Jaden Gales was out to prove a point.
The 2022 Bishop Canevin graduate did just that a year ago by averaging 17.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a freshmen en route to being named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and earning first-team all-conference honors.
“It meant everything to me,” said the native of Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood of his quick NCAA Division III success a season ago. “It was something I was looking forward to getting during the beginning of the season, even going into college. I just wanted to be the best, to stand out, toward all the freshmen and prove to myself that I can do better and go further with this basketball stuff.”
A year older, Gales is on to the next point — that his Bearcats can do so as well.
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound sophomore forward is leading the PAC in scoring with an average of 19.9 points per game to go along with his team-high average of 6.9 rebounds per game, 16 assists, 14 steals and Bearcats-best 21 blocks.
More importantly for Gales, Saint Vincent is off to the best start in school history with a 16-0 record, and 11-0 mark in conference. The Bearcats’ 84-74 victory over visiting Franciscan Saturday night put their run to open the season in a tie for the longest winning streak in program history.
That Saint Vincent has already moved ahead of its win total of a year ago under coach D.P. Harris — who is in the second year of his second stint at the private Latrobe college — is only a good sign of things to come as far as Gales is concerned.
“Last year we were all really getting to know each other, even getting to know D.P. because he came back from the place he was at,” said Gales, whose team is now one of just five across all NCAA divisions to remain undefeated. “Everybody was starting to get to know each other. I feel like now we are really starting to get the gist of how each and every single one of us plays and how we act.
“I feel like because of that we developed a team bond and chemistry toward each other that makes us as good as we are now.”
Harris knows a thing or two about success with the Bearcats.
In his first 16-year stint at Saint Vincent, Harris led the program to a 318-126 record, as well as a pair of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament Sweet 16 appearances and four consecutive berths in the NCAA Division III tournament from 2013-16.
After serving as coach and assistant athletic director of development at NAIA St. Thomas University in South Florida for two seasons, Harris said he is now poised to lead the Bearcats to their first NCAA tournament victory in school history.
“When I came back, this place was on hard times and these kids, really what they’re going to be remembered for, is saving a basketball program,” Harris said. “We have a tremendous history of basketball here dating all the way back to Oland ‘Dodo’ Canterna. When you look at it, these kids have really brought back the program. Once the students get back next week there probably won’t be a seat in the house.”
Saint Vincent’s success, however, begins with Gales.
“He’s easy,” Harris said. “He’s really laid back. He has a lot of talents off the basketball court and he’s a pleasure to coach. I think the biggest thing with Jaden is we know he’s really young. We’ve had 32 kids play overseas and one kid play in the NBA. I think he has a future, if managed right, after college, for sure.”
Harris said the most critical aspect of Gales’ early development has been his ability to expand upon his mid-range and long-distance shooting, while also developing a strong game in the paint.
“Coming to a school like us, we put a plan in place for him to grow,” Harris said. “He certainly wasn’t an inside basketball player when he first started. He wasn’t real good with the ball and able to shoot it.”
Gales is now making 52% of his shots from the field and 36% from 3-point range.
“He can shoot it now,” Harris said. “We are getting him to be a more well-rounded player. He works hard at his game.”
As much as Gales has been able to contribute, he said his ability to create scoring opportunities for his teammates has been equally as critical to the Bearcats’ success.
In addition to Gales, Saint Vincent has three players averaging double figures in scoring.
Sophomore guard Dev Ostrowski is averaging 17.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game with 29 assists, 35 steals and 4 blocks. He is shooting 49% from 3-point range.
Senior guard Osyon Jones, meanwhile, is scoring 15.1 points with 5.3 rebounds per game, and also has 26 assists, 20 steals and 7 blocks to his credit.
Sewickley native Mike Iuzzolino — who played high school basketball in Canterbury, Conn., and transferred to Saint Vincent from Division I Bryant — is averaging 12.4 points per game, with 41 assists and 12 steals.
“It’s not fun if you’re just the only one scoring,” Gales said. “I feel like if everybody on the team is scoring and doing great, then that creates a lot of energy toward the team and creates a lot of chemistry toward the team and then it makes everything really fun.
“Just me scoring, it kind of gets boring,” he added. “I want to dish the ball out to my teammates and see them scoring. It creates a lot of energy for us.”
The Bearcats are averaging 84.6 points per game, which is tops in the PAC, while their 12.6-point average margin of victory and 39% shooting percentage from 3-point range are also best in the conference.
“They all hang out together,” said Harris of his team. “Some days we don’t get along. We look like chaos outside but inside they are calm, collected, really beyond their age.
“These guys act like they’re 25, 30 years old, little emotion in time outs, really focused,” he added. “We’ve been in some tight games and I think that’s why we win them.”
And Harris is expecting plenty more wins to come — in addition to a national Top 25 ranking.
“I think in the next few weeks we will be ranked if we keep going,” Harris said. “There’s only two other teams in the country that are undefeated, and us, so I’m sure we’ll get noticed.”
For Gales, that also means gaining attention nationally for WPIAL basketball.
Saint Vincent’s roster includes former Central Catholic players Randy Wilkerson and Jaden Bailey, in addition to Ringgold products Chris and Nick Peccon, Fox Chapel graduate Jake DeMotte and West Mifflin product Jordan Lucas-Johnson.
“Coming from Western Pa., we aren’t really known for basketball, we are really underrated,” Gales said. “We are starting to get the recognition we really deserve. I take pride in doing what I can to put on for the city.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.