East Xtra: Tar Heels looking at Greensburg CC soph
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Greenburg Central Catholic sophomore Karly Mellinger is already attracting Division I college recruiters.
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Last June, Karly Mellinger found herself playing basketball in the University of North Carolina's famous Dean E. Smith Center, aka "The Dean Dome."
She was attending Carolina's Finest Team Camp with her Greensburg Central Catholic teammates, and the Centurions were battling a quality team from Arizona.
Trying to keep the Centurions with that talented crew from the Grand Canyon State, Mellinger began firing from beyond the arc. Sheconnected on six 3-pointers, but not even those 18 points could win the game for Greensburg Central.
The Centurions lost that late June camp game, but UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell had been watching. Hatchell specifically noticed Mellinger as she sank her six consecutive 3-pointers.
"She told me I was ranked out of the top 1,000 sophomores," Mellinger recalled from her conversation with Hatchell.
This meant that Mellinger was among 1,000 sophomores on UNC's watch list. The news changed Mellinger's life.
A sophomore shooting guard who lives in Greensburg, Mellinger realized that she could be on her way to playing Division I women's basketball. The prospect was something she'd never considered before her June 2011 camp experience.
"It was crazy," Mellinger said.
But Hatchell's message to Karly Mellinger came with great responsibility. Next year, that "1,000-sophomore" UNC watch list will be cut to just 300 juniors. For this reason, Hatchell explained to Mellinger that players must meet high expectations on and off of the court.
"They want to see how well a recruit plays when a team is behind," explained Greensburg Central Catholic coach Don Favero.
Most of the time, however, Mellinger and her teammates are ahead in games, as their 13-4 overall record and 9-11 Section 3-AA mark would indicate.
The Centurions are tied for the section lead going into tonight's showdown against co-leader Jeannette. It's also the home finale for Greensburg Central Catholic.
Perhaps the biggest change in Mellinger came from Hatchell's expectations for the overall character of recruits.
"She was motivational -- just about how to live," Mellinger explained. .
"[Hatchell] was very frank in terms of behavior and individual character," said Favero.
She had talked to Mellinger about grades, being a good person, and making a contribution to one's school.
"You have to do so many things correctly and properly to be a [UNC] recruit," Favero added.
Likewise, Mellinger added intensive study to her basketball hours. This school year, she made the honor roll at Greensburg Central Catholic for the first time.
"Her dad told me she's really taking her school work seriously," Favero said.
Favero has sent Mellinger's stats to Hatchell, although neither Favero nor Mellinger felt that UNC was focused on a particular stat or progression. Nonetheless, the skill that Mellinger has developed most diligently is her shot.
"It's mostly the 3-point range," she said. "But I'm good from mostly anywhere."
"I've been practicing [my shot] ever since I was a little kid."
Her first basketball days were as a second grader at the YMCA in Greensburg. Mellinger's mother, Sandra, had played college basketball for St. John Fisher in Rochester, N.Y., and, Mellinger's older sister, Alyssa, played basketball for Greensburg Salem before attending school at Greensburg Central Catholic.
The two sisters actually played softball together last year as the Centurions went all the way to the 2011 WPIAL Class AA championship game before losing to Burrell.
Basically, sports have always been big in Mellinger's life and family.
She has felt pressure from being a sophomore on the D-1 track, but she has a good support network to get through it.
"I know that my team, my coaches, and my family will always be there for me. I can handle the pressure well," she said.
Mellinger and the Greensburg Central Catholic team have already demonstrated a unified response to pressure.
In the Centurions' 67-64 loss on Jan. 18 to Section 3-AA rival Jeannette, Greensburg CC put up a battle. Along with fellow guards Heather Bosco and Carolyn Appleby, Mellinger lit up the scoreboard. The three worked together, hitting their outside shots. Although the Centurions lost that game, it is one of Mellinger's favorite memories.
"It was a good moment for us as a team," Mellinger said.
Favero noted that Mellinger's composure and team character are part of what makes her attractive to programs such as UNC.
"Karly could score a lot more, but she understands that you have to do it the coach's way," he said.
Favero added that the Centurions had four players (Mellinger, Appleby, Rachel Deglau and Devon Larkin) scoring in the double digits during Greensburg CC's 74-52 win against Springdale on Jan. 26th. He felt that Mellinger's unselfish play had helped the team's scoring depth, and that she could carry such ability into the future.
"I think [being on UNC's watch list] is a nice honor for Karly," Favero said. "I think she'll measure up -- she's a competitor."
First Published February 9, 2012 12:00 am
