates the hours when the fingers extend or retract.
Francis Ford Coppola’s custom F.P. Journe FFC timepiece uses a single hand to indicate all 12 hours.
(Phillips)
The watch was a collaboration between Coppola and master watchmaker François-Paul Journe that began following a conversation the pair had during a visit he made to the filmmaker’s Inglenook winery in Napa Valley in 2012.
Coppola asked Journe if a human hand had ever been used to mark time. That question sparked a years-long conversation during which the watchmaker grappled with how to indicate the 12 hours of the dial using just five fingers.
Journe found his inspiration in Ambroise Paré, a 16th century French barber surgeon and an innovator of prosthetic limbs in particular, including Le Petit Lorrain, a prosthetic hand made of iron and leather that featured hidden gears and springs enabling the fingers to move, not dissimilar to a watch mechanism.
“Speaking with Francis in 2012 and hearing his idea on the use of a human hand to indicate time inspired me to create a watch I never could have imagined myself. The challenge was formidable — exactly the type of watchmaking project I adore,” said Journe in a statement.
Journe eventually created six prototypes and delivered Coppola’s watch to him in 2021.
“I’m proud to fully support the sale of this watch through Phillips to fund the creation of his artistic masterpieces in filmmaking,” he said.
Coppola first became interested in the watchmaker when he gifted his wife Eleanor an F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance in platinum with a white gold dial for Christmas in 2009, prompting the director to extend an invitation to Journe to visit him at his Napa winery.
Eleanor Coppola, a documentary filmmaker and writer, died in 2024 after 61 years of marriage. Her F.P. Journe timepiece is also part of the auction and is estimated to fetch between $120,000 to $240,000.
With a sixth year of basketball eligibility at UC Irvine, former St. Francis High guard Andre Henry has become so familiar with coach Russell Turner that both consider each other family.
Henry, who was injured last season after nine games, is back healthy, and Turner thinks he’s ready to be a standout on offense and defense this season.
He calls Henry one of the finest recruits he ever signed out of St. Francis in 2020. In 2023-24, he was the Big West Conference defensive player of the year.
“Andre was probably the top-ranked recruit we ever got,” said Turner, in his 16th season. “I watched him elevate his team at St. Francis and he’s still that type of personality. I’m thrilled where is right now and he’s going to have a great season on both sides of the ball. There’s not a limit he can accomplish.”
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UC Irvine men’s basketball coach talks about how Andre Henry has become a standout on the court for the Anteaters.
Turner said he’s grateful for Henry’s loyalty and commitment to the UC Irvine basketball program.
“Andre has become family with me and my staff,” he said. “He’s made great sacrifices to remain in our program. I think he sees we’re committed to him and I certainly see how committed he and his family have been to us. Hopefully, we can write the end to a great story in his sixth year.”
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
Wearing size 17 shoes and standing 7-foot-3, Cherif Millogo is under the basket holding up his arms and touching the rim without leaving the ground. The rest of the “tiny” people in the St. Francis High gym are gawking in awe at his 7-9 wingspan.
That includes 6-8 head coach Todd Wolfson, who has twice won the basketball coaching lottery by having his second 7-footer show up out of nowhere. The first was 7-0 Belgium exchange student Gilles Dierickx when he was coaching at Chaminade in 2017.
This time, Wolfson received a phone call from an administrator at St. Francis in August.
“There’s a 7-3 kid wanting to come to St. Francis,” the administrator said.
“I thought he was lying,” Wolfson said.
Millogo didn’t play last season while attending the Cambridge Arts, Technology and Science Academy in Boston after tearing a knee ligament. He’s from the tiny West Africa country Burkina Faso. He was a soccer player until he had a growth spurt, participated in a basketball camp and was spotted playing in Togo, a country bordering Ghana. He ended up moving to Florida two years ago. He said he learned how to shoot a basketball watching YouTube videos of Kevin Durant.
St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson, who’s 6-foot-8, is no longer the tallest person in the gym. Cherif Millogo is 7-3 and a native of Burkina Faso.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
He speaks French, English and two tribal languages. He has a 7-foot older brother and his father is 6-8. He turned 18 on Sept. 27, which means he has two years of high school eligibility left. His guardian is former UCLA and NBA player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who came here from Cameroon.
