Penn Hills notebook: Drew Schifino plans basketball camp

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, May 21, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Drew Schifino enjoys that his family’s name has deep ties within the Penn Hills community. Schifino, who is the Indians’ all-time leading scorer with 2,320 points, went on to play at West Virginia collegiately and overseas professionally.

Now, Schifino is prepping to watch his nephew, Indiana product Jalen Hood-Schifino, prep for the NBA Draft, where he is projected to be taken in the first round. Hood-Schifino’s mom, Angel, is Schifino’s sister.

Schifino, who now helps train young players with Sherron Schifino, who just graduated from Point Park, will be having a camp at Penn Hills High School on June 25. Drew Schifino said he wants to do events like this in his hometown to keep the community connected to basketball.

The high school team won the WPIAL Class 5A championship and reached the PIAA quarterfinals last season. However, the youth programs in the community are still in their infancy after the closure of the YMCA in 2018 interrupted the leagues.

“I always thought Penn Hills should be the primary area where they have basketball clinics and camps,” Drew said. “We had those back in the day. They got away from those clinics and camps. It’s a big area.”

Schifino feels that he can add to the space thanks to his experience playing as a professional.

Schifino also enjoys the opportunity to stay involved with the game.

“I’m 41 now and getting older,” Schifino said. “I see my nephew being named Big Ten freshman of the year. I was sitting home and thinking I wanted to give back to the Penn Hills community.”

Fitness team takes 3rd

The Penn Hills fitness team’s trip to Little Rock, Ark., didn’t end how coach Bob Martini hoped it might. Penn Hills was hoping to finish at least second in the Marine Corps National Physical Fitness Championship, but the Indians ended up in third place.

Jadyn Wright made team history by placing first individually. Wright won all four competitions he took part in this season. At nationals, Wright scored 485, which is only 15 points short of a perfect score.

Montaz Meggett, Levi Smith and Devon Bishop placed 13th, 14th and 15th in the bronze medal category. Amaree Freemon and Jacen Wright also earned silver medals.

“Jadyn did this with a meniscus tear in his right leg we kept an eye on this year,” Martini said. “So all in all, it wasn’t a bad meet. We just didn’t finish where we thought we would as a team.”

Tags: Penn Hills