Joomla Login LightBox powered by WowJoomla.com

Liberty High’s Bryan Adams playing on MO-KAN Elite team

Dillon Starzl has been waiting to flip his calendar to July for quite some time.

The wait is finally over. And now the Kearney High senior basketball standout plans to spend most of the next month — at least the weekends anyway — on the road.

“As far as AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball goes, this is the biggest month of the year,” said Starzl, the 6-foot-9 potential NCAA Division I recruit.

And as far as his basketball playing days are concerned, it’s probably the biggest month of his life. The month of July represents the biggest college recruiting period.

Starzl has plans to play in big AAU tournaments across the country, including in Tulsa, Okla.; Glendale, Ariz.; and Miami. His team, MO-KAN Elite, has some of the top recruits in the Kansas City area: Will Spradling of Shawnee Mission South, who has already committed to Kansas State, Raytown’s Frank Williams, Liberty’s Bryan Adams, and O’Hara’s        T.J. White.

“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous,” Starzl said. “I’m more anxious. I’m just ready for it to be here.”

It’s easy to understand why. Depending on what happens in the next four weeks, Starzl could determine his college athletic plans. Then again, he’s not in a big hurry since he has also decided to leave the door open to the possibility of playing football at the next level.

Starzl is not the only one with a big month in front of him, as a number of his teammates also have AAU slates in front of them. Kearney senior Tyler Funk, another two-sport athlete with college aspirations like Starzl, is also squeezing in a month of basketball tournaments before turning his attention to football.

“This is exactly why we do our high school camps and leagues in June,” Kearney coach Gary Belcher said. “July is when these kids try to get their names out there. It’s a big month for the guys who hope to play in college.”

Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed