From Carmel to Reese’s: Suder competes in NABC All-Star game

Miami University RedHawks senior guard Peter Suder competed in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Reese’s Division I College All-Star Game on April 3, the Friday before the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Men’s basketball tournament.

The NABC game, sponsored by Reese’s, hosts the country’s top senior men’s basketball talent and gives them an opportunity to compete with and against each other on the biggest stage college basketball has to offer. Along with Suder, other participants this year included First-Team All Big East player, Tre Caroll of Xavier University, and Ohio State University’s all-time leading scorer, Bruce Thornton.

“It’s super cool to be a part of the Final Four weekend,” Suder said, “especially when it’s in your hometown.”

Suder, originally from Carmel, Indiana, was able to finish his college career about 20 minutes from where he grew up. Friends and family made the trip to Lucas Oil Stadium for Suder. The entire coaching staff made the trip to Indianapolis along with Suder, a RedHawk takeover in the Circle City.

“It means everything to be honest. The fact that they drove all the way down to show support for just an All-Star game,” Suder said of his coaches. “It’s just cool to know that they’re going to be in my corner and on my side for the rest of my life.”

Among the coaching staff was head coach Travis Steele, who commended Suder’s talent and success with the team.

“I am very proud of Pete — he’s a winner,” Steele said. “I’m just glad that he’s getting the recognition that he deserves.”

Suder, who will graduate in May, is very clear about his goals and dreams moving forward. He and his coaches agree that he will have a chance to compete for a spot on an NBA roster this summer. Suder is already preparing for the opportunity, which has given him less time to reflect on the past season.

“I definitely have,” Suder said when asked if he had had time to reflect on the past season, “but I’m obviously training and getting ready for professional basketball, so it is different.”

Suder’s coaches echo the NBA and professional basketball goals expressed by the senior guard.

“I think he’ll have a chance to play in the NBA,” Steele said. “He just has to get with the right team and get the right opportunity.”

Assistant coach, Khristian Smith, shared these same views about Suder’s future in basketball.

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

“He could be in the NBA and we wouldn’t be surprised,” Smith said. “We could look up ten years from now he could be a successful business owner, and I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The duration of Friday’s game was not the only time Suder spent in Indianapolis. He and the Miami coaches got to enjoy the full Final Four experience.

“At our hotel, in our lobby, there’s pretty much every college coach,” Suder said. “John Calipari, Matt Painter, you name it.”

Both coaches are icons of the sport, Painter at Purdue University, only an hour from Carmel, and Calipari at the University of Massachusetts, University of Memphis, University of Kentucky, and now University of Arkansas. Calipari has coached Derrick Rose, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis and countless other NBA all-stars.

Steele and the rest of the Miami coaches also enjoyed some of the festivities. Steele spoke at the NABC clinic and met with a plethora of his peers. He also attended the National Championship game.

It is unclear how the next few months of NBA draft preparations will result for Suder. What is clear is the legacy he left, both on and off the court, during his two seasons in Oxford. One of the results of this legacy was a chance to return home and play in one more collegiate game on the Final Four stage.

jollifvm@miamioh.edu