Todd Stanford's boys basketball column: Storm brewing in the Valley



 

The Storm is coming.

No, no. Don't misunderstand. You don't have to run out to the grocery story and buy bread and milk and rock salt.

I'm not talking about yet another winter storm, I'm talking about the Cen-Penn Storm, an AAU basketball program led by co-coordinators Eldon Hoy and Andre' Roupp of Mifflinburg.

Beginning this spring, the Storm will field all-star teams for area boys. Hoy and Roupp are hoping that they'll get enough interest that they'll be able to field one team for every grade from 6th to 11th. The Storm had one team last year, a freshman team coached by Roupp and Danville's Scott Schafer.

Hoy, now in his 13th year as the Mifflinburg head coach (Roupp is one of his long-time assistants) became involved in AAU in 2006 when his son Zac -- now at junior point guard for the Wildcats -- joined a team out of Scranton.

"We chose to have Zac try out for the Hoop City AAU program," Hoy says. "It was the best decision we ever made. Zac made the team and ever since has played for the Scranton program."

The Hoop City program -- which two years ago changed its name to Backcourt Hoops -- is run by former Bishop Hannan coach John Bucci. Although the program started in Scranton, Bucci has satellite programs in the Poconos, Wilkes-Barre, Wayne County, and now the Central Susquehanna Valley.

In 2008, Bucci took two teams to the national level. One was a ninth-grade team which featured Zac Hoy; Eldon was the coach.

"The teams traveled and competed at a very high level, including the Gymrat Challenge in Albany, N.Y,, the Hall of Fame Tournament in Springfield, Mass., and the Nike Showcase in Las Vegas," Hoy says. "The national teams became known as JB Hoops. They did very well at this national level, reaching platinum level brackets (winning their pools) in most of these national tournaments."

Roupp enjoyed his time last year with the 9th-grade Storm, a team that had players from Mifflinburg, Danville, Selinsgrove, Shikellamy and Bloomsburg.

"We played in tournaments throughout Pennsylvania and also traveled to New Jersey," Roupp says. "The entire experience of traveling for tournaments and playing in first-rate facilities is a great one for the kids, parents, and coaches. As a coach, I gained friendships with players, parents, and fellow coaches that continue today. It is a remarkable feeling to see those players that routinely compete against each other on their respective high school teams come together to develop their skills and succeed on an expanded stage."

"We found that the camaraderie, friendships, and experiences established through AAU participation are by far the greatest aspects," Eldon Hoy adds. "Their regular-season foes become their teammates, friends and travel partners in the AAU situation. This then helps the young men realize that sports are about a lot more than wins and losses. It also then makes the next scholastic season much more enjoyable for the players as they now have connections with their opponents. We are looking to bring that type of familiarity between area schools' players and coaches to the central Pa. region."

Long-time Shamokin coach Joe Klebon will coach one of the Storm teams this year, as will former Lycoming and Bloomsburg coach Terry Conrad. Hoy says that they're still looking for coaches for the 6th- and 11th-grade teams. Each team will have approximately 10 players, and tryouts will be held at the Mifflinburg Intermediate School (the Cats' Den) in late March. For more information, go to backcourthoops.com. You can contact the coaches at cenpennstorm@backcourthoops.com.

n Sports reporter Todd Stanford covers high school boys basketball for The Daily Item. E-mail comments to tstanford@dailyitem.com.