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Last Updated: October 30,1999
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Joe Otis starts his 20th season at the helm for the Slicers. In that time he has coached one State Finalist team, three Sweet Sixteen teams, and three Indiana All Stars.
Steve Drabyn and parents pleased with choice of Belmont
By: Dan Knott
The LaPorte Herald-Argus
Steve Drabyn Sr. said he and his wife Cathy wanted their son, LaPorte boys basketball star Steve Jr., to simply find a school that fit him both athletically and academically. Steve Jr. seems to have found that fit and on Thursday he signed a national letter of intent to play college basketball at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. He had verbally committed a few weeks ago before making it official Thursday, the second day of the early signing period. "We just made a generalized statement: try to pick a school that's conducive to your kind of play; pick someone that really wants you," Steve Sr. said. "I think it's very important because if it's a borderline situation, they can always recruit over you later on and you're not their main cog; you might go someplace for four years and sit and I don't think that's a healthy situation. "I think Belmont is a fantastic fit for him. They shoot a lot of 3s, but they're pretty controlled with it." Steve Jr. is just glad to get it over with so he can concentrate on his senior season. "At the start of the season, you have all this stuff going on, including fund-raisers," he said. "I'd just rather get it all out of the way, including the signing, and once the games start it's all business." Steve Jr. averaged 22.3 points and shot 92.8 percent from the free-throw line last year in earning Herald-Argus Player of the Year honors and leading the Slicers to their fourth straight sectional title. "They're real excited about Steve and his caliber of play," Steve Sr. said. "They haven't had a point guard that can shoot like him before. They're real excited about that prospect." The signing will keep the college scouts away from the games and keep the phone from ringing off the hook at home. "You can just relax and concentrate on your team, your coaches and not have to worry about all the other things going on," Steve Jr. said. Prior to this summer, when Belmont first contacted Steve Jr., Steve Sr. said the only contact the family had had with the school was knowing it was the team that former LaPorte star Greg Tonagel beat last year with a 70-foot shot at the buzzer. Steve Sr. credited the Internet with helping get to know some of the schools and coaches who were talking to him. Belmont is on the west end of downtown Nashville, just a few blocks from Vanderbilt University, where former LaPorte girls basketball player and friend of Steve Jr. Sasha Miller attends school. "She's already said if he ever needs a ride home, she's got a car on campus," Steve Sr. said. And Bremen's Adam Mark will be Drabyn's roommate next year. Mark committed verbally a couple weeks ago, Cathy said. "A lot of things are falling into place," Cathy said. Cathy admitted that she wasn't as concerned about Steve Jr. being some seven hours from home as much as she was about whether he was worried about it. "Our oldest son's at Valparaiso University and he's been home once," Cathy said. "That's really not a factor. With the college experience, you should go to school and want to be there and want to be there on the weekends. Once the basketball season starts, he won't have time to come home anyway. "And we're movers, we get up and go. It doesn't bother us to drive a little bit." How much they'll get to see Steve Jr. play will depend on several factors, including their daughter Kristin, who will be a freshman at LaPorte next year and hopes to be playing for the Slicer girls. Belmont does play at Butler and Valparaiso over the holidays next year. And Steve Sr. said he'll be able to see every game. "I was kind of concerned that sometimes I might not be able to see some of the games," he said. "But talking with the assistants, as long as I give them blank tapes, they can send me copies, so I won't have to miss a game at all." Belmont is an independent in its third year of play at the Division I level, but Steve Jr. said there are openings in both the Trans America and Ohio Valley conferences that the school is trying to take.
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