Ciao bella: Bruskotter headed to Italy for prestigious international tournament with Team Ohio

SHELBY — Alex Bruskotter is thankful he has Tommy Orsi's number saved in his phone.

Orsi, an Italian foreign exchange student who was a member of the Shelby boys basketball team last year, is really going to come in handy for the 6-foot-8 guard. Bruskotter was invited to play on Team Ohio for a tournament in Milan, Italy this week on an eight-day trip. Bruskotter doesn't know a lick of Italian so Orsi may have to help him learn a few words while he is on the plane.

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"I am going to have to call him up," Bruskotter said with a laugh.

Bruskotter is scheduled to fly out of the United States and arrive in Rome on Tuesday where he will spend the day exploring the ancient city before departing for Lissone, just north of Milan, on Wednesday after a Vatican tour. He will spend eight days in Italy residing with a host family while his parents grab a hotel room.

"We are going to some different places and using a bunch of train rides which is going to be pretty cool," Bruskotter said. "We are playing a bunch of teams from all over the country so it is going to be an experience I will never forget."

The agenda calls for games to be played on Thursday-Monday before arriving back home on Tuesday. There will be trips to Lake Lugano, Lake Como and multiple other tourist attractions.

"I just want to see all of the ancient building and famous places that we are scheduled to visit," Bruskotter said. "We study these things in history class and I am going to actually see it with my own two eyes so that is going to be incredible. To be around a different culture and different people will be an experience of a lifetime."

Ohio High School Basketball Hall of Fame coach Gregg Collins will be an assistant coach to Jeff Deyo along with general manager Bobby Kortsen and it was Collins who put Bruskotter's name in the pool after the team had a late dropout.

"From a cultural standpoint, this is an outstanding opportunity for Alex," Collins said. "We fly into Rome and tour the city before we bus up to northern Milan for the tournament. Last year, two of the key players we had are projected NBA lottery picks and stars on some major Division I teams. So this is a big opportunity for Alex."

Bruskotter will play with Duquesne commit Dominic Aekins, Ohio State commit and Mr. Basketball Colin White, Kentucky commit Travis Perry, Ohio University commit Jesse Burris and University of South Carolina commit Trent Noah among others.

"Playing a different style of basketball with completely different rules will be interesting," Bruskotter said. "My teammates are some of the best players in the country so it will be awesome to be with them."

The Wright State University commit and finalist for the Mr. Basketball award will find himself playing by international rules which includes a shot clock and the college 3-point line.

"To meet kids from other countries is always a big opportunity," Collins said. "But on the basketball court, it is a chance to play with a shot clock. The rest of the world at all levels uses one so he will get a chance to play with a 24-second shot clock and the international 3-point line that he is going to play with next year at Wright State. He better be ready to not get many calls because officials call the game differently over there and it will be physical. It is going to be a great time and experience. He is going to fit right in."

He absolutely will. Bruskotter is the Division II Player of the Year, first team All-Ohioan, first team All-Northwest District, first team All-District 6 and the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference player of the year this season as he flirted with averaging a triple double with points, rebounds and assists. He led the Whippets to their first regional championship and state tournament berth.

In the state semifinals on Saturday, he tied the Division II state semifinal record for the most points in a game with Torrey Patton of Trotwood-Madison against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2017 in a 68-65 loss to Maysville. Bruskotter finishes his career as the No. 2 scorer in Shelby boys basketball history with history with 1,689 points, just 99 points behind five-time NBA champion Larry Siegfried for the top spot on the list. He helped Shelby post the most wins (25) in a single season in program history.

It is no wonder why he is the first player from North Central Ohio to be invited to play.

"I have been told I was the first person in this area to be chosen to play and it has been going on for 23 years," Bruskotter said. "I heard about it last year when Gabe Cupps, who is at Indiana, and Reed Sheppard, who is at Kentucky, was on the team. I had no idea what it was but when I saw that, I wanted to be a part of it. I have never been to another continent before so that is going to be awesome."

Unfortunately, the timing of the trip means he is going to miss the 45th News Journal All-Star Classic on Friday, a game he spent his childhood attending and striving to play in.

"I have gone to those games since I was six and always wanted to play in one so it is kind of bittersweet," Bruskotter said. "But this is an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Bruskotter headed to Italy for prestigious international tournament with Team Ohio