Bulldogs going through changes
Beth-Center’s boys basketball program is going through several changes in the 2016 season.
The first change is with the person running the program. Paul Stanley, who has spent a large chunk of the last 25 years teaching basketball in camps and clinics after he retired from playing professionally, will take over a Bulldogs team that went 8-10 overall.
“I’ve been involved in coaching for a long time. I coached at the high school level in the ’90s in Youngstown, Ohio,” Stanley said. “I’ve helped them out a little over the past few years and then decided with the job opening that I would jump in.”
Stanley played in the National Basketball League in Australia for four years and one year in the World Basketball League in the United States. He started his own business about eight-and-a-half years ago called “Shooting Star Basketball with Paul Stanley” where he would work one-on-one with junior high and high school players, do clinics and camps with 30-40 kids a day and sometimes work with a high school team for several straight days.
When Stanley’s son Brennan started playing basketball at B-C in 2013, Stanley took some time to work with the Bulldogs.
“Some of the kids that are in the program have come to some of my camps and some of my workout sessions in the past,” Paul Stanley said. “I have a pretty good handle on our kids. It’s definitely helpful to know what we’re working with and try to make it work.”
The second change is a change that affects every team in the WPIAL — class and section realignment. While some schools didn’t have to move up classes and only changed sections, Beth-Center moves up to Class AAA.
The Bulldogs made the playoffs after a 5-7 record in Section 4-AA last season, falling to Wilkinsburg in the first round. This year, the Bulldogs will be facing off with some familiar teams and some not-so-familiar ones in Section 4-AAA.
“Some of the teams in our conference we’re familiar with, like Brownsville and Charleroi, and I think we’re fairly familiar with Southmoreland having played against them in the summer,” Paul Stanley said. “Then with Burgettstown, South Side Beaver, Wash High, we don’t know a lot about them. But really it’s about what we do. I’m not really worried about who we play.”
The last change is one that teams go through nearly every season, which is the loss of seniors.
The Bulldogs only lose two seniors from last year’s squad, but both players started and played key roles. Luke Hess started at forward last season, while Bradey McDonnell started at shooting guard.
“Two great kids. I coached both of them in the past,” Paul Stanley said. “Luke was an extremely hard worker and very coachable. Brady McDonnell was our best perimeter player. We’re definitely going to miss both of them, but like every other program in Western Pennsylvania, we’re going to have to fill holes and keep moving forward.”
The Bulldogs do return three starters, though, in 5-11 sophomore guard JJ Green, 5-9 senior point guard Nick Pryor and 6-5 senior center Brennan Stanley. Paul Stanley expects the three returners to “carry the load on offense” for the Bulldogs.
Paul Stanley said one of the two starting spots will likely be filled by 6-4 freshman forward Jacob Bobbs, while the other spot is up in the air. The last start spot, as well as the first two spots on the bench, will be filled by 6-4 junior forward Ron White, 5-8 junior guard Andrew White and 5-10 junior forward Jim Hunyady.
Hunyady is hurt right now, but Stanley will look for the swing player to get inside and be physical inside the paint.
Paul Stanley doesn’t just expect Hunyady to be physical, as he expects that to be his team’s biggest strength this season.
“We’re not blessed with tons of size, but we’re not small,” Paul Stanley said. “We’re not blessed with extreme quickness or talent. We have a couple talented guys, but for the most part we’re going to have to be a blue-collar, roll-the-sleeves up, get-after-you-on-defense, hit-the-glass (team) and win ugly sometimes. I hope that’s the recipe for us.”
With only two seniors on the team, Brennan Stanley and Pryor, Paul Stanley said the team’s biggest weakness may be its “basketball IQ.” Paul Stanley said he is happy him and his assistants are at the school now to improve the team’s knowledge of the game.
“There’s not a lot of basketball tradition at Beth-Center, and we’re trying to change that,” Paul Stanley said. “We’re trying to change the way that these kids think about the game. We want them to get to the point where they expect to win, not just hope to win. There’s a lot of excitement with this year’s group. The kids are asking to stay after practice … to shoot and work out. That’s something they haven’t had there in a long time.”
The Bulldogs begin their season at West Greene Monday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.