For many children, even at a young age, sports are very important. At just the age of 4, Shippenburg University men’s basketball player Dustin Sleva was already picking up a basketball. The forward from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is now one of Division II’s finest athletes.

“I was around like four. My dad taught me, and he was my first coach, so he started me off in basketball,” Sleva said.

Sleva was only getting started.

As a freshman in high school, Sleva did not have the height advantage that he now possesses. At 6 foot 8 inches, Sleva has excelled at grabbing rebounds, averaging 11.6 rebounds per game, good enough for third in Division II men’s basketball.

“In ninth grade I was a point guard, and I grew probably my junior, senior and into my college years. I was about 5 feet 11 inches my senior year of high school and about 6 feet 4 inches my freshman year of college,” Sleva said.

Even without the height advantage, Sleva was still grabbing rebounds and putting up big numbers.

Sleva was a standout athlete at Montour High School, where he averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds per game in his senior season. In his junior season, Montour High School was the state runner-up, winning the WPIAL Title in 2013, before reaching the PIAA Tournament again in 2014. Sleva racked up many awards, including being named to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette WPIAL Class AAA “Fab Five” team and to the Roundball Classic All-Star team.

Sleva’s transition from high school to college was a seamless transition, both on and off the court.

“Mostly it was about physicality,” Sleva said of the transition from high school basketball to college basketball.

“On the court it was more about being more physical, and I had to gain weight and I sprouted up a little bit which helped me. Off the court it was about time management and dealing with class and school and finding the time to come in and get some shots up,” Sleva said.

In Sleva’s first season at SU, he was a key player, starting every game as a freshman. He averaged 8.7 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range. Sleva was able to score in every game last season, and scored double-digits in nine games. He scored 20 or more points in two games last season, both on the road in contests against Cheyney University and Mansfield University.

This season has been a break-out season for Sleva, as he has enjoyed a great deal of success. Sleva has averaged 13.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game through the first 19 games of only his sophomore season. Sleva averages a double-double, and has recorded 12 double-doubles on the season. With his 12 double-doubles, he currently ranks third in the nation in double-doubles.

“I just started getting after it and getting after the glass. I can’t really do much except let the game play out and go after the rebounds,” Sleva said.

“He’s been fantastic. His all around game has really shown this year. His rebounding, scoring and sharing the ball has shown. He’s a good playmaker as well and he’s everything that we thought he would be, and were glad that he’s showing,” SU men’s basketball coach Chris Fite said.

Sleva has credited his family and friends with his success.

“All my roommates, they always hype me up and get me up, and my family always comes to every game and we’re three hours away but I get a lot of support from everyone,” Sleva said.

The Raiders have had a great deal of success this season, sitting at 12-7 after 19 games. The Raiders have impressed recently, winning seven straight, before dropping their last two games. The seven-game winning streak was very impressive, and helped SU get back into contending for the PSAC East Division.

“It was fun, you know? We just played together as a team and did everything as a team. We made the extra pass, we played really well together,” Sleva said about the winning streak.

The streak featured big wins over Mansfield University, Kutztown University, Clarion University, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Millersville University, Lock Haven University and Cheyney University.

Even with the success, Sleva has shown that he only cares about winning. Sleva said that his success does mean a lot to him, but winning a PSAC Championship would be his proudest accomplishment.

SU basketball is now in the final stretch of the season and is hoping to continue its winning ways to earn a playoff game.

“The goal is to win the PSAC Championship. I want to get a home playoff game here. It’s been awhile now and it would be great to do it,” Sleva said.

“We have high hopes this year, we were proud to get back into the playoffs last year and we are looking to take it one step forward this year. We would like to get back to the playoffs and win a few games and maybe give the championship a run. We feel we’re good enough for that,” Fite said.

With such success in only his sophomore season, the sky is the limit for Sleva. He has every intention of earning a business degree and is determined to play the sport he loves professionally after college.

“After college I would like to play overseas, or somewhere professionally. Get my business degree, and maybe even coach if I go that way, but I’m not sure yet,” he said.

Sleva has lofty goals, but the sophomore forward is well on his way to achieving those goals. He has put himself in great shape to be successful, and with more experience, his overall game is only going to get better. This is only the beginning for Sleva.

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