Former Steel Valley basketball coach Schifino 'speaks his mind'

For Jake Schifino, there's no other way to say it. His younger brother Drew is misunderstood.

“He speaks his mind,” said Jake, the former NFL kick returner and wide receiver, whose career was cut short in 2006 following a series of hamstring surgeries. “Drew has always been so competitive and wants to win at everything he does.”

The brothers previously starred in athletics at Penn Hills High School, Jake moving on to play college football at Akron and Drew a prolific basketball scorer who played at West Virginia before a run-in with then-coach John Beilein led to his dismissal from the team.

“It's a great thing to be able to express yourself,” Jake said, “but it rubs people, and Drew has never been one to filter his thoughts. He'll let you know what he thinks.”

On Thursday, a day after the Steel Valley school board voted not to retain Drew Schifino as boys basketball coach after just one season, he was left wondering why it took so long to arrive at the decision.

Schifino wasn't given a reason for his departure after leading Steel Valley to a 14-8 record (11-3 in Section 4-AAA) in 2014-15. But he figures it had to do with his refusal to coach Steel Valley's players in a playoff game against South Fayette on Feb. 17 because leading scorer Dominic Keyes was ruled academically ineligible just hours before the game.

“The playoff game brought everything to light,” Schifino said. “I may have looked wrong and it's easy to look back and have 20/20 hindsight. A lot of people made knee-jerk reactions when it first happened. I just wish if they weren't going to keep me that they would've moved ahead with this after the season. It's going to be tough now for me to get a job.”

Steel Valley athletics director Shawn McCallister, who was forced out as boys basketball coach prior to the 2014-15 season but remained on as AD, opening the door for Schifino to step in as coach, has not commented on the matter.

The school announced Oct. 29 that it was opening an investigation into allegations against Schifino but wasn't specific. The board has indicated that an interim volunteer coach would be chosen for the team prior to the official start of practices Monday.

Drew Schifino, a former professional player in Europe whose basketball career has been steeped in controversy, once averaged 20.1 points during a season at West Virginia. But he ran afoul with Beilein, who succeeded Gale Catlett as coach and didn't recruit Schifino.

“Coach Beilein is a great coach,” Schifino said. “I never said he wasn't. College basketball is a business. When a coach doesn't recruit you ... I didn't fit into his system.”

Jake Schifino, who graduated from Penn Hills two years before Drew in 1998, wishes he could rub off his laid-back nature on Drew, who scored 2,320 career points at Penn Hills.

During Drew's senior season, in 2000, he went on one of the greatest runs in WPIAL history, averaging 36.8 points per game in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs and leading the Indians to a championship.

“Remember Talik Brown at UConn?” Schifino said. “He was a top-5 player in point guards in the country coming out of high school. I scored 47 points against him in an AAU tournament in College Park, Md.

“I went against (former Duke point guard) Chris Duhon in a big-time tournament in Las Vegas. I scored 43.”

Schifino had visions of making it to the NBA while at WVU.

“I thought I was on the path,” he said. “I took another path.”

It's been a long-distance journey since then for Schifino, who said he'll continue to offer training to athletes and hope to latch on perhaps as an assistant coach somewhere this season.

His two-year high school coaching record is 20-24, starting at Waynesburg in 2013.

Schifino, 34, said he doesn't look for trouble and wishes things would be different. But he's not interested in acting like someone he's not.

“I don't look for controversy,” he said. “I don't want the stuff to happen. We live in a society where perception means everything. But perception is not reality. You don't always know somebody by what you read.

“I'm a guy who likes to voice my opinion, and I don't hold things in. I think a lot of people agree with me, but ... I have to protect myself. I've always been a competitor.”

Just ask Jake Schifino, if you don't believe it, Drew said.

“Him being a little brother, he always wanted to beat me,” Jake said. “And I always seemed to be beating up on him a little bit. People don't understand Drew. All he wants to do is win. He loves sports and he loves giving back. The Steel Valley situation is damaging his situation.”

Dave Mackall is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at dmackall@tribweb.com.