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Xtra Points: Montour guard a long-range threat
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Kevin Scuilli might not pass the eyeball test for a standout player.
"You can see he's not the swiftest player on the court and he's certainly not the sveltest," Montour coach Adam Kaufman said. "He's even a little chunky."
But Scuilli's shot? In statistical terms, it's a thing of beauty.
Scuilli, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, has quietly become one of the best 3-point shooters in the WPIAL in recent years. Senior guard Devin Wilson is the headliner for Montour; Scuilli just keeps banging 3-pointers like few have in the WPIAL.
Sciulli has 253 career 3-pointers. In the past three seasons, he has 239, an average of 79 a season. Scuilli will hope to add to his total when Montour plays Thomas Jefferson tonight in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals
To put Sciulli's 3-pointers in perspective, consider that only three players in WPIAL history have made more than 300 3-pointers in their careers -- Highlands' Micah Mason (346 from 2008-12), Chartiers Valley's T.J. McConnell (334 from 2006-10) and Chartiers Valley's Mike Colbert (302 from 1994-98).
"We moved him up as a freshman and he started JV and played a lot of varsity," Kaufman said. "His shooting was the quality that made us move him up, but we never expected him to make 200 and some 3s."
Scuilli, who recently scored his 1,000th career point, is shooting 43 percent from 3-point range this season.
"He doesn't take many bad ones," Kaufman said. "Because of the mass number of 3-pointers he has made, the thing that gets overlooked sometimes is he has had his biggest moments in the biggest games. There are playoff games when he has made four or five 3s."
Kaufman believes Scuilli is a good example of how the 3-point shot has helped many high school players.
"The 3-point line has changed the game one million percent," Kaufman said. "It has allowed guys like him to have a role and you see it at every level of the game. Penn State Altoona called the other day and said they have a roster spot for him. He shoots it so well that they need a guy who can come in and just be a specialist. He has some Division III schools interested."
Scuilli's older brother, Adam, is a Montour assistant coach who also is a former Montour player. Adam Scuilli was a different type of player than his brother, according to Kaufman, who also played at Montour.
"Adam couldn't shoot," Kaufman said with a laugh.
He's an AD ... again
Harry Orbin laughs at the notion that he should start his own company and call it "Rent-an-AD."
"Someone said to me the other day that I'm the Brett Favre of high school athletic directors," Orbin said.
Jokes aside, Orbin is out of retirement and on the job again as an athletic director at a WPIAL school -- if only on an interim basis. He was recently named interim AD at Gateway High School. He takes over for Terry Smith, who resigned as the Gators football coach and athletic director to take an assistant coach's job at Temple University.
Orbin, 62, isn't sure how long he will be on the job at Gateway as the school searches for a new AD and football coach. This is actually the third time Orbin has helped out a school district and taken a job on an interim basis. He did the same at Fox Chapel and Valley.
He has about 25 years in the high school AD business. During his career, he was also the full-time AD at Kiski Area, Plum and Springdale.
"When you come in on an interim basis, it can be very difficult at first," Orbin said. "If someone left in a hurry, you have to figure out what was done and what needs to done, and that's not easy. Fortunately, most of the places I've been have had good help.
"The thing is, the dynamics have all been different at all the places. Everyone does things different ways. But I still enjoy it. I still enjoy being around the kids and working with people. That's why I do it."
Vulcano lauded
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association has named Chartiers Valley's Frank Vulcano as the athletic director of the year for District 7 (WPIAL).
In addition to his job at Chartiers Valley, Vulcano also has been highly active on the WPIAL wrestling committee and has been co-director of the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic for 14 years. He is a member of four halls of fame.
Promoting assistants
North Hills promoted longtime football assistant coach Pat Carey to head coach earlier this week to succeed Jack McCurry. It looks like North Hills won't be the only WPIAL Class AAAA school to give an assistant coach the head coach's job.
Eric Kasperowicz, Rob Densmore and Doug Brinkley have emerged as the top three candidates for the Pine-Richland job. All three are currently assistant coaches. Kazperowicz is the offensive coordinator at Pine-Richland and Densmore the defensive coordinator for the Rams. Brinkley is North Allegheny's defensive coordinator.
First Published February 22, 2013 12:00 am