Millogo was instantly embraced around St. Francis because of his engaging, friendly personality. During a practice, while listening in a circle around Wolfson, he had his arms around a teammate as if they were lifelong friends.
“He’s made me a better person,” Wolfson said. “His values are amazing.”
Millogo said his parents taught him to be respectful and friendly.
“For me, it’s natural,” he said.
Sophomore guard Luke Paulus said players were as surprised as Wolfson to learn about Millogo’s arrival.
“No way,” he said when he heard about the rumors. “First day of school, I saw him. ‘Wow, that’s a big human being.’ He’s a fun guy.”
Millogo, who’s Muslim, said attending a Catholic school is good. “I’m learning about new religions,” he said.
He also can show off his soccer skills if asked by juggling a ball with his feet.
Millogo joins an already talent-filled Mission League with the No. 1 class of 2026 prospect, Tyran Stokes of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, and top five 2026 prospect, Brandon McCoy of Sierra Canyon.
Cherif Millogo towers over his new St. Francis High teammates.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Millogo was asked if he was aware of Stokes and McCoy.
“From social media,” he said.
See what having an Instagram account can do to promote a high school basketball program? He said he saw a social media post of St. Francis’ students cheering at a game.
To say there could be lots of alley-oop passes this season for St. Francis might be an understatement. Wolfson, who has used a matchup zone defense at times during his coaching days, is teasing how it might make a return with Millogo in the middle. And he’s already planning for some new out-of-bounds plays trying to take advantage of Millogo’s height.
Millogo looks like a sold free-throw shooter and shot-blocker. Then there’s dunking with ease. He had nine dunks last weekend in a fall league game in which he scored 32 points. The previous game, he had 24 points, including five dunks. He should be eligible immediately next month when the season officially begins based on the fact he didn’t play last season, but St. Francis has yet to submit his transfer paperwork.
One thing is certain: The St. Francis student section and many other fans are going to be entertained watching Millogo deliver dunk after dunk.
Thursday marks the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that saw two planes flown into the Twin Towers in New York, killing nearly 3,000.
Kevin Danni was there. The St. Francis High graduate and father of Golden Knights linebacker Luke Danni reflects back every anniversary on how he escaped from the 61st floor of the South Tower.
“I’m so lucky there were so many who sacrificed to save me,” he said.
Danni told his story to a rapt audience earlier this week at a meeting of the YMCA of the Foothills QB Club, where he is president.
He was 22 years old, a recent graduate of Occidental College and had been sent to Morgan Stanley in New York to begin training at the Twin Towers on Sept. 10, 2001. The next morning, a training meeting ended up being 15 minutes late because a speaker went too long, so during a break, he decided not to go to the observation deck on the 107th floor.
Instead, he looked out a window and saw what he thought was confetti flying around, It was papers from the aftermath of a plane running into the North Tower. Soon he saw a fire. At first, evacuation from the South Tower was not recommended. But Danni said the head of security, Rick Rescorla, overrode orders and told everyone to leave.
When Danni reached the 55th floor walking down the stairs, he heard an explosion. “The walls cracked,” he said.
It was a plane hitting the South Tower.
“I knew it was a terrorist attack,” he said. “I started to descend and passed firefighters going up the stairs. It took 45 minutes to evacuate.”
When he went outside, he said, “I saw both on fire.”
He went to find a pay phone so he could call his loved ones and tell them he was OK. Then the towers started to collapse.
“I heard a rumble,” he said. “It was 57 minutes since the plane hit. I saw the dust cloud. I turned and ran.”
Danni said he learned the security man, Rescorla, after escorting employees outside, went back up to make sure all had been evacuated from the office. The security man and 343 firefighters perished trying to help others.
“I got to see so many acts of heroism,” Danni said.
He was dating his future wife, Helena, at the time. They eventually married and their son, Luke, was born. This week he’ll be having fun watching Luke play quarterback for St. Francis on Friday night against Muir.
“Every 9/11, he says, ‘Dad, I’m glad you’re here,’” Kevin said.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
