Almost two thousand points on the scoresheet in his university career. The first sensations: «Enthusiastic about the opportunity»
MOLISANA MAGNOLIA, A SNIPER FOR COACH SABATELLI: FROM THE STATES HERE IS SARA SCALIA
The guard (with an Italian passport) boasts a record of 370 triples in the NCAA with exploits in the All Star Game contest
There is a lot of attention on her: not only in Italy, but also overseas. Without a doubt she is ready to arouse a lot of curiosity about herself Sara Scalia, the American prospect, but of clear origins – thanks to her father – and her Italian passport. A player at the top of the NCAA universe (stars and stripes university basketball), having completed her academic career, the basketball player is among the additions – at La Molisana Magnolia Campobasso – of the signing campaign with a view to the 2024/25 season.
Twenty-three-year-old guard of 178 centimeters, the winger from Minnesota – in his five university years, the first three in his home state, the other two in Indiana – has put together something like 1,980 points, of which 1,110 come from goals (370) from the three-point range. Of these, 103 arrived in the last season so much so that she achieved the absolute record of her college and gave her, among other things, the spotlight in the All Star Game (in which she also won the specific three-point shooting competition ), as well as the subsequent comparison between the stars.
Not only that, she also ended up in the top ten of the Meyers Drysdale Award reserved for the best shooting guard in the stars and stripes, Scalia was among the possible choices in the last WNBA draft, according to the predictions of the accredited sites, but was then not called directly.
ITALIAN PERSPECTIVE For its part, now, the new guard of the Magnolias can’t wait to show off overseas and to bring out its qualities in perspective to once again forcefully bring its name to attention, also for a full (and further) demonstration of its qualities.
«I am really excited about this opportunity to start my professional basketball career in Italy, and in Campobasso. I’m sure – explains the interested party – that it will truly be a unique opportunity and I will try to make the most of it.”
SPORT FAMILY The second-born of three sisters, sports have been a fundamental component in Scalia’s life. Her father Peter was a guard who was honored at the Illinois Basketball Museum, her mother Sheri played volleyball and softball (the ‘pink’ variant of baseball) in college. Moreover, like her, both sisters, the eldest Taylor and the youngest Amber, have been able to distinguish themselves in sports: the first in volleyball, the second, instead, in basketball, so much so that, together with her sister Sara, she has taught a school of basketball fundamentals.
“It was my father,” the #fioridacciaio outsider continues, “who put a ball in my hands when I was little and I immediately fell in love with it.”
THREE POINT INSTINCT Moreover, as a ‘small and thin child’ (according to the definition coined by her father Peter himself), Scalia soon demonstrated an innate ability to throw the ball wherever she wanted and continued to refine herself, in all circumstances because, in all her travels holidaymakers with their families, there was always a deflated basketball in their suitcase.
“When I have the ball in my hands,” he adds, “I always try to create something that is for me (three-pointers, but also two-pointers, ed.) or for the team. Moreover, over the years, I have also refined my work in defense because I like to give my full contribution to the team, on both sides of the court.”
ALL STAR GAME Last season – among other things – saw her as a protagonist at the NCAA All Star Game, both in the ‘stars’ match and in the specific three-point shooting contest, which she also won.
“Experiencing this type of competition,” she says, “was an incredible experience. Being surrounded by so many talented players with different basketball backgrounds was a source of great inspiration. It was truly remarkable to be able to compete with and, at the same time, against outstanding players from other colleges.”
AGAINST CLARK Also in the 2023/24 tournament, Scalia had the opportunity to compete, in the same Conference (the Big 10), with what is currently considered the great name of women’s basketball not only in the United States but also worldwide, Caitlin Clark (who, ironically, is also of Italian origins on her mother’s side).
«Working on Clark, marking her, was an engaging challenge. I applied myself to stopping her and executing our game plan as best as possible to find the victory. I always accept the challenge from a defensive point, focusing on what is required of me and trying to push my opponents on their weak points, especially when it comes to talented elements as in her case”, explains Scalia.
INDIANA EXPERIENCE Moreover, the university career of the new rossoblù player had, in the two-year period at Indiana, a leading university for sport and in particular basketball, a further turning point for the new #fioredaiuto which, among other things, was purchased in the States a fanbase increasingly growing both on the parquet and in the online world (over twenty-five thousand of its followers both on profile X and on Instagram).
«The one in Indiana – he acknowledges – was a great experience because, in addition to the purely academic aspect, from a sporting point of view being part of a team at the top and which always works for the leading positions allows you to grow and work hard more and more day after day. The same thing I want to do with Magnolia, a unique opportunity for me to continue on this path.”
BLUE JERSEY The experience with Magnolia – if supported overseas by those qualities already demonstrated in the NCAA – could also give her further experience in FIBA basketball with the possibility of projecting herself in the national team, if a call were to arrive from the Venafran coach of the pink Italbasket Andrea Capobianco, with the prospect of perhaps being a protagonist in one of the next two qualifying windows for Eurobasket 2025, which will also have a first phase right in Italy at the PalaDozza in Bologna.
«The blue shirt? Honestly, I would like it and I will try to do my best to see if there will be the opportunity both to be called up and to be part of the group. It would be a new and unique experience for me and I am ready to live it fully.”
SUPPORTERS CALLING In the meantime, beyond any prospect, the present is branded Magnolia with a lot of curiosity also to experience the atmosphere of the Arena and its passionate supporters.
“It’s something that makes me happy. I can’t wait to be in Campobasso and it will be a pleasure to be able to count on a support that makes itself heard and transmits energy to you. In this way, during the match you are pushed to give even more and you always try to get the best out of yourself.”
2024-06-27 19:00:19
#SNIPER #COACH #SABATELLI
