By Five Boro Sports
Surrounded by autograph seekers after another solid performance, Evan Conti got a glimpse of what his life might be like in a few years.
And, although it was surreal, he liked what he saw.
Conti scored 36 points in the Gold Medal game and was named the MVP as USA defeated Israel 103-61 in the 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel July 21. The squad, which also featured Tyler Siedman from Holy Trinity on Long Island and Montverde (Fla.) Academy’s Michael Avery, who was given a scholarship by Kentucky as an eighth-grader, went 7-0.
In the final against Israel, Conti said he was “in the zone you don’t get in a lot.” He received his gold medal and MVP trophy from former Israeli great Tal Brody, who was the 13th overall pick of the 1965 NBA Draft. Conti impressed scouts from the Maccabi Haifa Heat, who spoke to him after the game, when Conti wasn’t mobbed by dozens of young Israeli kids asking for his autograph.
“The last week there I felt like a superstar,” the Holy Cross junior forward said. “It was the greatest month of my life. When it was all over, I realized I want to play pro ball there when I grow up.”
Before the summer, Conti, whose mother is Jewish, said he didn’t know anything about the Maccabiah Games until a friend, Mike Buchwald from Lower Merion, Pa., invited him to the team’s tryouts in Philadelphia.
The Maccabiah Games feature 9,000 athletes of Jewish descent from 64 countries in an Olympic-style event. In fact, the tournament is the second-largest in the world behind the Olympics.
The 6-foot-3 Conti said some 50,000 people were on hand for the opening ceremonies, which were televised throughout the world.
Conti’s team, coached by Brian Schiff, blew out the competition, beating Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Canada, Argentina and Israel by large margins. The closest game was a 23-point win against Russia.
The college team was coached by Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl, who Conti said he got to meet on a few occasions.
When not on the court, Conti and his teammates toured Israel, visiting the Great Wall, the Dead Sea and the caves in Jerusalem.
“I probably learned more about life, more about culture in this last month than in school my whole life,” Conti said.
Conti said he has a different take on life now, a broader perspective.
“Everything is different now — how I view life, how I view people,” Conti said. “People from other countries are just the same kind of kids we are. I didn’t know that.”
The 12-hour flight from Israel landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 6 a.m. Friday and at 1 p.m. Conti was aboard a flight to Orlando, Fla., for the AAU Nationals to compete with Danny Gimpel’s Rising Stars.
It’s an appropriate team for a player whose stock continues to soar. Conti said he’s already drawn interest from George Mason, Hofstra and Albany, among others. And there’s more letters awaiting him at Holy Cross, when he finally returns from his world tour.
But Conti doesn’t want to look too far ahead.
“I’m definitely ready for next year,” he said.
