North Catholic’s Dani Short to play basketball at Brown University

DANI SHORT averages double-figure points for the North Catholic Trojanettes. (Photos by Courier photographer Will McBride)

Dani Short is headed for the Ivy League.
The North Catholic High School senior forward will be playing basketball at Brown University later this fall, the New Pittsburgh Courier has learned.
“Emery University (in Atlanta) also offered me. I visited there and it was nice, but I always wanted to go to an Ivy League school,” Short told the Cranberry Eagle in an article dated Jan. 23. “That’s why I chose Brown. I went to Brown last summer. I liked how the campus has a small-college feel to it, but downtown Providence (Rhode Island) is very close. I like that contrast.”
Brown University is the seventh-oldest college in the U.S., with an “A” list of notable alumni, such as John F. Kennedy Jr., John Rockefeller Jr., Chris Berman and Ted Turner, and African Americans Andre Leon Talley, Walter Dean Myers, Edwidge Danticat and Aunjanue L. Ellis.
Brown sports 6,580 undergraduates, 2,255 graduate students, and 545 medical school students. Overall, Brown has 51 doctoral programs and 32 master’s programs.
Short told the Cranberry Eagle she plans to study political science or international relations with the goal of becoming a lawyer. The Eagle also reported her GPA as 4.84.
Before she heads to Providence, she has some unfinished business to take care of around here. While Short may be her last name, on the court, she’s anything but. She stands 6-feet-2 and is a force in the paint and on the “blocks” near the basket. In the Monday, Feb. 11 regular season finale at Bethel Park, Short led all North Catholic Trojanette players with 15 points in a 59-52 loss.
“Dani’s great, she’s super versatile for her size,” longtime head coach Molly Rottman told the New Pittsburgh Courier after the game. “Most people would just put her as a post player, but she has the ability to handle the ball. Sometimes she’s absolutely better almost facing up to the basket and taking off the dribble, which is an awesome opportunity.”
DANI SHORT will play basketball at Brown University in fall 2019.

After the Feb. 11 loss at Bethel Park, North Catholic, featuring standout players Short, Tess Myers, Kylee Lewandowski, Emma Pospisil, Cassie Foster and Belle O’Hara, still finished a perfect 14-0 in WPIAL Class 4A, but the non-conference loss dropped them to 19-3 overall. However, North Catholic is regarded as a top contender to claim another WPIAL title as the playoffs begin this weekend. The Trojanettes won the WPIAL Class 4A title last March after Myers’ last-second bucket gave North Catholic a 50-49 win over Beaver, the team’s second consecutive WPIAL championship.
Short scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in that 2018 title-winning contest. Rottman told the Courier that she’s always pushing Short to dominate the offensive and defensive boards.
“Defensively, she’s on post players, but we had her switching (in the second half against Bethel Park, Feb. 11), and she can move and cover guards, and has the foot speed to do that, so that’s a huge bonus as well,” Rottman said of Short.
Rottman also sees even greater potential in Short in the low post area, but oftentimes, teams, such as Bethel Park did, will double team Short as she continues to dribble near the basket in a post-up, back-to-the-basket position. The Bethel Park Blackhawks were able to steal the ball away from Short a few times using that strategy.
“You get one dribble in the post,” Rottman said. “We got to get her to make sure she’s making a post move in one dribble or less.”
As for Short’s intangibles? “She’s really great with making sure to be inclusive of everyone, freshmen coming in or the JV team,” Rottman told the Courier. “She works hard in practice, if someone is having a rough day she’s the first one to go over and help them out a little bit, and always has a big smile on her face, so she’s a great leader for us.”
 
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