Local basketball league expanding
The J. Budd Grebb Summer Basketball League will hold tryouts this week, and the biggest change for the league’s fifth year is the addition of a four-team girls division.
Melanie Greco, who runs winter instructional leagues in Beth-Center, will handle the girls division. Former Monessen star Charel Allen has already committed to coaching one of four teams, while Budd Grebb chairman Phil Pergola said he’s been talking with Swin Cash about coaching another.
Signups and tryouts will take place Monday through Thursday this week from 6-8 p.m. at the Mechanic Street Playground. Cost is $25, and “just because you want to play in the league, doesn’t mean you’re going to be in the league,” Pergola cautioned.
The boys league will include six teams with roughly 10 players to a team, and there are 25 openings for the six teams, Pergola said.
Three games a night for the boys division will be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7, 8 and 9 o’clock. The girls will play two games a night at 7 and 8 on Mondays and Wednesdays.
After this week’s tryouts, a draft will take place June 15. The boys league runs from June 25 to Aug. 1, with a supplemental draft held two weeks after the start date. The girls season runs from July 8-July 31.
Running the boys league will be Kenny Johnson, a volunteer assistant at California University this past winter and an assistant at Frazier before that.
No more than two high school teammates will be on the same team, as the league tries to shy away from typical high school rivalries. A record 19 school districts will be represented this summer.
“It’s not a league for players who are just learning the game,” Pergola said. “Hopefully, we’ll get our tryouts under way this week and have our draft on the 15th and get the league started.”