Syracuse, N.Y. -- For 64 days now, the gyms at the Boys and Girls Club on Hamilton Street have been quiet.  Far too quiet for far too long for lifelong member and coach, Shawn Pudney.

"Kids are eager, I'm eager, I know our coaches are eager," he said.  "We're having these type of meetings with our coaches all the time talking about when, where, and how this is going to start back up again."

 

What You Need To Know


  • The AAU basketball season, which normally begins in April, is on hold because of COVID-19 restrictions.
  • Syracuse Select typically fields 35 boys and 10 girls teams for any given AAU season.

  • Local coach Shawn Pudney predicts some area prospects could head to Indiana or Pennyslvania to play earlier this summer.

  • Gyms in NY state aren't projected to re-open until June 27 at the earliest.

 

Normally this time of year, gyms are buzzing with activity during the basketball "off-season", with the AAU circuit dominating the spring and summer.  For high school juniors especially, now is the most significant time to catch a coach's eye and snatch a potential scholarship offer.  But COVID-19 restrictions have doused all the dunking and dribbling for the foreseeable future.

According to the state's re-opening plan, recreational facilities are in Phase 4, and with Phase 1 having just begun and each phase lasting at least two weeks, that'll keep the Club's doors closed until late June at the earliest.  Pudney, the director of Syracuse Select Basketball, which normally fields 45 boys and girls AAU teams in a given season from grades 3-12, says athletes from New York may look elsewhere.

"It's painful to watch, because we're probably going to be one of the last states that's allowed," he said.  "Indiana is going to start June 1, so you may see kids from this area flooding there to go to live events that Division I and II coaches will be allowed to go to."

Pudney says it's the fringe players who are being hurt most by the pandemic, players like his own son who was a Division III recruit until he was spotted at an AAU tournament and offered a D1 scholarship.  He astutely points out that the fewer  tournaments there are this summer and fall, the more significant the upcoming high school basketball season becomes for the Class of 2021.

For the kids with college aspirations in his own program, Pudney is doing what he can to help by coaching from afar.  The Fowler alum is issuing "homework" in the form of videos and workout programs to keep his players active and engaged.  And he's asking them to be active participants in helping secure their future plans.

"Video is going to be huge for them, I can't advocate enough for kids to just take their IPhone out and get video of themselves, and I'll help them contact coaches," he said.  "First thing they want to know is, grades, what kind of kid they are.  [And then] video, video, video."

While he waits out the quarantine, Pudney's kept himself and his employees busy sprucing up the B&G Club with new carpeting, ceiling tiles, and fresh coats of paint on the two gyms.  He wants to make sure he's ready when the 'all clear' finally comes.  And the soothing sound of the bouncing balls definitely can't come soon enough.

"I go pretty heavy throughout the year, so it was nice for about the one week vacation I got from it.  But, I'm going stir crazy, and I'm missing basketball more than I ever thought I would."