Arnie Sutter has been a basketball coach for 41 years and generally has his pick of the litter when it comes to putting together local AAU teams.

His current 14-man team, the Western Basin Toledo Bulldogs, features eight players from schools in the Press coverage area. The Bulldogs, whose season runs from March 15 through June 1, have an 11-5 record and have placed in the top three at several competitive tournaments.

The Bulldogs took first at a tournament at Otsego High School, which featured several teams from the Detroit area, and they took second at a Perrysburg tournament. They also placed third at tournaments in Columbus and at Otsego.

“I spend the whole year during the regular season going to basketball games, and I pretty much recruit them,” said Sutter, in his ninth year as an AAU coach. “There is a certain player I'm looking for and I am fortunate to put things together with their (high school) coach. I was a head coach for 20 years in Cincinnati and I finished up at Elmwood (from 1987-92), so I'm familiar with the AAU process.

“I like to finish up the season around the first of June because I know most of the high school teams like to go to camps and I don't like to interfere with them.”

This year's Bulldogs team consists of players from Genoa, Lake, Woodmore, Gibsonburg, Northwood, Tiffin Calvert, Huron, Sandusky, and Riverdale.

Area players on the team are shooting guard Devin Sibby, who will be a senior at Genoa next year, senior forward Ricky Hartley from Northwood, senior point guard R'shad Smith from Lake, junior post Donny Bowen and junior guard Jake Lewandowski from Woodmore, and senior forward Mark Edwards from Oak Harbor.

Bowen averages 10 rebounds a game and leads the Bulldogs in scoring at nearly 18 points a game. Smith averages 15 points and a team-high five assists a game, while Sibby and Edwards average 12 and 10 points, respectively.

“Bowen is only 6-foot-2 and he's one of the best players I've ever coached,” Sutter said. “He's an all-around athlete-basketball player combo. I really have a good group of kids this year who are playing well together and I have three, maybe four guys who could play at the next level.”

Woodmore boys coach Brad Sander said he was in favor of Bowen and Lewandowski's decision to play AAU ball.

“We were happy when Donny and Jake were interested in playing,” Sander said. “We want to get the kids out and have them see all the different competition as they can. Arnie called me and asked if we had some kids who would be interested, and I knew Donny and Jake wanted to play AAU ball.

“I knew Arnie coached a team and he's been around a long time. He's played, watched and coached a lot of basketball, and with all his years of experience it would benefit our kids to play on his team, especially with some of the tournaments they go to. With the competition they see, it's a great experience for the kids. I'm happy to have my guys involved.”

Two eighth-graders from Gibsonburg, forward Matt Tille and guard Derrek Angilone, also play for the Bulldogs.

“I've always had younger kids,” Sutter said. “I have some ninth- and 10th-graders from Sandusky. I just like that young spirit. It keeps the seniors honest. I look for these seniors to be mentors.”

Several of Sutter's former players have gone on to play basketball in college. One of those players is former Genoa standout Richard Wonnell, who is now playing at the University of Toledo. Sutter's assistant coach, Aaron Mass, was a standout player at Tiffin Calvert who later played at Bluffton University.

The Bulldogs have played against some of the best AAU teams from Detroit, Ann Arbor, Cleveland and West Virginia this season. They will play in three more tournaments, two in Cincinnati and one in Mansfield.

“This group is really talented, probably the most talented team I've had since four years ago when we won a tournament in Huntington, W. Va.,” Sutter said. “This group has the potential to be the best team I've ever coached as far as AAU is concerned. I knew right away they had some good chemistry from our first couple practices. They all come from .500 or maybe a little bit below high school teams, I think they were eager to find a way to win.”

For more information on Sutter's AAU programs, call 419-340-0935.

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