Into the Hall: Jocelyn Chandler
The playgrounds of Fayette County have been credited as places that helped to develop outstanding basketball players over the years.
They weren鈥檛 all boys basketball players, though.
Jocelyn Chandler can attest to that.
Chandler鈥檚 experiences on the playgrounds, playing against some of the most talented boys around, helped propel her to become Uniontown鈥檚 all-time leading basketball scorer 鈥� boys or girls 鈥� with 2,048 points and earn a scholarship at Duquesne University where she added another 726 points along with a degree.
Chandler is part of the Fayette County 缅北禁地 Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor,鈥� Chandler said while discussing her impending induction on George Von Benko鈥檚 缅北禁地 Line Talk Show on WMBS Radio recently.
鈥淚 was excited and just thankful for the opportunity overall.鈥�
Chandler recalled how she began playing basketball.
鈥淚 started at a young age, primarily just hanging out on the basketball courts, Grant Street or Bailey Park, just picked up a ball and started playing,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淛ust being in the area I grew up with a some of the Uniontown greats such as Terrance Vaughns, Dierre Jenkins 鈥� We kind of all grew up in the same area.鈥�
Playing against boys was very beneficial, according to Chandler.
鈥淚 spent some time out on the courts and it just so happened the boys were out there playing and they didn鈥檛 shy away from letting me join,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淚 think it made me a better player overall, just kind of getting that experience at a young age, just the competitiveness.
鈥淧laying with boys it鈥檚 just the nature, they鈥檙e stronger, quicker, so you definitely can find your game, establish your game based on trying to adapt to those environ.鈥�
Playground basketball isn鈥檛 quite the same today as it used to be, according to Chandler.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate the area hasn鈥檛 invested the time and resources to making sure that those parks continue to stay open and that there鈥檚 a space for the kids to come out and play,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淲e spent a lot of time there through the different summer programs when school was out and, just personally, going down right after school to meet.
鈥淭hat contributed to probably not only a lot to my success on the court but a lot of the other individuals I mentioned I grew up playing with.鈥�
Chandler eventually became involved in travel leagues.
鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 get exposed to AAU until probably about eighth grade into ninth grade,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淭hat was pretty much initiated by Chris Cluss. The Pittsburgh area that were looking for teams, he was very instrumental in getting us the visibility and then helping us connect. That was very instrumental in getting me being seen by other colleges.鈥�
Chandler had an immediate impact on the Lady Raiders in high school, making the team competitive and breaking a long playoff drought.
Uniontown was 13-10 overall and 6-6 in section play during Chandler鈥檚 freshman year of 2000-01. The following year the Lady Raiders were 16-9 overall and 8-4 in Section 2-AAAA, qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Uniontown lost to Butler, 54-41.
鈥淚t was a long time coming,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good to kind of break that 鈥榗urse鈥� I would say. We lost in the first round but it was a good experience. It kind of set the team up to make the playoffs and kind of continue on and see other teams have done it since.鈥�
Chandler played under Annie Malkoviak for two-plus seasons before Jason Winfrey took over as head coach, and she lauded both for helping her improve as a basketball player.
鈥淲hen I started off in high school Annie Malkowiak was our coach. Kind of looking back I think she really kind of set me and prepared me for college,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淎t high school we had 6 a.m. workouts, which at the time any freshman or sophomore would not appreciate but it definitely helped with respect to transitioning into college because that became a norm in certain periods of the season.
鈥淎lso the conditioning. Transitioning from playing on the playground, and pick-up, and then into AAU and then playing in high school, growing up you didn鈥檛 really focus on conditioning, you just kind of went out and played and competed. That was kind of the first point in which the conditioning aspect was introduced. Again, I think it helped to easier adapt to the college game.
鈥淛ason is a competitor and definitely pushed us, focused on defense and also conditioning. I think that was a big point in transitioning to college because, again, in college I maybe wasn鈥檛 the key scorer in many games but I think the defense, the rebounding and other things that we did, definitely focused on that in what he coached.鈥�
Uniontown went 11-12 overall and 4-10 in section play in Chandler鈥檚 junior year and was 12-11 and 8-6 her senior season, missing the playoffs by one game as it placed fourth behind third-place Ringgold.
Uniontown played in, 鈥減robably one of the stronger sections while I was in high school, a lot of great players,鈥� Chandler pointed out. 鈥淚 know Albert Gallatin, Loui Hall, and then several great players on the Laurel Highlands team. It was a tough go, good competition. There were a lot of great players who came out of our section from the respective schools.鈥�
Chandler poured in 27.4 points per game and was one of the WPIAL鈥檚 leading scorers as a junior. She tallied a Class AAAA-best 29.2 points per game as a senior and was the WPIAL鈥檚 second-leading scorer overall.
To put her career total of 2,048 in perspective, the leading scorer in the rich tradition of the boys program is Vaughns at 1,721 points, putting him 327 behind Chandler.
鈥淕oing through high school, it wasn鈥檛 really about scoring,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淚 was just a competitor and always just liked to compete and try to do what it takes to help the team advance and get a win. It just kind of worked out that the ball went in the hoop.鈥�
Chandler was named to the WPIAL, Tribune-Review, Post-Gazette and 缅北禁地 all-star first teams, was all-section as a junior and senior and was chosen first team all-state as a senior.
鈥淚 was definitely proud and honored to be recognized at the time,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淛ust all the work that was put in, all the time. I don鈥檛 do it for the honors but it definitely shows that all the hard work pays off.鈥�
Chandler was more than just a basketball player at Uniontown. She also lettered in softball, track & field and was an all-section goalkeeper for the girls soccer team.
鈥淚鈥檇 do those things to try to keep in shape and just be kind of well-rounded,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淚 laugh because I am definitely not a soccer player. They stuck me in the net and I blocked the ball from going in. Again, I鈥檓 a competitor and I think getting those honors in those other sports, I kind of attribute it to that.鈥�
Chandler earned a full basketball scholarship at Duquesne where she played under Dan Durkin and then Suzie McConnell-Serio. In addition to her 726 points she also accumulated 401 career rebounds and 132 assists for the Dukes.
鈥淚t was definitely a good experience,鈥� Chandler said. 鈥淭hey pushed me and made me a better person and player during my time there.
鈥淚t was an honor to just be recruited by Dan and also have an opportunity to be coached by, obviously, one of the greatest basketball players in the area, Suzie McConnell.鈥�
Chandler said of being a student-athlete in college, 鈥渟tudent being first, I took that seriously, took advantage of the opportunity of not only getting a scholarship to play basketball but getting the opportunity to get a degree from Duquesne.
鈥淚 definitely focused on my courses while I was there and that led me into good opportunities upon graduation from a career perspective.鈥�
Chandler worked for the accounting firm Ernst & Young for nine years before taking the position of Manager-Finance Governance Oversight at PNC Bank.
Inductees and representatives will be recognized at the Hall of Fame Golf Outing/Luncheon/Social starting at 9 a.m. on June 16 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Connellsville. The event has been sold out, no tickets remain. Please note times for the golf outing have been changed with registration now at 7:30 a.m. and the shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. If you have any questions contact Katie Propes by phone at 724-415-2211 or email at kpropes@occluss.com.