Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Herb Pope's on-again, off-again commitment to Pitt has many Pitt boosters angry at Stright. Click photo for larger image.

Western Pennsylvania's chief export is football players when it comes to sending Division I athletes off to college. But basketball players are quickly closing the gap and there are two reasons: the success of the University of Pittsburgh basketball program and the growth of local AAU programs.

Herb Pope of Aliquippa, Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette and DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy of Schenley are the most highly touted players in the area. But a number of other prospects are coming along and could potentially make this period one of the most productive in Western Pennsylvania history for producing Division I basketball players.

Most of the top players in the area play for the Pittsburgh JOTS and coach J.O. Stright. Pope, Pryor, Blair and Kennedy play for the JOTS and will compete for a national AAU championship this summer.

Stright works mostly with players when they are in the 10th and 11th grade. He recruits the top players from the area for his 17-and-under team. There are teams with the JOTS name at most grade levels in the area, but Stright rarely funds their operations.

The success of the JOTS can be traced to a grass roots effort at the younger age-group levels and a commitment from local coaches and parents to have the area's youngest players compete on the national stage as young as 8 years old.

Most of the current JOTS grew up playing for Sal Sebastiani and his PA Swoosh team. Sebastiani handed his players over to Stright when the financial burden became too great.

"These kids are AAU lifers," said Darelle Porter, the former Pitt star and former head coach at Duquesne. "They've been playing since the fourth or fifth grade. When I was growing up, we didn't start that young. We'd play AAU in high school. Now we're taking these kids somewhere every weekend. We're going against top-caliber teams."

Porter's son, Darelle, Jr., was on a team two years ago that won an AAU national championship at the second-grade level.

Jeannette boys' basketball coach Rick Klimchock echoed Porter's sentiments. Klimchock doubles as the coach of his son's 15-and-under AAU team, the Pittsburgh Storm.

"Western Pa. is kind of catching up," Klimchock said. "We're playing more and more and putting more and more emphasis on basketball, not just football."

Klimchock's son, Chris, is a freshman at Greensburg Salem. Chris Klimchock will play about 100 basketball games between now and the end of summer between AAU and his high school summer league, his father said.

It's that type of dedication that has led to the resurgence in local basketball talent. Porter, who played on some fine AAU teams in the 1980s, said the current crop of players is the best assemblage of talent in the area in more than a quarter century.

"The talent here now is as good as it's ever been, at least since the 1970s," Porter said. "These guys are bigger, faster, stronger and better. They're better than any group I've ever been around."

Not all of the prospects play for the JOTS. There are a number of other successful AAU teams in the area besides the JOTS that boast other Division I prospects.

The Pennsylvania Storm consists of two teams of 15- and 16-year old players who have a number of prospects of their own. Klimchock coaches the 15-and-under team. Mike Shanahan, the brother of former Duquesne University player Brian Shanahan, coaches the Storm's 16-and-under team.

Mike Shanahan Jr. of Norwin, Brian Walsh of Moon, Antoine Childs of Blackhawk, Jonathan Baldwin of Aliquippa and Christian Wilson of Montour are a few of the Storm players who could land Division I scholarships in a few years.

The 15-year old squad has a number of players who could land scholarships as well. Most of Klimchock's players started as freshmen on their high school teams this past season.

Stright said recently that he is considering retirement from the local AAU scene. When that happens, Porter said he would like to continue the tradition Stright started and showcase the area's top players on one team.

That could lead to a competition with the Storm for the best area players. As it is now, Porter said he only gives college coaches information about players who are playing for the JOTS. He said he would be willing to work with the Storm because he believes it is in the best interest of local basketball to have one team that showcases the top talent.

"There are going to be players here," Porter said. "If J.O. retires, I'm going to stay involved and make sure our best players have a way to showcase their talent. We have to let these kids be seen."