Ener-Gel AAU Basketball

[Prince Sidewinder]

I just did a brief research on Drew Shubik who has graduated from Sacred Heart in 2009 and is an Assistant Coach there. He averaged over 10 points a game his senior year at SH. At North Star, the 6'4" Guard, Shubik was First Team All-State (AA). Burgh this kid was a player in high school but the key to it all is the 6'4" (legit) beside his name.

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

I have been reading this and did a thorough search on this player. I was told that it was due to his amazing speed was why the baseball teams were interested. How fast does he run the 60 yard dash in?

I have not seen the watch with mine own eyes but was told he's in "the Chase Dykstra range," which would be 6.7ish.

[WPIAL~Titan]

6.7 is fast, but does he have any of the other 4 tools (hit for power, hit for average, arm strength, and glove)? My guess is he may, but not D1 type tools or we'd be hearing about him all over the place.

[Prince Sidewinder]

6.7 is a nice 60 time but not anything that is mind boggling. He had 11 bags this seaon in 12 attempts which is nothing notable, ranks him in the top 85 in stolen bases in PA....PA not even the country. He hit .347 at Forest hills which isn't even tops on his squad.

I ask this seriously, why do we have to do this to a kid. Let him play on the next level wherever it may be.. Burgh you are the one who is sheltered from the truth. You do not know what is out there! The worst thing that can happen to a young athlete is that everyone talks Division I and he ends up at UPJ or the Mount and it seems like a disappointment. Burgh you should go to some big games and get out of Dodge and see what the United States has to offer not Cambria County!!! I tip my hat to the Rocco kid from IUP who just gets it done. Nobody had him going "DI" he just goes to IUP and gets the job done.

[Crimson09Crazy]

There is nothing wrong with playing Division II, thats dang good ball. The coaches and the trainers and everything give you just about all the same luxuries at D1, just not the same hype. On most years UPJ could beat St. Francis.


Look at this way, UPJ has Jordan Miller who led the state in scoring his senior year(if not he was top 5) and he still didn't go division 1.

They also had a freshmen in last years's class, with Miller, named Nick Novak. This kid played at AAAA Franlkin Regional. He was the WPIAL player of the year averaged close to 30 his senior year and is a 6 foot guard that can dunk with relative ease and was a good shooter. He also could not get into Division 1.

Mind you, Jordan Miller got all the minutes and Novak redshirted. That shows how good he was that he could out play a kid that was the WPIAL player of the year, which is much much better then LHAC competition.

My point being, those are two excellent guards, but they do not even play D1 ball. That shows how good you really have to be.....Luke Gallagher is a really good guard. College Basketball is filled to the brim with good guards at all 3 levels(D III including, Scott Mezyk and Josh Polantz from Westmont, both great guards). The things that make the good teams good is Good post players. But what I'm saying is, Good guards are a dime a dozen. You have to be outstanding. LG is not an outstanding guard, he's really good. D II is nothing to be ashamed of, rather a huge accomplishment. We all know we barely churn out any Division 1 players, but here's one for everyone....How many D2 players does this area have? Not many....

O'Connor at Fairmont State
Weatherly,Byer,Miller,Vescovi at UPJ.....

Not many guys.

[WPIAL~Titan]

Great point...There is NOTHING THE MATTER with being a D2, D3, NAIA, or JUCO student/athlete. It's commednable. Not many HS athletes go on to play at the collegiate level. D1 athletes are so rare in the western PA area, with the exception of football and girls' basketball, and sometimes wrestling. Gallagher must be a tremendous HS athlete to be recruited by colleges in baseball, basketball, and track. Even the great self-promoting Timbo McConnell from CV has turned out only 3 D1 basketball players in his 20+ years coaching there.

Here's what I have a problem with: Too many folks in that District 5/6 area who live in the bubble there and have rarely of ever seen a game outside of that area pump these kids up mistakenly and make them sound like the next Terelle Pryor. That is so unfair to kids like Jordan Miller and Gallagher.

Crimson, you say that the WPIAL has good basketball and competition. Maybe as compared to District 5/6, but in all honesty, the boys' basketball in the WPIAL/Pittsburgh metro area is terrible in terms of talent as compared to other metro areas within a 5-6 hour drive. Philly, DC/Baltimore, NYC, Chicago, and even Cleveland are light years better for hs boys' hoops. Sure, once in awhile metro Pittsburgh gets a DuJuan Blair, but that is so rare. Heck, Altoona has had 2 NBA players in the past 30 years in Doug West and Mike Iuzzolino. I coached (assistant at a AAAA program) and ran a summer league in suburban Philly back in the mid-90s. One summer, our summer league site had FIVE future/current NBA players on the 16 teams in the league, and I counted something like 15-16 D1 players. Kobe Bryant, Rasheed Wallace, Marc Brunson, Aaron McKie, and Eddie Jones all played in the league. The games were more like gymnastic or track meets. It was something to watch.

[psycho's friend]

Titan, great points about the other metro areas being light years ahead. And i'll bet that Philly league was something to watch. I believe you missed one from Altoona in the mid 70's, Johnny Moore played for the Spurs. in the 80's

[Crimson09Crazy]

Yeah all I was saying was relative. The wpial sucks but in comparison to the lhac it's a whole he'll of a lot better

[The Burgh]

Crimson09Crazy - you mention that Jordan Miller played at UPJ last year and Nick Novak reshirted. However, last year Nick Novak averaged 12.8 ppg for UPJ while Jordan Miller averaged 6.8 ppg. UPJ got 2 outstanding guards to be able to contribute at the collegiate level as freshmen. Just as I believe Luke Gallaher can play lower level D1, I also coached against Nick Novak in a game going into his sr year and I think (in the right situation) he too could have played at a Northeast Conference D1 school.

[The Burgh]

Regarding Luke Gallaher's 60 yd time - he was clocked by Major League Baseball Scouts at a showcase and ran a 6.49 which was the fastest time recorded in the state of PA in the summer of 2009. Anything under 6.7 is considered extremely good.

Prince Sidewinder made a statement that I don't know what is out there. I have been coaching basketball for 20 years at various levels. I am very familiar with players throughout PA, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia. I certainly understand that District 6 is not a basketball hotbed and I agree with Titan that Pittsburgh does not compare with Philly.

My point is this. I have played basketball with Mike Iuzzolino (Altoona, Penn State, St. Francis, Dallas Mavericks, Italy) and he was a great player. He excelled at St. Francis and did well for 2 years at Dallas and had a fine career in Italy. Mike's work ethic was incredible from his legendary daily workouts that included running, lifting, shooting, ballhandling, and playing games for hour after hour. He devoted his time totally to basketball and did not play other sports in high school. Luke on the other hand (baseball, basketball, track). If Luke devotes himself entirely to basketball and improves his ball handling - in my opinion he can play at D1.

When I compare these two players
LG 6', faster, measured vertical jump 38", finishes above the rim, excellent defender, constantly faces box and 1's or double teams, gets all the attention from the other teams. Very good shooter. Good FT shooter

MI 5'11", vertical leap upper 20's, good defender, had 4 other starters at Altoona play college ball (Curry, West, etc) exceptional shooter. Great FT shooter. The thing that separated Mike was his intangibles as he had the "it" factor and he was a winner.

I am curious to see how LG would progress if he only concentrated on one sport - those on this board don't think he has the ability, I on the other hand do. Therefore, it should be fun to see how his sr year progresses and where he does finally end up. Either way Luke is a terrific student and will be successful in the end.