A Bulldog Breaks Out of the Yard

For every player who laces up their cleats, picks up a basketball, or slides on a glove, the end goal is almost always to push themselves as far as they possibly can while playing a sport they enjoy. Not everyone gets to take that passion beyond the high school level, but Edmond Memorial senior Sean Pedulla is. 

Pedulla signed with Virginia Tech in November. He had been a known commodity within Oklahoma basketball circuits and in the high school game for a few years, but it wasn’t until last summer when he truly exploded onto the national scene. 

He was an unranked prospect prior to competing on the Summer AAU circuit with former Oklahoma, now Sacramento Kings, guard Buddy Hield’s youth development team Team Buddy Buckets. In several standout performances against the likes of Drive Nation and five-star recruit Keyonte George, Pedulla put himself on the map and earned a three-star ranking from several national recruiting boards with his scoring, on-ball skills, and basketball IQ. 

“I would say I am best at scoring,” Pedulla says. “Any coach would probably say that too, but I also like locking someone up on defense just as much depending on the situation.”

During his junior season, Pedulla averaged 17.2 points per game for the Memorial Bulldogs, helping lead them to the Class 6A state quarterfinals before the event was canceled due to COVID-19, and being named to several end-of-season teams like The Oklahoman’s Super 5 third team.

At the time of signing his letter of intent with Virginia Tech, Pedulla was touted as the second-best player overall coming out of Oklahoma and ranked 141st in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Pedulla credits the college’s coaching staff as the main reason he decided to commit to Virginia Tech over Oklahoma State, Minnesota, and Colorado State. 

“The most important aspect for me was the coaching staff, and not just Mike Young, but coach [Kevin] Giltner, coach [Christian] Webster, and coach [Chester] Frazier,” Pedulla says. “They were all communicating with me a lot, specifically Giltner, about what type of environment they are trying to build this year.” 

Head coach Mike Young is well-known for loving players that can shoot and handle the ball, so heavily recruiting Pedulla for a Virginia Tech team that could really use his on-ball presence and shooting touch makes a world of sense. 

Reflecting on his journey, Pedulla thanks his coaches, namely Buddy Buckets developmental coach Trey Slate, but most of all, his older siblings for teaching him how to be competitive while also supporting him. 

“I’ll never forget the driveway battles just playing with my older brothers and them beating me down,” Pedulla says. “That’s the most competitive environment I have ever been in, no matter how close these high school games are, those were always the most insane, the most rough. Those are always the moments I will look and think back to as making me the competitor and tough player I am today.”

Pedulla will finish out the 2020-21 high school season with the Bulldogs before moving on to become a Hokie.