ON THE EVE OF GREATNESS
Pine-Richland’s Eve Fiala, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, is a ‘generational talent’
Eve is a palindrome, meaning the word reads the same backward as forward.
There aren’t many first names that fit this billing, just as they’re aren’t many teenage girls who are similar to Eve Fiala.
Fiala, a sophomore at Pine-Richland, stands 6 feet 5.
Throw in the fact that she moves extremely well for her size and has excellent hands, and it’s safe to say that this 16-year-old is one of the most unique girls basketball players ever from Western Pennsylvania.
“She’s a generational talent,” said John Tate, executive director of the Western Pa. Bruins AAU program.
A talent that is opening the eyes of college coaches from across the country. Fiala, who had a Division I offer before she ever played a high school game, was recently offered by Maryland, which boasts one of the top programs in the country. Pitt, Penn State and Ohio State are some of the other schools that have already offered. And national powers such as Connecticut and Baylor are also keeping tabs on her, and it might not be long before they extend offers, as well.
That’s quite a list of suitors for a teen that hasn’t played a high school game in more than 14 months. She didn’t play at all her sophomore season after transferring from Indiana High School.
Fiala being 6-5 is obviously the biggest reason why she is in such high demand, but her AAU coach with the Western Pa. Bruins, Eddie Benton, said it’s much more than that.
“It’s the combination of her size and her ability to move,” Benton said. “Her mobility is amazing for someone her size. Her ability to run and catch. She has soft hands. She can catch. And her wingspan is so long that she can block and alter shots. I think all of that right there makes it a no-brainer.”
Fiala stands out, not only while playing basketball, but in everyday life. That comes along with being that size. Her height gives her obvious advantages in basketball, but off the court it has its negatives.
One in particular. “Yeah, you hit your head a lot,” she said, laughing.
Fiala was just a month out of eighth grade when Ohio State offered her a scholarship. IUP then did the same and Pitt joined the mix at the end of her freshman year.
To Fiala, the early recruitment was, and still is, “crazy.”
“When I first started playing, I never thought I’d be looked at like this,” said Fiala, who mentioned Candace Parker as being her favorite WNBA player.
As a freshman at Indiana, Fiala — then 6-4 and the only player on the team taller than 5-9 — showed plenty of promise and lots of production. She tallied 31 points in just her second varsity game. By the time her freshman season was over, she had averaged 16.4 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.2 blocks a game while helping Indiana advance to the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals and qualify for the PIAA playoffs.
“Not only is she tall, she’s strong and very athletic,” thenIndiana coach Dave Woodall said at the time. “Athletically, you think with a 6-3 or 6-4 freshman it would be like ‘Bambi on Ice’ with not much coordination, but that’s not the case.”
Fiala has been undergoing a big transition off the court. After living with her grandparents for most of her life, Fiala moved in with her mom and 4-year-old brother last May. In October, Fiala’s grandparents reached out to Tate and Benton about perhaps finding her a new place to live.
“Her home situation wasn’t the best in Indiana,” Benton said. “One of the family’s here sort of took her in and now she’s a part of that family.”
Fiala is living in Pine Township with the Doctor family — Yolande and her daughter Kaili. Fiala and Kaili Doctor were already AAU teammates and will soon be high school
teammates, as well.
“The grandparents were trying to find a solution,” said Yolande Doctor, who works in corporate finance for Alcoa. “I’m really trying to have her take advantage of her opportunities and do what she needs to do, like go to school, do her work and not hang out with the wrong crowd. There are no miracles, but we’re hopeful things will work out.”
Due to Fiala enrolling at Pine-Richland in December in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic putting the season in jeopardy at the time, she chose not to play her sophomore season. Since her transfer was not contested by Indiana and because the WPIAL ruled it was not for athletic intent, Fiala will be fully eligible for the regular season and playoffs her junior season.
Fiala is playing AAU ball for the Bruins for the second year in a row. She plays on the program’s U16 “national” team that competes on the Under Armour circuit. Her teammates include Doctor, North Allegheny’s Jasmine Timmerson and North Catholic’s Dacia Lewandowski. All of them also have Division I offers. The team went 4-1 in its first Under Armour event two weekends ago in Alabama.
“Playing with her is great,” Doctor said. “We have an advantage over most people because of her height. It’s easy for us to share the ball with her. We just like playing with her.”
Maryland, Michigan State and West Virginia have all offered Fiala since the beginning of AAU season last month. All three reached the NCAA tournament this year. More offers could be on the way soon, especially with the NCAA’s recruiting dead period ending June 1. Since March 13, 2020, no in-person recruiting has been allowed. This means college coaches will once again be permitted to attend AAU events and high school games.
“She’s going to play in front of every college coach in the country in the next two months,” said Benton, a former star player at Perry and the all-time leading scorer at the University of Vermont.
UConn has been the gold standard for women’s college basketball for the past 25 years. Coach Geno Auriemma has coached two Western Pa. players during that time, both of whom reached the WNBA — Swin Cash (McKeesport) and Ashley Battle (North Side, Linsly School, W.Va.). Each played AAU for the Bruins.
Will UConn eventually offer Fiala, too?
“It all depends on what UConn wants,” Benton said. “It’s a unique place. They recruit 10 kids every year and that’s it. It all depends who fits.”
It’s hard to make any comparisons to Fiala considering she’s in some ways a unicorn of a player locally. Benton threw out two — Westinghouse’s Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson and Sacred Heart’s Shannon Davis. Wilson was 66 and played collegiately at Pitt and Miami. Davis was 6-1 and a three-time Parade AllAmerican who then played at Virginia. But those comps come with caveats. Benton called Fiala more mobile than Wilson, but said Davis, although several inches shorter, was more skilled with the basketball. Davis scored 2,275 points in high school.
“She’s only scratched the surface of where she’s going to be,” Tate said. “Post players develop late. She’s just starting to develop. I expect her to keep improving and her recruitment to sky rocket. There are only a handful of schools not recruiting her.”
Tate’s program has had a half-dozen players reach the WNBA over the years, and he said he can see Fiala eventually getting there, too.
Said Tate: “If she keeps working at her game and stays healthy, she’ll be a pro.”