One of the most prominent details the manner in which the Eclipse approach their goals. Winning is great, but it isn’t the ultimate objective.
“We don’t push D1, D1, D1,” Erskine explained. “We have a little saying in our club that it doesn’t matter if you go D1, D2 or D3, as long as you go D-free. Free education is what they’re looking for. We want them to go somewhere they’re wanted and they’ll get a chance to contribute to the program.”
Those are the underpinnings of a program that has sent dozens of players to college programs since 2002, when Erskine and Les Eidsen formed the club. Eidsen is no longer with the organization but Erskine, 37, has a 20-year association with club basketball and has developed the Eclipse into one of the Midwest’s premier programs. In 2002, fresh off of hosting an AAU national tournament while winning an AAU title with one of his teams, Erskine broke off to form a new club.
“We thought we’d take a couple teams through until they finished high school and then call it (a day), go play golf, go to the lake,” Erskine said.
More than a decade later, the Eclipse – whose name was picked by a former player and whose logo was developed by a button-maker, Erskine said – are going strong with 10 high school teams and 17 youth teams.
“Our philosophy is we have a no-butthead rule,” Erskine said. “A coach, a parent or a kid can’t be a butthead. We don’t care how good you are; if you’re a butthead, we don’t want you. We surrounded ourselves with people who saw it the same way. All of our coaches and teams are supportive of each other. That’s fundamental of what we try to be about.”
About five years ago, Erskine began a relationship with Blue Star national evaluator and event coordinator Chris Mennig, who had recruited one of Erskine’s players. “We used to think a big-time exposure tournament was the Miss Basketball (event) in Kearney, Neb.,” Erskine said. “Chris started introducing us to these USJN events. We were the first Midwest club to commit unequivocally to Chris. It’s been a win-win. It’s provided us a venue to get on-going continuous exposure, and through our club size and pull, we’ve started two major tournaments.”
Eye on the Eclipse
Erskine currently has his fair share of talented players, some of whom are well-known and others who are up-and-comers. A glimpse at a few of them:
KINDRED WESEMANN (Class of 2013, 5-7 PG, Pleasant Hill, Kan.): “We don’t believe in promoting one kid over another. But the kid right now who’s sort of the front face of the club is Kindred Wesemann. She’s going to Kansas State and she is just a warrior. She shows up for every optional workout. The thing we like about Kindred is she’s never been too big for herself. If we said Kindred, we want you to go play on our ‘D’ team, she would say, ‘Sure, what time’s the game?’ The thing I like about her the most is she’s courageous. She’s not afraid to fail.”
LIZZY WENDELL (2013, 6-0 G, Blue Springs, Mo): “She joined us this year, has shown excellent commitment and is getting all kinds of great interest. Lizzy, from a character perspective, is really amazing because she never frowns, she never smiles, all she does is show up and do her best. She’s one of nine kids, is really modest. Blue Springs High School was the runner-up in big-school Missouri this year, and played alongside a girl who is committed to Texas Tech and another who signed with Missouri State, and she averaged more points than either of them. She really wants to play at a really strong mid-major Division I school. She’s getting some looks out of the Missouri Valley Conference and if she’s willing to go away from home I think it’ll expand her options.”
HANNAH COOK (2014, 5-11 F, Ozark, Mo.): “She’s one of these girls who is oozing with talent, but she’s very much a happy-go-lucky kid. If she gets real intense, she keeps it inside and doesn’t show it. But she’s got that ability to really be a weapon. As soon as you forget about her, she’ll hit a couple daggers.” (Wesemann, Wendell, Cook and Missouri-bound Sophie Cunningham play for the Eclipse 17U Red.)
KAYLEE PAGE (2014, 6-2 G, Alma, Kan., Wamego): “Her dad coaches her high school team and her younger sister is a freshman there, and Kaylee probably will play somewhere in the Big 12, I’m guessing. She’s a tall, 6-2 guard who can shoot it and handle it. Just a real tough kid. We’ve been playing against Kaylee for years and years but always had a good relationship with her. How good she is now is a testament to how much one-on-one time her father put in with her.”
DALEY HANDY (2015, 5-11 F, Wichita, Kan., Maize): “She’s one of these kids where the light bulb hasn’t gone off about how good she can be. She’s just a happy young teenager. Her dad is her high school coach and they were the No. 1 or 2 ranked team in big-class Kansas all year long. We think she’s got one of the brightest futures in our freshman class. We think she can be a major-conference Division I player if she sticks with it. She shows a lot of intangibles that we’re happy about.”
