COLLEGE PARK, Md. – You’ll have to excuse Cincinnati, Ohio native and Sports City U 17s star Chloe Pavlech if she tells you she’s home this weekend while at the U.S. Junior Nationals, which is taking place at several venues in the Washington, D.C. area.
Pavlech, a star at Sycamore High School and one of the highest rated players in the state of Ohio, isn’t quite home yet in her surroundings this weekend, but that will all change a year from now when the slick 5-foot-9 guard gears up for her freshman year at the University of Maryland in College Park.
On Saturday morning, Pavlech got a little taste of her future surroundings as she helped Sports City U to a 55-44 win over the Erie (Pa.) Saints at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center. The win moved Sports City U to 3-0 and in firm control of Pool B as the only unbeaten.
“It’s super cool. It kind of gives me some extra confidence going in here and knowing that this is my gym,” Pavlech said. “My teammates were excited and so was my mom.”
Pavlech didn’t show off a lot offensively in terms of scoring and carrying the load, but she appears to be quietly efficient on both ends. She is a good athlete that is capable of slashing to the basket. The thing that stood out most in this particular game was patience and poise. Her emotions were never too high or too low and she let the game come to her.
Looking for proof of confidence and self-awareness? With a year to go before she even steps on the College Park campus, Pavlech believes she has what it takes to play right away for notably demanding head coach Brenda Frese at a school that is undoubtedly an ACC and national contender every year.
“I’m a go-hard, hustle player, I do the little things like take charges and I feed off my defense to start my offense,” Pavlech said. “I think I have a real good chance of playing at Maryland right away if I can improve my ball-handling and 3-point shooting. Those are really my main goals for the rest of this summer.”
Pavlech is the leader of a Sports City U team that is stacked now and will still be loaded later. Seniors Raeshuan Gaffney (Virginia) and Rachel Theriot (Nebraska) are set with scholarships, with several other seniors and underclassmen receiving plenty of mid and high-major interest.
“All these girls are going to go D1 most likely, but I want to do my part to help them out here and help everyone to play well and get better,” Pavlech said. “With seven seniors done after this summer, it’s up to us to be leaders now for the younger girls.”
