Quaker Valley great Andy Wormsley inducted into Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame

Andy Wormsley has added another prestigious honor to his hall-of-fame basketball career.

The Quaker Valley and Westminster College graduate is a member of the sports hall of fame at both schools. He was inducted at Quaker Valley in 2012 and in the Titan Hall of Fame in 2010.

On Feb. 6, Wormsley’s newest accolade was induction into the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame.

“It’s a great honor,” Wormsley, 42, said. “You see various Pittsburgh greats being inducted and you wonder if that will be you one day. I was both surprised and extremely proud when I found out.

“Basketball has been so great to me and the investments I’ve made into it always come back at least tenfold, mostly in the way of great friends, coaches and mentors. I’m honored to come from such a great program and town like Quaker Valley and Sewickley.”

The PBC Hall of Fame, formed in 2009, acknowledges the rich basketball tradition of Western Pennsylvania and honors the many coaches, players, teams and contributors that set the standard for today’s teams and players.

There is a long and impressive list of basketball luminaries who have been inducted over the years, including legendary players such as Sam Clancy, Jarrett Durham, Dennis Wuycik, Dwight Clay, Billy Knight, Bill Zopf, Willie Somerset, Simmie Hill, Norm Van Lier, Dick DeVenzio, Ken Durrett, Maurice Lucas, Armon Gilliam, Sean Miller, DeJuan Blair, T.J. McConnell, Connie Hawkins, Clarence Hopson and Chuck Cooper.

Wormsley graduated from Quaker Valley in 1997 and wrapped up his varsity career as one of the top hoopsters in school history, scoring more than 1,200 points and earning all-WPIAL and all-state honors. As captain of the 1997 team, Wormsley led the Quakers to the only WPIAL title in boys basketball in school history.

“I have so many great memories from high school,” Wormsley said. “No. 1 on my list has to be our WPIAL playoff run and winning the WPIAL in my senior season. We also won the section that year in a winner-takes-all-game against Vincentian Academy. It was a home game, and they had to open up the balcony for the spectators. We won and had the pleasure of cutting down the nets. I’ll never forget it.”

The Quakers’ starting five that season consisted of Wormsley, senior Scott Molitor, a two-sport standout, and freshman Justin Shegog in the backcourt, with sophomore Doug Runyan and freshman Chris Iorio in the frontcourt.

Wormsley played under two coaches at QV, starting with Vince Cortese in his sophomore year and finishing with Mike Mastroianni in his junior and senior seasons.

“Vince Cortese was a great coach and leader,” Wormsley said. “He really gave me confidence in starting me as a sophomore.

“Mike Mastroianni was hands down the best coach I’ve ever had and still is a mentor of mine to this day.”

Mastroianni is in his 30th year of coaching and 15th in his second stint at Quaker Valley. He previously coached at Bethel Park (four years), Keystone Oaks (three years) and QV (eight years), his alma mater.

Along with the WPIAL championship at QV in 1997, Mastroianni guided Bethel Park to a league title in 2007. At the end of January, his career record stood at 542-216.

“I was so fortunate to coach Andy in his junior and senior seasons,” Mastroianni said. “He had high-level guard skills on offense, and we played him as both a guard and forward. But on defense, he rebounded and played more as a forward. His composure and maturity on the court stood out and was contagious and set a terrific example for our team.

“Andy led Quaker Valley to its first WPIAL championship, and it was more about his willingness to do less individually to obtain more as a team. Andy could have easily averaged 25 points a game, but his maturity and willingness to average less points, rebound more and defend at such a high level would afford us the opportunity to win a championship. Only a very special players can manage that at such a young age.”

Mastroianni has kept in touch with the 6-foot-5 Wormsley throughout his career, a relationship that continues to this day.

“Andy was a special talent and an outstanding player, but more importantly Andy was humble, selfless, very grounded and team driven — a combination of attributes that are very hard to come by,” Mastroianni said. “I was so lucky as a young coach to have had the opportunity to coach him, but even luckier as an older coach to have a lifetime relationship with such an outstanding person.”

At Westminster, Wormsley scored 1,382 career points from 1997-2001 under coaches Ron Galbreath and Jim Dafler. He was a four-year starting guard with 90 career starts, and his career point total ranked 11th in program history.

Wormsley was the Titans’ leading scorer (17.5 ppg) as a junior in 1999-2000 and was named first-team all-conference in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Wormsley, Henry Klinar from Peters Township and Chad Phillips from Warren, Ohio, combined to average 50.6 points, 17.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists a game that season. For his college career, Wormsley tossed in 13.3 ppg.

“’Worm’ was one of the best teammates and friends I have ever known,” Klinar, Wormsley’s college roommate, said in a Westminster College athletics news release. “Outstanding player, even better person.”

Wormsley then played professionally in Europe for four years and Belize for one year.

“That was another great experience I was blessed to have,” he said. “After college, I played in a summer semi-pro league in Belize. After that, I sent a tape to an agent overseas and made some connections with a team in Svenborg, Denmark. I played for them for two seasons and also a year in Finland. I’m most comfortable at guard, but overseas, I played mostly the 3 and 4 positions.

“To continue a career in any way after college is so rare — even moreso in 2002 — and I’m thankful I was able to do that. I made a lot of good friends and definitely honed my skills more than I ever thought possible because you really don’t have any distractions being so far away from home. It really gave me the time I needed to get better.”

Wormsley formerly lived in Sewickley and was employed by Philips Respironics as an inside sales representative. He now resides in Riverside, Calif., with his wife Laura, son Rohaun, 5, and daughter Ophelia, 2.

“We moved out here about five years ago,” Wormsley said. “I am in medical device sales for Philips Healthcare.”

Wormsley doesn’t play much basketball these days; instead, his attention is focused on his family and work.

“I hope to one day retire back to Sewickley and start playing at the YMCA with all my old friends,” he said.