It’s the perfect anniversary gift for a league that has become a fixture on the area basketball landscape.
The Select Competition Basketball League will begin its 10th season next month at the Swain School in Allentown with the area’s middle school and high school players finetuning their skills for the upcoming winter through competitive games each Sunday.
When the season begins, the SCBL will be an official Jr. NBA League.
“It’s huge for us,” said league founder and director Ed Jennings. “It opens up doors for us. We can use their logo. The coaches can be Jr. NBA certified if they want to be. It separates us from a lot of other leagues in terms of doing things the right way, ethically and morally. That’s not to say the other leagues aren’t, but you always want to distinguish yourself and it’s an attraction to the better players in the Valley. Having that logo is going to mean something.”
Jennings said there are only certain leagues that are accepted.
“I went through an application process and had to submit the background of what we’ve done,” Jennings said. “About two weeks later it came back from the office in New York City telling us they did enough research … and they felt comfortable enough to be affiliated. Everything I do moving forward, I will have to check with them.”
Jennings is proud of the niche the SCBL has carved since it began in 2010.
“Each fall, you get some of the better kids coming out to play and that’s what you want for the basketball players who are not playing any other fall sport,” Jennings said. “The parents like it, too, because there’s a draft and the top players are spread out. You know you are going to be playing against other good players every week.”
The league is divided into two divisions, one for kids in grades 7-9 and the other for kids in grades 10-12, although some kids play up if they’re good enough to make a varsity roster.
Notre Dame’s Brendan Boyle and Allen’s Nate Ellis, who are coming off big freshman seasons that resulted in them being named Morning Call co-rookies of the year, are happy to have the SCBL around.
“This league really helped to prepare me for the high school and allowed me to play against different players from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference,” Boyle said. “The competition is great. The league has great players, some big names.”
Ellis said he loves the league.
“I played in it last season and I am signed up for this year and I can’t wait,” he said. “It will help me get prepared for the season.”
One of the many top college players to come out of the SCBL is Zay Jennings, the former Allentown Central Catholic standout entering his senior year at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York.
It was Zay Jennings’ decision to not play football at CCHS and concentrate strictly on basketball that gave his father the idea for the league.
“Growing up there weren’t too many places to play around here, especially in the fall,” Zay Jennings said. “After I quit playing football, my dad came up with the idea and it took off from there. It’s a big accomplishment to be recognized by the Jr. NBA since they take on a few select leagues. It shows how far the SCBL has grown from where it started.”
The tryouts are set for Sept. 7-8 at the Swain School. The tryouts for kids in grades 7-8-9 will be on the 7th, the kids in grades 10-11-12 will follow the next day. League play begins for both divisions on Sept 15.
“I have to give out a shoutout to the area high school coaches who willingly allow their players to play in this league and trust it’s going to be a good experience for them and also to my coaches; guys like Mark Crable, Scott Kolumber, Brandon Lister, Devin Carter, Tyrone Wright and Xavier Romero,” Jennings said. “They give up their time to do this and we couldn’t do this league without them.”
Jennings is also excited about the kids who have already committed to the SCBL, a list that includes Danny Bohman (Emmaus), Liam Joyce (Central Catholic), Jevin Muniz (Executive), A’Quele Adderley (Allen) and many more.
Last ride at LeMoyne
Zay Jennings is entering his final collegiate season with a bit of uncertainty since there’s a new coach at LeMoyne.
Nate Champion, who graduated from LeMoyne in 2014, has replaced Patrick Beilein, who has moved on to become head coach at the University of Buffalo. Patrick Beilein is the son of John Beilein, the former Michigan coach who has moved on to the NBA as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Coach Champion is a young guy, like 28 years old, so it’s going to be an interesting year,” Jennings said. “I’ve had a lot of conversations with Coach Champion and I think everything is going to be fine. I’m just going to go in there and work hard and see what happens.”
Jennings, who played at Caldwell University in his first two collegiate seasons, played in 25 games last season, making three starts. He averaged 4.4 points per game with 15 3-pointers, 21 assists and 14 steals. Most impressive was that Jennings was 26-for-29 at the foul line, 89.7 percent.
“I am going to try to make the most of my final college season and hopefully we’ll win at lot of games,” Jennings said. “Of course, I’m really looking forward to walking across that stage at graduation and receiving my diploma.”
After that, he would like a career connected to basketball, possibly as a coach.
“I don’t see my life without basketball,” he said. “Hopefully, it takes me a lot of places.”
Two losses in local sports
The area’s sports community recently lost two great gentlemen who were well known in their roles.
Frank Szoke died on Aug. 6 at the age of 69. He was a two-time inductee into the Whitehall-Coplay Athletic Hall of Fame. He was saluted as an individual and a member of the Zephyrs’ 21-0 District 11 championship baseball team in 1966. Szoke, who also played at Rider College and had a stint in professional baseball, was also known as a longtime youth baseball and basketball coach for the Cementon Athletic Association and also coached baseball for Coplay Legion.
Curt Wallace died on Aug. 15 at the age of 69. He taught for 33 years in the Quakertown Communty School District, but was involved in sports through his longtime job as the Panthers’ boys basketball scorekeeper.
Keith Groller can be reached at 610-820-6740 or at kgroller@mcall.com
