Nick Novak, Jake Biss help team of ex-WPIAL standouts to 'dream' season

This dream team had to earn its distinction.

When a crop of talented local basketball players were thrust onto a summer-league roster, many of whom didn’t know one another and had not played together, the thought of doing something special on the court did not exactly cross their minds.

While they saw potential, they knew they needed some time to develop chemistry before getting into the ring with other star-dotted teams.

The process was swift and the experiment successful.

Former WPIAL and college standouts merged to form “Breakfast Club,” a team in the Pittsburgh-area D.R.E.A.M. Pro-Am. They dropped just one game on the way to a league championship.

Among the household names: Nick Novak (Franklin Regional), Jake Biss (Latrobe), Dustin Sleva (Montour), Matty McConnell (Chartiers Valley) and Chris Giles (West Mifflin), the new Penn Hills coach and all-time leading scorer at Seton Hill.

Giles won the league Most Valuable Player award.

The Breakfast Club (12-1) ate many teams’ lunch.

“We put an asterisk by (the record) because we lost by one point,” Novak said in jest. “That night was really hot and the floor was all messed up and the referees that game were questionable at best. … We were super focused for the playoffs.”

Novak, a former Pitt-Johnstown player, served as a player-coach.

Biss said while hopes were high inside the ropes of his team, outsiders likely did not consider Breakfast Club a threat.

The team also included Henry Pwono who, like Novak, has played several seasons overseas.

“It was really fun playing with those guys,” said Biss, who will be a senior at Shippensburg. “Going into the league, the only guys I knew on my team were Dustin, Nick and Matty. But now I feel like I’ve known the rest of my teammates just as long as I’ve known those three.”

The second-year Pro-Am ran from early June into August and games were played four days a week at A Giving Heart community center in Pittsburgh. More than 100 players suited up for 13 teams at the beginning.

D.R.E.A.M. stands for Discipline, Realize, Excellence, Achieve, Motivation. Breakfast Club seemed to embody those traits.

“It was a lot of fun playing with everyone. Some of them I’ve played with a lot, some a few times, some barely at all,” Novak said. “But everyone is really talented. And we took a lot of pride in and put emphasis on playing together. I mean if you look at us … we all could go score 40 points there, but we said let’s take our experience and play really well together.”

While that was a challenge at times in the up-and-down summer league environment, ball movement and structure paved the road to a title.

“We really emphasized sharing the ball and playing to win and not just going out and getting yours, which I bought into immediately,” said Biss, a point guard, “I don’t think anyone even had us even sniffing the finals at the beginning of the season. Nothing better than proving someone wrong.”

Other big namers who played in the Pro-Am included Lance Jeter (Beaver Falls), DeAndre Kane and D.J. Kennedy of Schenley, Antonio Reddic and Chucky Humphries of Aliquippa, Troy Simons (University Prep), Julian Batts (Jeannette), D.J. Porter (Obama Academy), Nelly Cummings (Lincoln Park), Keandre Bowles (Woodland Hills), and Bryant McAllister (West Mifflin), and former Pitt players Ashton Gibbs, Ronald Ramon and John DeGroat — among others.

Bowles was the league scoring champ.

Even Highlands’ coach, 6-foot-7 Tyler Stoczynski, a former Gannon standout who guided the Golden Rams to a WPIAL title in February, traded his dry-erase board for shorts and played in the league. His team later folded because a few players opted out due to covid-19 concerns.

“It’s the highest level of competition in any league around. Great atmosphere,” Stoczynski said.

Stoczynski did not face Breakfast Club in league play, but he has played against Novak, McConnell and Giles in the South Side Market House league.

“It’s pretty simple, really,” Stoczynski said. “When you have really good talent that plays together, they will be tough to beat. Mix the experience of those three with some high-level college and overseas guys and they will be a force anywhere.”