Parkland's Beidelman is bound for Kutztown

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Wednesday night was a big night for Parkland senior boys basketball player Austin Beidelman. Not only did he hit the go-ahead basket in the Trojans’ 62-59 win over Liberty, but later the same night he tweeted out his college choice — Kutztown University.

“Kutztown had a deadline for me, and it was Wednesday night or Thursday morning, so I decided I’d put it out there,” Beidelman said. “I was on a pretty big high, so I thought I might as well put it out there and get it out of the way now.”

Beidelman is one of the area’s top scorers, averaging 16.4 points per game. This is his third year as a starter for Andy Stephens’ team and he has been an all-league selection each of the past two years and was a Morning Call All-Area team selection last season as a junior.

Entering Saturday’s district title game, he has 895 career points and 84 career 3-pointers.

“There were a bunch of PSAC schools looking at me and they’re all good programs,” Beidelman said. “Kutztown just made me a great offer that I couldn’t turn down.”

Beidelman said the school itself was a big factor in his decision.

“I want to study elementary education and they have a great education program,” he said. “I really like their coaches [Bernie Driscoll, Tom York] and they have really been helpful. They have been up front about everything, including what they expect of me as a student-athlete. I really liked that.

“The fact that it's close to home didn’t really matter. But now that it’s done, I like the fact that my current teammates can come and see me play and so can members of my family.”

Beidelman said the decision is a weight off his shoulders.

“I didn’t feel any pressure before, but it’s nice that the uncertainty of where I am going is now out of the way and I can focus on the rest of my senior season,.” he said.