Post by fjs64 on Jul 21, 2005 19:59:46 GMT -5
Another terrific recruiting opportunity.....getting this many kids on campus at the same time, meeting the coaches, seeing our school, the parents seeing our school........our coaching staff never stops working.
Column: PEZZIMENTI
ST. BONAVENTURE — Basketball junkies beware: If you feel a void in your soul, don’t fret. If the dog days of summer are bogging you down just wait.
On July 30, 42 boys’ high school teams from Rochester to Altoona, Pa. and everywhere in between are set to converge on the St. Bonaventure campus for a total of 168 games in 36 hours.
Western New York heavyweights like Jamestown and East Rochester and Pennsylvania powers such as Bradford High and St. Marys will be on hand. In addition to Bradford, eight other Big 30 schools (Olean High, Whitesville, West Valley, Oswayo Valley, Cuba-Rushord, Archbishop Walsh, Genesee Valley and Fillmore) are scheduled to attend.
Run by the Bona men’s program, the team camp will feature two divisions (large and small) and an NCAA-style tournament to cap it all off.
“There’s some great matchups,” said Bonnies director of basketball operations Jake Luhn, who played a huge role in attracting teams and other camp logistics. “You’ll have a Bradford High playing a Greece Arcadia. That’s a great Pennsylvania school and that’s a great Western New York school. They would never play if wasn’t for the camp.”
Contests are open to public and will take place at the Reilly Center, the Richter Center (the new on-campus recreational facility), as well as Butler Gym. Seven games total are scheduled to be played on the hour, every hour from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 30 and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 31.
Teams will be seeded mid-way through the second day and the tournament will start around 1 p.m.
“There is much anticipation with our upcoming team camp,” said Bonnies’ coach Anthony Solomon. “The growth from 16 teams to 42 is excellent. Lots of credit goes to Jake Luhn who has worked tirelessly at getting it to this level. It has been important since the summer of ’03 to attract high school programs to our campus so that they can get an up-close view of our staff, program, and university on how we do things."
The building of the Richter Center, which features four full courts, was perhaps the greatest factor in the radical increase in team attendance. Solomon and his staff of assistants also reached out to high school coaches through e-mail, telephone calls, invitations to practices and help with X’s and O’s.
Additionally, Joe DeCerbo, head of the Cattaraugus County Officials board, said approximately 40 referees — most of those working toward certification — will be on hand to voluntarily officiate games, which will feature 20-minute halves with a running clock. In return, the Bona program will donate money to DeCerbo and the board for the annual Big 30 Exceptional Senior games.
To coaches like Bradford’s Furhman, Olean High’s Jeff Anastasia and Walsh’s Tony LaBella, the real life game situations are most appealing.
“We’ll be able to see different teams and even if we lose we’ll know what have to work on,” Anastasia said. “The two divisions is great. I look at some of the teams we’ll be playing against and there are some pretty good teams from Rochester and Buffalo. We’ll definitely find out where we’re at and what we need to work on.”
Olean, a large division school is scheduled to play teams like Kenmore West, Victor and Lake Shore. As is Bradford, which returns just three major players from last season
“We need to play as much as possible,” Furhman said. “There’s going to be some pretty good teams there. It gives us a chance to play against a lot of different opponents. Being the biggest school in the area it’s hard to find good competition without traveling a good distance.”
The same goes for Walsh and LaBella, who has invited a number of JV-aged players to take part in the camp.
“Last year we played against good kids and played against bigger schools,” he said. “It gives us an idea of how we measure up to other schools in our section and other sections.”
(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
©
Column: PEZZIMENTI
ST. BONAVENTURE — Basketball junkies beware: If you feel a void in your soul, don’t fret. If the dog days of summer are bogging you down just wait.
On July 30, 42 boys’ high school teams from Rochester to Altoona, Pa. and everywhere in between are set to converge on the St. Bonaventure campus for a total of 168 games in 36 hours.
Western New York heavyweights like Jamestown and East Rochester and Pennsylvania powers such as Bradford High and St. Marys will be on hand. In addition to Bradford, eight other Big 30 schools (Olean High, Whitesville, West Valley, Oswayo Valley, Cuba-Rushord, Archbishop Walsh, Genesee Valley and Fillmore) are scheduled to attend.
Run by the Bona men’s program, the team camp will feature two divisions (large and small) and an NCAA-style tournament to cap it all off.
“There’s some great matchups,” said Bonnies director of basketball operations Jake Luhn, who played a huge role in attracting teams and other camp logistics. “You’ll have a Bradford High playing a Greece Arcadia. That’s a great Pennsylvania school and that’s a great Western New York school. They would never play if wasn’t for the camp.”
Contests are open to public and will take place at the Reilly Center, the Richter Center (the new on-campus recreational facility), as well as Butler Gym. Seven games total are scheduled to be played on the hour, every hour from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 30 and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 31.
Teams will be seeded mid-way through the second day and the tournament will start around 1 p.m.
“There is much anticipation with our upcoming team camp,” said Bonnies’ coach Anthony Solomon. “The growth from 16 teams to 42 is excellent. Lots of credit goes to Jake Luhn who has worked tirelessly at getting it to this level. It has been important since the summer of ’03 to attract high school programs to our campus so that they can get an up-close view of our staff, program, and university on how we do things."
The building of the Richter Center, which features four full courts, was perhaps the greatest factor in the radical increase in team attendance. Solomon and his staff of assistants also reached out to high school coaches through e-mail, telephone calls, invitations to practices and help with X’s and O’s.
Additionally, Joe DeCerbo, head of the Cattaraugus County Officials board, said approximately 40 referees — most of those working toward certification — will be on hand to voluntarily officiate games, which will feature 20-minute halves with a running clock. In return, the Bona program will donate money to DeCerbo and the board for the annual Big 30 Exceptional Senior games.
To coaches like Bradford’s Furhman, Olean High’s Jeff Anastasia and Walsh’s Tony LaBella, the real life game situations are most appealing.
“We’ll be able to see different teams and even if we lose we’ll know what have to work on,” Anastasia said. “The two divisions is great. I look at some of the teams we’ll be playing against and there are some pretty good teams from Rochester and Buffalo. We’ll definitely find out where we’re at and what we need to work on.”
Olean, a large division school is scheduled to play teams like Kenmore West, Victor and Lake Shore. As is Bradford, which returns just three major players from last season
“We need to play as much as possible,” Furhman said. “There’s going to be some pretty good teams there. It gives us a chance to play against a lot of different opponents. Being the biggest school in the area it’s hard to find good competition without traveling a good distance.”
The same goes for Walsh and LaBella, who has invited a number of JV-aged players to take part in the camp.
“Last year we played against good kids and played against bigger schools,” he said. “It gives us an idea of how we measure up to other schools in our section and other sections.”
(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
©
