Zachary Lederer, a former student manager with the Terps men’s basketball team, picks up balls before a 2012 game against North Carolina.
Erik Etherly was double teamed at the top of the paint yesterday, but he didn’t fret. A member of Hapoel Kazrin in the Israeli Basketball Super League, Etherly was the only professional player on the floor.
In a swift motion, the 6-foot-7 Loyola product spun to the hoop, elevated and threw down a two-handed jam in a 4-on-4 pick-up game yesterday at DeMatha Catholic High School.
Etherly’s squad went on to win the last game in a three-game series held as a practice for DMV’s Finest, a team of former local college players assembled to compete in The Basketball Tournament, an event in Philadelphia offering $500,000 to its champions.
Etherly’s pickup teammates — Terrapins men’s basketball manager Ross Aroyo and former managers Kevin Owens and Evan Lipinski — formed DMV’s Finest after Aroyo heard about The Basketball Tournament from a recruiter over spring break.
“I thought he was lying,” Aroyo said. “I couldn’t believe my ears when he said $500,000. I thought it was like spam.”
After some research, Aroyo realized the tournament was legitimate. Aroyo called Owens and Lipinski. With their connections to the Terps and a network Aroyo had built from a previous internship with a sports agency, they wanted to bring together a team for the tournament, which takes place in June.
Former Terps’ forward John Auslander was made head coach, and the team began to take shape. If the team wins, part of the team’s winnings will go to the Zaching Against Cancer Foundation, named after former Terps basketball manager Zach Lederer who died of cancer in March.
“I think just hearing Zach’s message and the idea of playing for the DMV area really drew different guys in,” Owens said.
Cancer is a subject especially close to Etherly’s heart. His grandmother survived breast cancer twice when he was young, which he commemorates with a tattoo on his right bicep of two hearts and a breast cancer ribbon.
“I’m always down to do something for a great cause,” Etherly said.
The team said it has a chance of being strong contenders come June. Etherly said the team will need to focus on defense if it wants a chance to be among the 32 teams that will play in Philadelphia.
But even if the team doesn’t win, autographs from professional athletes will be auctioned off at the tournament to fundraise for Zaching Against Cancer.
DMV’s Finest was supposed to scrimmage the Terps yesterday at Comcast Center, but the Terps — after two consecutive days of workouts and finals looming — had the day off. It was a disappointment to Etherly, who never got to play the Terps during his collegiate career.
Instead, the event was held at DeMatha, where Aroyo, Owens, Lipinski and others filledin to give Etherly some practice.
“It’s really special watching him play with people you play normally,” Aroyo said. “The way basketball works is that when the talent level keeps getting higher and higher, it’s hard to differentiate how talented they really are. So when you see it first-hand playing with them, it’s really an incredible experience.”
The only other DMV’s Finest player in attendance was former Georgetown guard Austin Freeman, but he was unable to participate because he’d sprained his ankle in the playoffs of the NBA Development League for the Iowa Energy.
As Etherly displayed an array of post moves to guide his team to victory yesterday, Aroyo couldn’t help but give him the ball and watch one of the key players he assembled show his talents.
“The game plan was give Erik the ball and stay out of the way,” Aroyo said with a laugh. “If I got anywhere near it, I was disappointed with myself.”
