Matt Freed, Post-Gazette The Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am Summer League carries high expectations as well as familiar names. Sam Clancy Jr. drives to the hoop in a game at North Allegheny High. Click photo for larger image.

In years past, local college basketball players spent their offseasons playing in outdoor leagues such as the Connie Hawkins League in East Liberty or competed in unorganized pick-up games around the city.

Those settings did not put college coaches at ease. They invest time and money into the recruitment of their highly skilled players but had to worry about injuries on the blacktop and the quality of competition.

Those fears were eased this summer with the creation of the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am Summer League, which will complete its first season this week. The league features players from every local Division I team, Division II and III teams as well as professional players who are back in town after playing overseas during the winter.

"It's something all the college kids around here needed," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "It's beneficial for all of the teams from Division I through Division III. It's been great. All the feedback I've been getting from the coaches at all the schools is that they're very appreciative of the league."

The league came about after a chance meeting between Dixon and local high school summer league organizer John Giammarco at the Final Four in Indianapolis in April. Dixon inquired about an indoor league for the college players, and Giammarco was happy to organize it and field the teams. In addition to Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris, most of the lower classification schools in the region have players in the league. One of the professional players in the league is Sam Clancy Jr., a former Southern California star who plays in Russia.

Giammarco said the 72 roster spots for the six-team league were filled within 48 hours and the games have been competitive. Each team can only have two players from Pitt, excluding incoming freshmen. The regular-season games were played at North Allegheny High School. Playoffs are set for Tuesday and Wednesday at the Green Tree SportsPlex.

"The competition is good," said Mike Cook, a guard/forward at Pitt who is preparing for his first season with the Panthers after sitting out under NCAA transfer rules last season. "The guys from Duquesne and Robert Morris are good and the guys from the smaller schools can shoot. Everyone is good. Everything I do here is getting me ready to play in Big East games."

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Carl Krauser, headed for Germany to play this fall, looks for an open teammate. Click photo for larger image.

Cook spent his previous summers in his native Philadelphia playing with college and NBA players in a Pro-Am League. And while the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am pales in comparison, he said the foundation for a good league was set this summer.

"This is just the first year," Cook said. "I see this getting better."

The league has some kinks to work out. On Tuesday, the first game almost was canceled because several players from each team could not make it, including three Pitt players who had class or were dealing with minor injuries.

Dixon said he hopes to get the league moved to a venue near the city next year so that the players and fans can save on gas money and travel time. He also would like to get more media coverage for the league.

"We didn't do a good job of getting the word out this year," Dixon said. "I think if people read the box score in the paper and see who is playing they might want to come out and watch the games."

Giammarco said the league is one step in the process of rebuilding the local basketball tradition.

"I've been very pleasantly surprised," he said. "It's been a great first year. There is an incredible heritage for basketball in Western Pennsylvania. It had fallen through the cracks. Ten years ago we wouldn't have had enough players to flush out an A-league.

"Now you can come and watch Sam Clancy give tips to Division III kids. That's good stuff. We're starting to rebuild that basketball togetherness. Jamie deserves the credit for this. He sincerely cares about basketball in Western Pennsylvania. I don't think you could have said that about other coaches who have been at Pitt in the past."