Pacey Reading wanted to make opponents guard him everywhere on a basketball court.

College players will now have to worry about guarding the Van-Far senior as he signed to play for NAIA Hannibal-LaGrange University on April 1 at Van-Far High School. Reading is coming off his best statistical season where he averaged a career-high 21.3 points per game, 8 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 51 percent shooting from the floor and 41 percent shooting from 3-point territory.

Reading, who plans to study business, was named the Class 2 District 5 player of the year and was a unanimous Eastern Missouri Conference selection, giving him three of each in his high school career, and thought Hannibal-LaGrange was a good fit for his talents.

Pacey Reading College Signing Photo Gallery

“It’s 30-35 minutes away, and I didn’t want to go too far away from home,” Reading said. “I’m really familiar with coach (Jason) Durst because he was my AAU coach. I really like the way he did things, and I like the program. My dad actually went there, and he told me how good the school is.”

Hannibal-LaGrange finished last season with a 19-8 record and fits Reading’s game well, according to him. The Trojans emphasize perimeter shooting, which is what Reading said “makes me me.”

“You got to guard me from everywhere is how I wanted to approach the game,” Reading said. “There were definitely a lot of hours in the Van-Far gym and a lot of shots. I put a lot of work into it and have a lot of pride in showing that I can hit the 3-point shot.”

Reading said he is comfortable shooting a few feet behind the 3-point line and that he actually had a better percentage shooting a couple feet behind the line than right at the line. He has done so many times now that he can be a challenge for someone guarding him out there.

Head coach Pat Connaway just completed his final season coaching the Indians after spending 17 years coaching the varsity squad with his friend and Reading’s father, Brett. Connaway has known Pacey Reading “since he could walk” as the families have been good friends for a long time. Connaway’s son and college basketball player, Nikos, has been Reading’s friend since they were little kids and is in a picture on Connaway’s phone with Reading while they were riding in the back of a golf cart, “looking like they were sitting in the basket with how small they were.”

“I’ve been blessed to coach a kid like that,” Connaway said. “He’s just like my son: a gym rat. I’ll never forget when we went to Kansas State (for team camps). We used to do that all the time with the state team when coach (Bruce) Weber was there. Him and Nikos were with us out on the floor warming up and shooting baskets. A lot of times, they put up more shots than the kids we had.”

Connaway said Reading’s work ethic has endured over time and has garnered results. In his four-year career as an Indian, Reading averaged 15.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 45 percent shooting and 35 percent 3-point shooting and had 1,739 points, 632 rebounds and 243 3-pointers.

Reading is full of confidence on the court and showed that in many situations for Connaway. On offense, Connaway said Reading wanted the ball whenever Van-Far needed a bucket and was active on the glass to be the team’s leading rebounder. This translated to defense. 

“Scorers don’t have that mentality that, if there was somebody that was cooking us or we were having trouble with, he would look at me and say, ‘Coach, I want him,’” Connaway said. “You notice a lot of teams around where their best scorer is not always on the other team’s best scorer. Pacey was like that.”

Brett Reading knows Pacey well as a player as his coach for years but knows him best as his father. He said he has supported Pacey as he has pursued playing college basketball and will continue doing so when he goes to his alma mater. 

“I love the character of the school and what it stands for,” Reading said. “It’s a good thing to realize that you’re sending your kid off to an environment that you trust.”

Reading said his son has literally grown so much as Pacey has a bigger frame than freshman year. He said Pacey, who also played football and golf at Van-Far, even looks bigger than the start of senior year.

The focus now for Pacey should be to improve more as a player, Brett Reading said, as he prepares to play at the college level. Many don’t get this chance, and Reading is confident that his son has the drive to thrive. 

“When he was younger, it was me talking, ‘Hey, let’s get up and go to the gym,’” Reading said. “A couple years ago, it was 6 in the morning and he’s up and driving to the YMCA or driving to the high school by himself. That was nice to see that the dedication was there.”

Pacey Reading is grateful to have lived in and played for the Van-Far community, who clearly show that “basketball means something.” At his next destination, he is motivated to be better.

“I want to work my way up in getting in the lineup,” Reading said. “That’s my goal. Maybe be that sixth or seventh man as a freshman. I want to be starting as a junior and senior and making an impact on the team.”