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Jun 25, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 3 min read

Evan Strimel has finally made his decision on where to continue his basketball career and it will be at Tiffin University in Ohio.

Strimel played basketball at Geibel Catholic this year but transferred back to his original school, Albert Gallatin, after the season and is officially an AG graduate who was still undecided about his collegiate future until recently.

Strimel, the son of Eric and Erin Strimel of Point Marion, was the area’s leading scorer at 21.6 points per game. He was named to the Section 2-A first team and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Boys Basketball All-Area first team.

“They reached out to me late,” Strimel said of Tiffin, an NCAA Division-II school that plays in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).

“I wasn’t really considering them. It was between a D-II school in Florida and Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, where (Geibel graduate) Emma Larkin committed to. Then Tiffin emailed me and we hopped on a call. I went to visit and after that it was pretty much a no-brainer to me, I chose Tiffin.

“I liked the campus. There are a couple people in the WPIAL who I played basketball with who are also going there.”

One of them, Jayden Patterson of East Allegheny, will be Strimel’s roommate at Tiffin.

Strimel will play under first-year coach Sterling Johnson at Tiffin. The Dragons went 6-21 this year under coach Desmond Balentine, who resigned after the season. Johnson comes over from Grand Valley State where he was an assistant coach. The Lakers were 26-7 last season and won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Division-II tournament.

Geibel went 10-12 this season and 3-7 in section play, missing the WPIAL playoffs, which is a regret of Strimel’s.

“I would’ve rather made the playoffs and scored less,” Strimel said. “But I still was definitely grateful for my senior season. I just wish we would’ve won a few more games.”

The 5-foot-7 Strimel was a point guard/shooting guard with the Gators under head coach Chuck McCutcheon and assistant coach Matt Yoders.

“I’d like to thank both of them for helping me this season,” said Strimel, who also gave credit to Albert Gallatin boys basketball coach and former West Virginia player Spencer Macke. “I went back to AG to graduate and when I did I started working out with him and he helped me with my decision in reaching out to some colleges.”

Strimel talked about his assets and also what he would like to improve on as he approaches playing in college.

“The best parts of my game are my ballhandling and my leadership skills, and my mid-range (shot) is pretty good, too,” Strimel said. “I like to round off my 3-point shot and I want to play off two (feet) more.”

Tiffin is located in north-central Ohio which was fine with Strimel.

“It’s like three hours and 45 minutes,” Strimel said of the drive. “It’s not bad to be honest. I’ll probably be able to come home on the weekends if I want to.

“I’m happy with my decision.”