By Mike Clark
College scholarships are harder than ever to come by for prep athletes in the portal era.
That’s what makes Dalton Scantlebury’s journey to signing with Penn earlier this season all the more unusual, because the Lane senior wasn’t even sure he wanted a basketball career past high school.
“Sophomore year going into his junior (year), that summer I was in his ear,” coach Nick LoGalbo said at the Champions media day in November. “He didn’t even know if he even wanted to play in college. He had a weird AAU experience his previous year.
“And, of course, he breaks his ankle the day before he starts our summer contact period, which is frustrating.”
With the 6-foot-9 Scantlebury out of sight and out of mind, recruiters understandably moved on to other prospects.
“A lot of people didn’t see him on the (AAU) circuit that year and then this summer, everyone saw him,” LoGalbo said. “I was on the phone with my buddies who were coaching, some of them in the Ivy League. I’m like, ‘Guys, you really need to get this guy on your radar.'”
Scantlebury hadn’t even been looking to be on college coaches’ radar the year before.
“I was hurt during the summer,” he said. “But even during the spring, I just kind of needed a break from basketball. And then I sort of reignited that passion at the start of my junior year, and it’s just been non-stop ever since.”
First came a feeler from the Team Rose AAU program, which got him back on the court.
Soon after, his first Division I offer arrived from Denver. Some Ivy League schools followed and his recruiting picked up after the first live period.
“I wasn’t worried about being recruited,” Scantlebury said. “I kind of planned on going to college (just) as a student. But then Team Rose reached out to me and I was like, ‘I want to see what opportunities I could get. … It was never really a conscious decision. I just started going on visits because I wanted to take all the opportunities in front of me.
“And then slowly, I realized that this is what I want to do.”
Then last season, Scantlebury averaged a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Champions, playing alongside the program’s first Division I recruit in current Youngstown State freshman Shaheed Solebo.
What made Penn the right fit?
“It was a beautiful campus,” Scantlebury said, “And it was in a city (Philadelphia). I live three minutes away from Lane Tech, so that’s something I’ve been used to.
“It just felt very comfortable.”
The Ivy League education was a big plus as well.
“I always knew in terms of any school, I don’t really feel like I can have fun if I know I’m not going to be successful at what the next level is,” Scantlebury said. “So knowing that I have my future … prepared for me, given that I work hard — that’s very helpful in picking a place to go to school.”
With his longer-term future set, Scantlebury can turn his attention to working on his game and keeping Lane on an upward trajectory in the Public League.
“Last year, I felt like I was pretty limited to being on the low post, just rebounding and defending the post,” he said. “But this year, especially in practice, I’ve been more comfortable dribbling the ball. My offensive game is a lot more diverse. I’ve been shooting the ball a lot.”
“He’s able to do a lot more,” LoGalbo said. “He’s not just a low-post guy. … A lot of the schools, when they were recruiting him, (wanted to know), ‘Can he play out of the high post? Can he play in that five-out spacing?’ “And he can.”
That enhanced skill set will be crucial as Lane competes in the new Public League Red Shield, a 12-team superconference with the top teams from all parts of the city.
“It’s been really cool to go from not having any Division I prospects to having two in back-to-back years,” Scantlebury said. “But … we still feel like we’re not getting the respect we deserve. Without a city championship, we’re not going to be respected as one of the powerhouses in the Public League. …
“We’re all really close as a team — I’ve never been on a team this close — and we’re all really eager to prove that Lane Tech (belongs).”