MCI coach heading to Croatia> Good will help run 5-day hoop clinic

Maine Central Institute Prepper basketball coach Max Good will be flying to Croatia to conduct a five-day basketball clinic with Providence College coach Pete Gillen and four NBA coaches July 3-8.

MCI Athletic Director Wally Covell verified that Good will be visiting the former Yugoslavian province and Covell also said it wouldn’t surprise him if MCI wound up with a Croatian player in the near future.

“The main thing I want is exposure for MCI,” said Good. “I think it will definitely help our program.

“Hopefully, this could open up another venue for players for us, but that’s not the primary reason for going.”

“They’re going to run a clinic but, at the same time, it’s obviously going to be a scouting mission for all of them,” said Covell. “Supposedly, Croatia is the number one country for basketball players outside of the United States.”

The NBA has a pair of prominent Croatians in 6-foot-11 Chicago Bulls swingman Toni Kukoc and 6-11 Boston Celtics forward Dino Radja. Los Angeles Lakers 7-1 center Vlade Divac is a Yugoslavian.

The trip is a good opportunity for Good well as a feather in his cap.

“Basketball has been very do to me and I look at this as a way to pay it back in some small way,” Good said. “Plus, it’s a way to represent my country in some way.”

Covell said international students have always been welcome at MCI and three have played for the Preppers during his seven years to date: Yugoslavian Darco Pazin, Russian Dimitri Domani and Switzerland’s Alfonse Mbambi. Domani has since gone on to play at St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia.

He said the school is equipped with the ESL (English Second Language) program in case international students speak no English.

MCI is a private school and it costs students beyond the Pittsfield area $15,000 per year to attend.

“Sometimes, these students are sponsored (financially) if they don’t have the financial wherewithal,” said Covell, whose school doesn’t offer athletic scholarships.