Mirror photo by Michael Boytim Mike Reed checks in Susquehanna University women’s basketball coach Gabby Holko at Wednesday’s event held at the Nittany Valley Sports Centre.

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

STATE COLLEGE — College basketball coaches from all over Pennsylvania and surrounding areas converged at the Nittany Valley Sports Centre on Wednesday afternoon for Sideline Cancer’s fifth annual Scrimmage Day.

The event was hosted by Mike Reed, who was an assistant coach for the Altoona girls basketball team last season and founded the AAU Dynamite program that recently merged with Sideline Cancer.

“My kids have already finished their college careers,” Reed said. “I have stuck with it, because I enjoy helping kids get connected and enjoy the relationships I have with the college coaches and being able to make those connections for the kids. It’s very rewarding seeing the kids play at the next level.”

Wednesday’s event was open to Division II, Division III, NAIA and JUCO women’s basketball coaches. More than 40 colleges were represented and took in games from 25 different AAU teams across four courts over six hours.

“A lot of the PSAC schools are here, and we don’t have a huge recruiting budget like a lot of other places,” Bloomsburg women’s basketball coach Alison Tagliaferri said. “Having these that are free for us to come to with a lot of Pennsylvania talent, because that’s who we recruit a lot of for in-state tuition, are priceless honestly. These help us out budget wise, because we can’t go to Kentucky and Chicago and a lot of the bigger tournaments.”

Plenty of the top returning high school girls players in the area were competing on Wednesday, including Altoona incoming senior Melana Eyer.

“It’s very nice of Mike Reed to set this up for us, and it’s a nice way to get exposed in front of college coaches,” Eyer said. “It’s a good experience. I’m planning on going to college for nursing, and I’m talking to a few PSAC schools. Today is a huge day for me. I’m really excited to show the colleges what I can do.”

Penn State Altoona women’s basketball coach Halee Adams had Wednesday’s date circled on her calendar for quite some time.

“I love this event,” Adams said. “The games are shorter than typical AAU games, and it’s so much easier to see more talent. You get a feel of what you are looking for after 25 minutes. You can watch, go see another game and then go back to the first girl if you need to. I think it’s good for all coaches to come here.”

Adams, who was a star at Bishop Guilfoyle, was recruited to Siena and then transferred to Saint Francis to finish her playing career.

“This wasn’t around, and tournaments were nowhere near as big. Social media wasn’t as big,” Adams said. “They get exposed more now, and I think that’s awesome for them. People from further away can come see them play and on social media.”

Past AAU showcases held in State College were much bigger, which didn’t always mean better.

“Ten years ago there was an enormous event at Penn State,” Lock Haven assistant women’s basketball coach Zack Smith said. “I’m talking 35 to 40 courts at Penn State. It ended up costing a lot of money, so a lot of smaller schools had to find a hole and find a way to fit in with an enormous amount of people coming from out of town. Smaller events like this are more about the relationships. These smaller venues and what Coach Mike Reed and Sideline Cancer has done in the area has been fantastic growing local talent and finding homes for student athletes to play at the next level.”

Cost management for all parties involved is something Reed had in mind when hosting the event.

“Coaches have limited time and limited budgets to go out and see kids,” Reed said. “At the end of the day, unless kids are established with a college coach, they aren’t really showing up at high school games, because you’re not seeing enough kids in one spot to justify your time. Plus, the high school season is the same time as the college season. Events like this allow them to see a lot of kids at one time.”

Reed led an extremely successful Dynamite AAU program for years until teaming up with Jordan Griffith and his Sideline Cancer organization.

“My AAU organization last year merged with Sideline Cancer,” Reed said. “It gives us a bigger reach. Dynamite had a really good name in the AAU community, and Sideline Cancer broadens that. When we combined, we added my basketball contacts with their bigger overall presence and it’s been a great partnership.”

Reed’s reach and the Sideline Cancer brand name brought a lot of opportunities to the players attending Wednesday.

“Here, you have everyone watching you right now,” Hollidaysburg incoming senior Bella Vent said. “There are a lot of eyes on you compared to even the high school playoffs.”

Another senior-to-be, Bellwood-Antis’ Leigha Clapper agreed.

“This one is important, because there are a lot of schools here from places we’re probably going to go,” Clapper said. “This is the only way, in my opinion, that you get seen at all. Sometimes we have Penn State Altoona at some of our games throughout the season, but other than that, college coaches, unless they are watching online, aren’t at your high school games.”

Younger players like Williamsburg’s LeeAnna Royer, who will be a junior next year, and Bishop Guilfoyle’s Morgan Ruggery, who will only be a sophomore, also attended the showcase.

“I just want to get noticed and for college coaches to see me,” Royer said. “Next year will be the year I’ll probably be recruited more, but this year I want to get noticed and make a name for myself.”

Finding a home for many high school upperclassmen has become a longer process due to colleges being unsure of how many roster spots they will have and doing their due diligence regarding the transfer portal.

“I think the transfer portal is kind of a disease, in my opinion,” Tagliaferri said. “But at the same time, it’s part of the game now. We have had some success with some transfers, but we usually try to develop high school players a little bit more. It hasn’t impacted our Division II level as much as the Division I level, but it’s definitely different.”

Smith, who has helped recruit several local players to Lock Haven that have turned the program around, praised the area.

“During my 15 years at Lock Haven, I have found that there’s this nice pocket of parents, family and community members that love basketball, specifically in the Altoona and suburban area,” Smith said. “Those kids are all bought in to what basketball at the next level can look like. When we get to go into that area, we have found great athletes who want to get away from home but be within driving distance. We have had athletes from Hollidaysburg, Altoona, Bellwood-Antis and Juniata Valley just to name a few.”

While Wednesday’s event was labeled as “Scrimmage Day” it was serious business for the players in action.

“It’s crunch time,” Eyer said. “I’m looking to commit to a college soon. Right now, I’m trying to get as many offers as I can and get a lot of experience to try and decide what I want to do.”