After making switch to George, Weise remains on point
PENNINGTON » Dante Weise knew there was going to be an adjustment period both on and off the basketball court when he made the tough choice to swap Allentown High for the George School in Bucks County.
Through the early part of the season, Weise is fitting in just fine with his new teammates.
“The team brought me in like a brother,” Weise said after he scored seven points and George picked up a 74-68 victory over Pennington on Wednesday afternoon that improved it to 3-1 overall. “Those are my guys. Coach Ben (Luber) has been great.”
Weise was an All-CVC selection last season at Allentown, but the opportunity to join up with Luber — a former Big Ten point guard at Penn State and college assistant at both Rider and Binghamton — presented an opportunity to expand his game.
He also reclassified to repeat his junior season, allowing himself an extra year to mature physically and impress college coaches.
It also helps that he’s on the floor with three Division I prospects in guard Christian Bliss and forwards Kachi Nzeh and Gestin Liberis.
“It makes me a lot better,” Weise said. “Going against those guys makes me better every day and I think it translates to the court.”
Weise was the leading scorer at Allentown last season, while handling the ball on almost every possession. He’s not being tasked with that much given the talent on the roster, but he still flashed his ability to get the basket and then find open teammates when the defense collapsed.
“I’m trying to establish myself as a leader,” Weise said. “As a point guard, I feel like that’s my job. I have to get my guys to the right spots, dish the ball, score the ball. I got to do everything on the court the right way.”
Weise said he’s trying to soak up all the information he can from Luber.
“You have to be the puppet master, you can’t be the puppet,” Luber said. “You have to move pieces around, get them to the right spots to execute plays, take care of the ball, draw two find one and knock down open shots.
“Those are all things he’s capable of doing. At the end of the day, he’s a winner. That’s what I love about him. He comes from a basketball family, but he doesn’t make excuses. He’s still not a finished product, but he’s got two years with us and I’m hoping to make him the best version of himself.”
Bliss scored 18 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, Nzeh added 20 and George held off a fourth-quarter charge by Pennington.
Pennington dropped to 1-7 on the season, but
was within five in the final minute after Ethan Pires (14 points) connected on a 3-pointer. Corey Miller paced the home team with 16 points and Dwayne Snead made four 3s and finished with 14 points.
Coach Chandler FraserPauls
believes wins are going to follow some positive performances.