Area AAU basketball program looks to maintain upward trend

The Wildcats once again will field three teams in the bracket: 15-, 16- and 17-under. They had tryouts over the weekend at Mt. Pleasant High School.

Action begins next month at the Washington D.C. qualifier, the first stop on their schedule.

Bring your ‘A’ game

So what is life like on “the circuit”?

“The atmosphere and the energy is different,” said Wildcats coach Tom Droney, who played at Sewickley Academy and Davidson. “Tons of coaches, tons of scouts, tons of really tall basketball players walking around. It’s a cool environment. Good vibes and a lot of talent in the gym. Every single stop … you have to bring your ‘A’ game. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long weekend.”

A key bonus to a second year on the circuit is adidas footing the travel expenses, in addition to passing out the normal swag.

The move to the Gauntlet surely comes with majesty for any hoops junkie, Perry and Droney included.

Droney said it was not uncommon to walk into a gym and see rows of Division I royalty looking on from the front row: Kentucky’s John Calipari, Chris Mack of Louisville and Bill Self from Kansas among the rubbernecking royalty.

“There’s like 80 coaches,” Droney said. “All of the big-name guys.”

The Wildcats’ surge was not an overnight venture. You might call their power move a merger with the West Virginia Wildcats.

“It was untapped area,” Droney said. “It made sense for us.”

Longtime West Virginia Wildcats co-director Scott Long said two good programs came together to form one elite program.

“We felt we needed to give our kids an opportunity to be seen,” Long said. “Nate and Tom approached us about merging, and we thought it was a great idea. I look at the teams we have now. This is the most talented group we’ve had.”

As ITPS last year, the program went to two “final fours,” reaching Sunday in two premier tournaments.

The next wave

McDonald’s All-American Oscar Tshiebwe played for the Wildcats last season. But he will move on to West Virginia, as will his Kennedy Christian teammates, Maceo Austin (Duquesne) and Mattia Acunzo (Toledo).

That means new stars will have to emerge for the program to play deep into weekend tournaments.

“We want to qualify,” Perry said. “That’s what sets you apart. If you don’t win, you don’t make it. If you don’t win, you’re playing on Court 12, not Court 2.”

Some of the top-tier players suiting up for the Wildcats include Zach Loveday of Huntingdon Prep, Jalen Bridges of Fairmont (W. Va.), Obinna Anochili of Chapmanville (W. Va.), Chris Moncrief of The Kiski School and Donovan Johnson of Moon. All have major Division-I offers.

“We have a great camaraderie,” Perry said. “We have guys from all over the place. It’s not just one city, a couple towns. Getting the guys to mesh early on is big for us.”

Bridges will make his third appearance on the gold circuit. The summer of his sophomore year, he played with the Louisville Magic.

“It’s playing the best talent from across the country every game,” Bridges said. “My dad told me, ‘If you don’t bring it every night, you’re going to get exposed.’ It shows you what you are compared to everybody else, and it shows you what to work on.”

Bridges has offers from West Virginia, Temple, Duquesne and Dayton. He plans to play at a prep school and reclassify to the Class of 2020. Johnson’s offers include Arizona, Duquesne, George Washington, USC Upstate and Xavier.

Some other WPIAL talent playing for the Select include Dante Spadafora of OLSH, Isiah Warfield of Sewickley Academy (Liberty recruit), Vincentian’s Alex Griggs, Devin Carney of Butler, and Jaleel Christian of Summit Academy.

“Now when they see us on their schedule, teams know they have to come ready to play,” Droney said. “The biggest thing for us is consistency. We can talk about last year all we want, but it’s a new year and what can you do for me now? Our new crop of kids have to be ready to go every single game.”

Living the dream

Perry and Droney have realized a dream as basketball gym rats-turned-coaches.

“Getting to impact kids and deal with kids, it’s awesome,” Droney said. “We were in that position 10 years ago (as players). We were going AAU tournament to AAU tournament and playing together. It’s a dream, and we talked about it when we were playing and now we’re able to help these kids out.”

Bridges likes playing for Perry and Droney.

“It’s a lot more free,” Bridges said. “Tom and Nate let you play. They expect you to play defense. Offense, they just let us go.”

There is one notable change to the AAU calendar this year. Instead of the normal five “live” periods when coaches can watch potential recruits play in person, there are only two. The Wildcats will be in Dallas and Alabama during those periods.

And some might not know this: The 17-under group plays with a shot clock. Perry and Droney said coaches seem to like that concept.

End game

Perry and Droney dedicate long hours to the Wildcats, but it isn’t their full-time job. Both work at Summit Academy, where they work with adjudicated youth.

While their goal is to enhance the stature of their program, their direct aim is to help players get into college.

“It’s a lot of exposure,” Perry said. “The biggest thing for us is the kids, this is the first time in this region that they’ve had a chance to compete at that level. We want scholarships. We’re very excited for year two.”