As a public service, today's topic is public service.

Specifically, we're talking about the noble work of the multitude responsible for the third annual Dana Palmer Scholarship Basketball Game to be contested 5 p.m. April 26 in the Radford High gymnasium.

Here's what you need to know:

n Named in honor of a beloved former Bobcats football player who died in 2000 of cancer, every penny raised goes to a scholarship fund for a Radford student deemed worthy by a panel of school officials. Donations are accepted at the door of the game, which features numerous well-known athletes (more on whom later).

n The hope is to build an endowment of $25,000. About $5,000 was raised each of the past two years, with $1,500 of that per year funding an individual scholarship.

n In conjunction with the ballgame, there are related events including a banquet at 7 p.m. April 25 at the city's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge. Speakers include retired coaching luminaries Norman Lineburg of Radford and Steve Ragsdale of Giles. Tickets for that are $25, and they're to be had at the high school and at the city recreation department.

n Prior to the game, there will be an autograph session and a city fire truck for the inspection of children who may be less interested in sitting still for the hoops.

That out of the way, here are some additional assorted facts you may be interested in: Key figures in the organization of the event are many.

Among those who played crucial roles included Chester Black and Derrick Smith, a couple of Palmer's former teammates who were among those who came up with the idea to begin with. Another is Allen Hall, Radford man about town and friend to the stars, who has served as part salesman, part publicist and part booking agent.

"This thing just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Hall said.

To wit, get a load of this year's talent pool -- some veterans of the show, others newcomers.

White team members include Rob Graham, Mark Lineburg, Louis Ramsey, Preston Snell, Derrick Smith, Paul Snell, Pugie Hayden, Junior Thompson, Mario Claytor, Shane Nichols, Darris Nichols, Chester Black, Terrell Dobbins, Ron Adams and Bryan Hayden.

On the Black team are Scotty Scott, Jeff King, Grant Kittleson, Doug Day, Anthony Akers, Stephen Barber, Ron Shelburne, Richard Morgan, LaShawn Jones, Shannon Taylor, Rashad Myers, Chad Phillips, Nathan Charlton, Maceo Dickinson, Torian Gray, Dell Curry and Anthony Houston.

Counted in the group are one current and one former National Football League player: King and Taylor. Shayne Graham, the Cincinnati Bengals kicker from Pulaski County, is going to be on hand but is not listed among the contestants. Pierson Prioleau, the former Virginia Tech standout who last played with the Washington Redskins, is likewise scheduled to be on hand but will not play.

There is also a retired NBA player, former Virginia Tech sharpshooter Curry, also well known in these parts for being married to the former Sonya Adams, a strong candidate for the first class of the newly formed Radford High Sports Hall of Fame to be announced this summer. Perhaps joining them will be a couple of their children, Davidson star Stephen, the NCAA Tournament sensation, and younger brother Seth, a Liberty University signee.

Should the brothers show, they can't play because of NCAA statutes, but their pop can and will.

There is a pile of former Division I basketball players, among them the Nichols brothers of Radford, freshly eligible for this affair after distinguished careers at West Virginia (Darris) and Wofford (Shane). Also on the list of former D-I brave hearts are Pulaski County's King (who turned the rare feat of playing both football and basketball for Virginia Tech); Shelburne and Day (Radford University Hall-of-Famers from Pulaski County and Blacksburg respectively); Barber (Radford University); Akers (Elon); Morgan (Virginia); Myers (Radford); and Claytor (Western Carolina). Gray coaches football at Tech, where he also played. Jones played football at Virginia.

Then there is the list of players with direct ties to Radford High. Among that esteemed group are Mark Lineburg, alumnus and principal, and Graham, alumnus and tennis coach. Others include Ramsey, both Snells, both Haydens, Ron Adams (a Ferrum football coach and the brother of Sonya Curry), Scott, Phillips, Dickinson and Charlton. Another Radford and Tech football great, Wooster Pack, will be keeping the score book.

Tech assistant football coach and former Radford grid stud Kevin Sherman is expected to be on hand but not for basketball.

Coaches of the two teams are Robert Lineburg, the Radford University athletic director and a former college basketball coach, and Bill Nichols, father of the aforementioned Nichols brothers, former college player and a veteran local coach.

Keeping the peace will be some more volunteers. Roger Ayers of Roanoke, an ACC official, has organized an officiating crew that includes Steve Davis of Giles County, Billy Rice of Wytheville, and Noland Hazzard of Pulaski County.

"It means a lot to us that so many people outside of Radford have been willing to help us," Hall said.