On Saturday, 20 or so fifth and sixth-grade boys basketball players who are coached by Chris Carney, Chris Cereda, and John Grisch were treated to an hourlong clinic by Frank Alagia, a former St. John’s guard, at East Hampton High. Alagia, who in 1976 won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, given to the best 6-foot-and-under player in the nation, is in the St. John’s Hall of Fame.
He came out from Rockville Centre at the behest of Rob and Janine Balnis — she being a first cousin of Alagia’s wife, Marie. He stressed, he was to say later by telephone, “several things . . . shooting, which is the most important (if you can shoot, there will always be a place for you), ball-handling — we did crossover, behind-the-back, between the legs, and spin drills — and defense. . . . I try to keep it simple for this age group, the main thing is to keep them moving from one drill to the next.”
“Yes, to answer your question, they were attentive, but you really won’t know if they’re serious until they’re a little older. With me, when I was their age, it was all trial and error, but then I went on to play for and associate with some great coaches, beginning with Frank Morris at St. Agnes, and Lou Carnesecca at St. John’s, of course. You only learn if you do it; it takes a lot of practice. I told them to be as good as they could become. You might not be a great shooter, I told them, but you might be a great defender. You might not be able to handle the ball, but you might be a great shooter.”
It was nice, Alagia said in signing off, to “give back to the kids.”
Come January, the fifth and sixth graders are to play in two leagues, at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor and at the Southampton Recreation Center, as is a team of third and fourth graders. Biddy basketball, run now by the East Hampton Town Recreation Department’s Matt McHugh at the John M. Marshall Elementary School on Saturday mornings, is reportedly also underway.