The genesis of Peter Long’s involvement in girls’ basketball qualified him to be, say, a Jehovah’s Witness. That is, his door-to-door skills were developed early.
“Back in 1987,” Long said, chronicling his start, “I was a senior in college and my brother dropped me off at the street corner in his community. He said, ‘Go down the street and knock on every door, asking the kid if they want to play. And when you get to the end of the block, cross the street and knock on every door on the way back. And we’ll get you some players.’ And that’s how we started.”
Long ended up with a dozen players, enough to comprise his first Minnesota Suns team. Today, he has 27 squads and has added a boys program.
“Kids just kept showing up and showing up,” he said.
That says a lot about Long’s approach, considering he doesn’t advertise and rarely solicits players. Positive word-of-mouth carries the Suns’ reputation, and it carries it a long way. Players from five states – Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota – are part of the program.
“So we’re doing something right,” Long said.
In 2003, Long expanded the Suns’ program past a one-team club, and six years ago he instituted the boys’ teams. Now, the Suns are one of the upper Midwest’s premier programs, having been bolstered by the addition to Blue Star’s stable of clubs.
“Since Chris (Mennig, USJN director) invited us into the Blue Star network, we’ve taken advantage of that and played the USJN circuit,” Long said. “The reason we do that is Chris puts our teams in a good venue at that event. I can go to a (non-USJN) event and never have a college coach come and watch that squad. We don’t experience that at USJN. All of our kids are going to get looked at, just by the design and setup of the venue itself.”
What college coaches typically see is a Suns player who has developed her individual skills, a priority in Long’s coaching philosophy.
“The niche that we have is that we focus on player development,” Long said. “What I mean by that is we always look at this as a three-legged stool. The club being one leg, the parent being another leg and the third leg being the coach of that particular team. And we always put the kid on top of that stool.
“What we try to focus on is basketball fundamentals because it’s getting missed a lot. What’s happening out here in our market is kids have a fall league they play in, then they go into their winter (school) season. The youth here have a winter season like the high schools. They go from game management to game management, and a lot of kids, by the time they get to eighth or ninth grade, they’re missing a ton of fundamentals.”
To offset that, the Suns offer “skills nights” twice a week, and player participation is voluntary. Long said the Suns have about 300 kids in the program “and we usually see everybody a couple times a month at those skills nights.”
A look at some of the shining Suns:
CLASS OF 2013
“Sammie Delzotto from Eagan, Minn., is probably our top recruit. She’s a 5-11 wing player who is probably going to play the 2 (in college). She has three offers on her plate, but I think she’s looking more toward the East Coast. Next would be (5-8) Becca Smith , a traditional point guard, real quick with the ball. What she’s developed this year is the ability to be patient. She used to be go-go-go, but now she’s letting things set up and the game comes easier to her now. “Angie Davison (Maple Grove, Minn.) has already verballed to Northern Iowa. She’s a 5-9 point guard, probably one of the better on-ball defenders in the state of Minnesota.”
CLASS OF 2014
“We’ve got some kids that can ball. My 2014s can play with anybody in the country,” Long said.
“I’d say our top recruit in that class is Kaila Burroughs (St. Cloud, Minn). She’s a 6-2 wing player, can dribble the ball, has a 30-inch vertical, has long arms. She’s getting looked at by a number of BCS schools right now. Right behind that would be Kyrah Fredenburg (Anoka, Minn.). She’s a 6-foot wing player and has a different style than Kaila. She’s not as athletic but probably is as strong as any post player out there. She can play the 4 for you or step out and play the 3 because she can put the ball on the floor. She can run the point if we need her to. Another point guard is Jada Jones (St. Paul, Minn.), probably the fastest kid we’ve got. She’s getting looked at by some schools in the (Mid-American Conference) and Missouri Valley. Erin Autio (St. Michael, Minn.) is a 6-1 shooter. She shoots her threes almost as good as her layups. She’ll be fun to watch.”
