Tournament features some of nation’s best players
For AAU teams, there were a lot of IDK’s last year. “U guys playing?” “IDK.”
COVID-19 flipped the AAU season upside down.
“It wasn’t until the event tipped off that it was like, ‘OK, we’re going to play this weekend,’” said John Tate, executive director of the Western Pa. Bruins.
Tate and others involved in AAU basketball have been anxiously waiting for the return of normalcy. And while we might not be there quite yet, we seem to be getting much closer.
This weekend’s Western
AAU basketball
Pa. Bruins Tip-Off Tournament speaks to that.
About 230 teams (grades four through 11) from 13 states and the District of Columbia will converge on Western Pennsylvania Friday through Sunday for what is being hailed as “the nation’s premier tip-off event.” The tournament, which is in its eighth year, will be held at the All- American Field House in Monroeville (all three days) and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center (Saturday and Sunday).
“Our high was 270 in 2019, but with COVID and everything, we’re really happy with the number of teams we have and, more importantly, the quality of teams,” said Tate, the tournament director.
The quality of players, too. This tournament, which was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic, has included its fair share of McDonald’s AllAmericans in past years, and Tate said this year should be no different.
“Some of the bigger names will be here,” he said. “Four or five will have a good chance of making that list.”
Among the biggest names (with notable offers):
• Talaysia Cooper, Team Curry (South Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky, Florida State).
• KK Bransford, Cincinnati Angels (UConn, Baylor, Arizona, Louisville).
• Aalyah Del Rosario, New Heights NYC (South Carolina, Texas, Ohio State, Pitt).
• Ashlynn Shade, Nike Lady Gym Rats (Louisville, Iowa, UCLA, Maryland).
Many of the top underclassmen in the WPIAL will be playing for Western Pa. Bruins teams, including Chartiers Valley junior Aislin Malcolm (Pitt recruit), North Allegheny sophomore Jasmine Timmerson (offers include Pitt, Duquesne, Michigan State) and PineRichland sophomore Eve Fiala (offers include Pitt, Penn State and Ohio State).
Malcolm will play on a team in the event’s “Elite Division” that also features Peters Township junior Journey Thompson and Moon junior Emma Theodorsson.
The other local team in that division is SLAAM, which has three of Malcolm’s Chartiers Valley teammates — Perri Page and twins Hallie and Helene Cowan.
Annually holding a major tournament locally has been important, Tate said. It’s added to what is a consistently strong group of girls talent in the WPIAL and City League. Like most years, the number of girls players from the current senior class (10) headed to play Division I college basketball dwarfs the number of boys players (none) doing the same.
Tate is well aware of this, of course. The Bruins organization has been around for 34 years and Tate is in his 11th year as executive director.
“The numbers don’t lie,” he said. “Look at the number of Division I girls the last five years and the number of Division I boys. It’s not even comparable. I look at our club. We send 10-12 girls Division I every year. Are there ever 10-12 boys from this area? When you look at it, there’s a really big gap.”