Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

DAYTON — After playing 50 games in 22 days, Josh Schuler was ready for a breather.

"I think I'm gonna go home and take a nap," he said, walking out of the All-American Basketball Championship finals on Monday. The tournament was held at Kingdom Sports Center.

Schuler and the age 18 and under (U18) Ohio Valley Force fell to the Pittsburgh Shockers, 66-51, and finished in second place.

"We had a good tournament," he said. "(Pittsburgh was) trapping well and got easy shots. We beat them by six earlier this weekend. It just seemed like they wanted it more."

Although he was guarded by Temple recruit Aaron Allen, Schuler, a 6-foot-2 guard, scored 20 points in the championship. Three of those points came on a 25-footer he hit with a hand in his face.

"I'll pull those off sometimes," he said, laughing.

His shooting ability, along with his 3.9 GPA, got him noticed by the coaches at Wright State University. He has also received letters from Syracuse, Yale and Columbia.

"Josh is a consistent 40 percent from beyond the arch," Force U18 coach Tony Lupia said. "He has exceptionally long arms, so he can shoot over people. He's a Division-I player."

Schuler led Graham High School to the Division II state semifinal game as a junior last year. He averaged 19.3 ppg for the 26-1 Falcons, and was named second team All-State.

He attended a "shootout" at Wright State, where the coaches assessed his abilities.

"I need to work on my footspeed, and get a quicker release," he said. "But they liked my shooting and my knowledge of the game.

"This league helps with all the games we play. It gives me a chance to work on those weaknesses, and just keeps me in shape."