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Meet Our Coaches & Directors

Drew Polczynski

Director

Coach Drew is a 1988 graduate of Norwin High School and was a starter on the WPIAL Championship team that same year. He continued his basketball career at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY where he was a four‐year starter, team captain for two seasons, and remains in the top ten in school history in assists and steals. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering at USMMA as well as a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering at Pitt. His coaching career includes five years as a student-­‐assistant, two years as a scout, ten more coaching youth basketball, and is currently an assistant varsity coach at Norwin.

Cathy Suman

Coach

Coach Suman is a 1989 graduate of St. Francis Academy and led her team to a W.PI.A.L. Championship and P.I.A.A. State runner up. She went on to play at IUP where she earned a BS in elementary education. In 1993, she graduated from IUP with an impressive 1,722 points...the school's all-time leading scorer for both men and women at the time. In 2007, she was inducted into the IUP Athletic Hall of Fame and went on the coach the girls Varsity at Indiana High School and then Penn Trafford High School. Currently she is teaching third grade in the Penn Trafford School District. She is married with three children and has stayed active coaching her daughter’s travel teams.

Savannah Schneck

Coach

Coach Savannah is a junior at Norwin High School where she has played power forward and swing-guard positions. Savannah has played AAU basketball for 6 years, won Game Classic MVP in DC, lettered her freshman & sophomore years, was the 3v3 champion for W&J camp, and 1v1 champion for LaRoche camp. Savannah is planning to study Occupational Therapy and is super excited to coach!

Brittany Stawovy

Coach

A native of Belle Vernon, PA, and graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, Coach Brittany is currently an assistant coach at Seton Hill University. She graduated WV Wesleyan with a 3.96 GPA and a Bachelors in Secondary Education and English Literature with a minor in Special Education.  She was named to the All MEC Academic Team four times over her career.  Brittany served as the President of the WV Wesleyan Student Athlete Advisory Committee as a senior.  
While at WV Wesleyan, Brittany served as a senior captain.  During her final season, Stawovy started and played in all 17 contests.  She was second on the team, averaging 10.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.  Brittany led the Bobcats with 55 assists, 23 steals and 23 blocks.  She scored a career high 27 points in a win over Alderson Broaddus.  
Stawovy was an All Conference selection during her basketball career at Greensburg Central Catholic HS where she scored over 1,000 career points and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Rick Thomas

Head Coach

Coach Rick was a 1982 graduate of Norwin High School where he set career and single-season scoring records. He began his coaching career the following year as an assistant at Westmoreland County Community College. Six years later, as the head coach, he led WCCC to the Junior College Final Four. Since leaving WCCC, Rick has coached for several high schools in the Pittsburgh Area and has been coaching youth basketball for nearly 20 years.

Abi Gabauer

Coach

Coach Abi was a 2017 graduate of Norwin High School where she won Westmoreland County Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference. On an Academic and Athletic Scholarship, she continued her basketball career at D2 West Virginia Wesleyan College where she was able to lead her team in points per game (11.6), free throw percentage (.852), and three-point percentage (.375). Since leaving  WVW, Abi now works as a Product Development Chemist at PPG Industries in Cheswick, PA along with being an Erudite Coach. 

Maura Suman

Coach

Coach Maura is a senior at Penn Trafford High School and has been playing basketball since 1st grade. A seven-year member of the Erudite family as a player, she now looks forward to continue being a part of the game as a coach here for the Erudite organization. A stand-out player and four-year starter at PT, she set the school’s all-time record for career steals. She will continue her hoops career at Edinboro University, but is excited to share her knowledge of the game with the younger players in our Family.

Kelsey Oddis

Coach

Kelsey Oddis was a four-year member and three-year starter for the Pitt-Greensburg women’s basketball team. She has since stayed on campus and after spending two years as an assistant coach on the women’s basketball staff, she was promoted to head coach of the Bobcats in October of 2020. In her two seasons as head coach, the Bobcats posted an impressive 24-7 record. Oddis is also the  schools’ head cross country coach, Senior Woman Administrator, and is an Admissions Recruiter. Oddis graduated in May 2018 from Pitt-Greensburg with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She also recently obtained a master’s degree in sports management from California University of Pennsylvania. One of the most successful players in Pitt-Greensburg Women's Basketball history, Oddis was a two-time All-AMCC selection, including garnering First Team honors in 2017-18 after averaging 19.4 points and 11.4 rebounds, both of which ranked second in the conference. In her senior season, Oddis became the 12th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points and for her career, ranks seventh in school history with 1,203 points. The native of nearby Lower Burrell, PA put together one of the most impressive individual single seasons in program history during her senior campaign, setting a new single-season school record, averaging 19.4 points per game and ranking second with 486 points. Oddis also ranks top-10 in school history in 13 different statistical categories, including fourth in both rebounds (667) and rebounds per game (6.3), and fifth in scoring average (13.4). Along with the long list of accolades on the court, Oddis also assisted the local Greensburg community by volunteering her time at the Salvation Army, Special Olympics, and various youth basketball clinics.  An outstanding student in the classroom, Oddis was a two-time Academic All-Conference selection, a member of the Psi Chi Honor Society in 2016 and was nominated as a candidate for the DaVinci Scholar Society. 

Image by Alex Perez

ERUDITE'S MISSION

Kids who are active and involved in sports are more likely to do better in school and lead healthier lifestyles as adults. The mission of Erudite Basketball is to develop the basketball skills of young women while encouraging excellence in the classroom. Our young student-athletes will grow as basketball players through a focus on the fundamentals which in turn allows them to become leaders when they return to their school teams in the fall.

STUDENT-ATHLETE FOCUS

A student-athlete is defined as a student who participates in an organized competitive sport sponsored by the school in which he or she is enrolled. Student-athletes must balance the roles of being both a student and an athlete at their school. The school could be a grade school or major university. Erudite Basketball was formed with the student-athlete in mind. Our coaches understand the relationship between academic achievement and athletic opportunity…and we reinforce that relationship regularly throughout the season. We actively recruit players who maintain a 3.5 GPA or better to ensure that our kids understand the importance of good grades.

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