Pitchin with Pritch: Showcases give players college exposure

This coming weekend, Southwest Nebraska will have an opportunity to watch some high school basketball players from here, there and can’t tell you where, when they come to Perkins County Schools and display their basketball skills for some college coaches. 

This basketball gathering is called the Midwest Girls Elite College Showcase Tournament and the Midwest Boys Elite College Showcase Tournament.

 It is designed to showcase the western part of the state’s junior and senior basketball players that would like to continue their careers at the college level. 

Visitors are welcome and there is an admission charge to get in, ($7 for adults, $5 for students, Age 6 and under, free). You will have a chance to see a lot of high school players showing their basketball skills for college coaches.

The event is organized and run by a former Husker basketball player, Steffon Bradford. 

Bradford played for Danny Nee at Nebraska after attending a junior college for two years. He averaged 11.0 points and 8 rebounds in his two year-career at Lincoln.

After college he played professional basketball, mostly overseas, for 20 plus years.

On Saturday, the players will work on some drills and then play in a tournament-type setting around 5 p.m. and then on Sunday more games will be played.

At 3 p.m. there will be a Girls All Star game. At 4 p.m. a Boys All Star game will be played. 

Former PCS girl’s coach Dick Thurin will be coaching one of the Girls All Star teams and yours truly will be coaching one of the Boys All Star Teams. Not exactly sure how all that works, but we will get it done.  

This has been advertised as a Midwest gathering, I have been told that there are about 20 players coming from California, one player from the New York area and one from New Jersey.

It is hard to grasp that the school year is over and the high school sports programs are almost finished also and we are looking towards next year. 

I think about all the exciting things that have happened here in Perkins County and how they affected my family and think it was pretty darn good. 

Covid has really upset things I think. 

Maybe it is just me, and I not sure we will ever get back to the NORMAL as we once knew. But as the Big Lebowski once answered to “How’s it going,” I know his answer is right on, “Strikes and gutters, Up’s and Down’s.” 

It’s been a good run.