Jack Rentko was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief Saturday. He no longer is Aly Byorick’s public relations agent, the liaison between the basketball star and college coaches.
As of Saturday, coaches could finally call Byorick.
She’s only a junior at Greater Nanticoke Area, and NCAA rules prohibit coaches from contacting juniors – by means other than e-mail or letters – before April 1.
The coaches could come to the game, watch Byorick, and then chat with Rentko, blowing up his ego while handing him business cards and basketball schedules.
It was up to him to return missed calls and become a large part of the recruiting process.
“Mr. Rentko always says I have to pay for all his phone bills,” Byorick said jokingly.
Byorick is being recruited by Stanford, Penn State, Boston College, Xavier, Saint Joseph, Delaware, Bucknell, Syracuse, Towson University, Ohio University, George Washington, Binghamton and the University of Massachusetts.
“It’s neat though,” said Byorick, the Times Leader girls basketball Player of the Year. “I like seeing who’s interested.”
Her first e-mail came from the University of Maryland.
But there are a couple of state schools that have always caught her eye.
When she was 12, her father took her to her first college basketball game – Villanova against Penn State.
“It’s neat to be getting info from them,” she said.
She’s been offered a full ride from Delaware, Bucknell, Xavier and Binghamton.
Her father made her sign up for a weekly three-hour SAT prep course every Sunday. He wants her to keep her options open, he said. With Byorick’s ability, it’s easy to assume she’ll go to college on a full athletic scholarship. But, she’s not sure what the future holds.
“Right now, the dream hasn’t come true yet because I haven’t signed. But, I’m living my dream. This is what I wanted to do. It’s something I wanted to since the first time I ever touched a basketball.”
The early years, when she was playing with the Newport Biddy All-Stars, were just an indication of the player she would be.
She has 1,657 career points, leaving her 15 points shy of breaking Ruth Maley’s record set in 1983. She finished the season with 67 three-pointers, tying the school record for threes in a single season. She has 115 career three-pointers, 75 away from the record Ashley Makarczyk set this year. It seems like that’s a stretch, but she could wind up second. Right now, second is held by Jennifer Blasi, who finished with 150 in 2000.
On paper, she’s impressive. And she holds that up while she’s playing.
It earned her accolades, but also complaints from parents of opposing players. They yell that Byorick is in the game too long when, actually, she’s hardly playing.
“It does get stressful, but you just try to do your best,” Byorick said. “You always have your critics. You’ve just got to learn.
“When I sit back and think of it, I laugh because it’s the furthest thing from the truth. We only play, about, two quarters.”
It’s a small amount of playing time for the starting five. They work in practice just like anyone on any other basketball team. And they scrimmage each other just like other teams. It’s usually so they can beat the competition.
But, when Nanticoke runs roughshod in the first quarter, the junior varsity kids come on to finish the game.
“It’s always frustrating. All five of us used to hate to come out and let the (junior varsity squad) play. They see more time than us. … We’re playing against each other more than other teams.”
One of the rare games when the starters saw limited bench time was in a PIAA Class 3A Eastern quarterfinal game against Oxford. Nanticoke lost 39-35.
It was as devastating for Byorick as for any of the seniors on the squad.
“It still hurts,” Byorick said two weeks after the loss. “We were all watching the state championship game, and texting each other saying, ‘That should be us.’ ”
Byorick has one year left. One more chance to win the state title she’s never earned. And she’s already thinking about it.
The returning players are already preparing themselves to spend some quality time in the weight room, and they’ll play in summer leagues.
It’s to prevent a repeat of this year.
“I don’t want my senior year to end like my junior year did” | 