Huge summer for Howard Co. AAU hoops team
Finding a rare free moment last week in Orlando, Bill Napolitano flipped on the television, tuned in to ESPNU and listened to the network’s basketball analysts break down the final eight teams at the 17-and-under AAU National Championships.
“Every team had at least one guy who already committed to a big-name school,” Napolitano said. “And then [they talked about] HCYP Elite, and nobody on our team is going anywhere. They will, but at that time, nothing. We played the Carolina Raptors and they’ve got three guys going to ACC schools that have already committed. They were all big-name programs.”
Napolitano’s Howard County Youth Programs squad may have been an unknown quantity on the national scene, but that changed quickly last week in Orlando. HCYP Elite fell to the South Carolina Ravens in a semifinal matchup of the championship bracket, but then finished strong with a win over the Connecticut Basketball Club in the third-place game. The improbability of HCYP Elite finishing third at nationals was not lost on Napolitano.
“Every one of those teams was sponsored either by a shoe company or an NBA player,” Napolitano said. “… We pretty much sell donuts and stuff like that to get down there. We don’t get any sponsorship money, even from our own organization.”
A former Washington Post All-Met point guard at DuVal High in Prince George’s County, Napolitano wanted to stay involved with the game after his college career at West Liberty University in West Virginia ended. He coached his kids and eventually got involved with HCYP Elite, starting with a group of elementary school-aged players and sticking with that group through high school.
Napolitano started coaching this year’s 17-and-under group when the kids were in fourth grade. HCYP Elite is composed of Howard County’s top high school players, and Napolitano doesn’t recruit. He had an inkling that this group could be special after they claimed the Maryland State AAU championship in April, besting teams like Team Melo and the Baltimore Stars along the way.
“We probably won like eight tournaments in the spring and summer against top competition,” Napolitano said. “All these tournaments, every time you go there’s like 120 teams in the tournaments. We were the Maryland champions, ahead of all the other big-time teams. … I just never had this many kids that were so serious about basketball, guys that were willing to practice all year round and work out all the time. They’re really just basketball fanatics – that’s the big difference. They’re guys that love basketball.”
Making the final eight of the AAU Nationals put HCYP Elite’s players right in the sightlines of hundreds of college coaches. Greg Whittington, a 6-foot-8 forward from Oakland Mills, caught the attention of ESPN.com’s Reggie Rankin, who named him the surprise player of the championship bracket.
“I’ve had four ACC schools call me about [Whittington] this week,” Napolitano said. “… Greg is a unique kid. He’s a 6-8 wing player who runs the court and handles the ball. And they all saw him. Somebody from Maryland followed him. They had seen us play before. Clemson has contacted me, Georgia Tech and Boston College. He’s getting a lot of attention. Other kids are getting low- to mid-DI interest. [Oakland Mills point guard] Joe Kiely, when he got home [from Orlando], George Mason, Tulane and James Madison had called him. So I think they’re just going to start getting attention because they were really unknown playing for small Howard County high schools. And we’ve never done this well, so I think we’ve never really been on anybody’s radar.”
Other members of HCYP Elite include: Randallstown combo guard Nick Doolin, Glenelg guard Shane Kellaher, Mount Hebron forward Zack Neal, Marriotts Ridge guard Kevin Yu, River Hill point guard Varun Ram, Howard wing Alex Standrowicz, Glenelg County School point guard Ben Jordon, Howard center Tadas Pakalniskis, River Hill guard Jordan Knisley, Mount St. Joseph wing Dan Nardolillo and South Carroll forward Ryan McTavish. It’s a team that Napolitano won’t soon forget.
“It’s enormous for me. I’m a basketball junkie,” Napolitano said. “But I never thought we’d be this good. Nobody knew who we were, but if you look at the scores, we were beating teams by 15 and 20 points. It wasn’t lucky. ... Watching them get to this point, we never intended them to get to this point. But I was really happy I had guys who like to play. We liked our chances and they kept getting better. We just thought we’d go down there, get some looks and hope guys get some scholarship offers.”
Comments
Watching them play reminded me of the 1980 Miracle on Ice. Their efforts in Orlando should be called the Miracle on the Hardwood. Congrats to the players and to the coaches.
Posted by: Basketball Guy | August 5, 2010 1:33 PM