JotCast | Mike White's high school sports chat: 02.17.26

Mike White's high school sports chat: 02.17.26

Mike White

10:58

WPIAL playoffs really get into full swing this week. Championships a little more than a week away. Spring sports not far away. Let's talk.

Mr Ed

10:58

Seeing that Bishop McDevitt was moved up to 6A in football(good news for WPIAL 5A schools) got me thinking, bad news for them is they got moved up, but good news is now if they want, they can go after as many transfers as they can get, because there is no punishment left for success points. Is that correct for 6A schools, they face no limitations by PIAA on number of transfers as long as their district governing body doesn’t step in?

Mike White

10:59

Yes, 6A teams can take as many transfers as they want. One of the flaws in that competitive classification formula. Of course, you're not supposed to recruit players, correct? Yeah, right.

10:59

Hi! Thanks for the terrific chat. Where does Allderdice’s Bailey White stack up against past City League greats?

Mike White

11:02

Good question. Heckuva career. One of only three in City League history to score 2,000 career points. I don't know if I'd put her as one of the top 10 "talents" all-time in the City League. But as far as just a "high school" player, she's tremendous in the City. Pretty darn good athlete also, in track/cross country. Give her the highest of praise. Do you think she got all of her talent from her Dad, Carey? Ha ha.

11:02

Starting to see some grass poking through the snow, so here's a baseball Q: Clemson's coach made some news with comments about how NCAA should push back their season start date. Do you think PIAA/WPIAL should consider this for baseball/softball? After winters like this, some teams won't even step on a blade of grass until their first game, and many fields won't even be playable for their 1st scheduled game. Causes some 4+ game weeks in the middle of the season as a result. Most teams don't have enough arms to get through 4 game weeks without risking injury.

Mike White

11:06

That has been debated before and it's not a bad idea. I think it's Iowa that has their state baseball championships in early July maybe. I don't know, past few winters haven't been bad. This one was. I mean, the state baseball and softball championships already are mid-June. Should they really go further than that? I don't mind baseball teams having to play at least two times a week and sometimes three. Shows who has more of a team and a real pitching staff. Plus, besides 6A, all of the other classes have only two section games a week scheduled. I understand the point of pushing everything back, but would maybe one more week make that much difference?

1A hoop fan

11:07

Hey Mike! Outside of neighborhood in 1A who else will be in the championship game do you think? And any “sleeper” teams in that small playoff bracket to watch out for?

Mike White

11:09

Serra and Monessen. I say no way they should've been seeded below Nazareth Prep and Avella. WPIAL basketball committee looks at non-section games with some and then with others. Makes no sense. I know Nazareth Prep won its section and Avella was second. But Serra and Monessen had better overall records than Nazareth Prep and both Serra and Monessen beat Nazareth Prep with relative ease. On one hand, WPIAL says it paid attention to 6A girls non-section games and that's why Upper St. Clair got No. 3 seed because it beat Seneca Valley and Pine-Richland. Then you go to Class 1A boys and they didn't pay attention to non-section. Consistentley inconsistent.

Cal

11:09

I guess I am a little confused on the whole private vs public argument. Outside of Sewickley Academy and Central Catholic no other private schools really recruit in this area so why punish them?Seems more of a Philly problem than a Pittsburgh one? Also, no one talks about the elephant in the room which is public schools recruit too(sometimes more) example- pine Richland Football

Mike White

11:14

No other private schools recruit besides Sewickely and Central? Wooooo hoooo! You should go on tour. What a knee slapper. You can't be serious. No doubt there are public schools that recruit, too. But it's not recruiting that is the biggest point. The biggest point is you are playing by two different set of rules, when private/Catholic/charters can take kids from anywhere and everywhere, even living out of state. Publics can't. A kid can live in Connellsville and decide to go to Lincoln Park more than an hour away and not have to move. He can't do that with a public school with a district. You think that's fair? That's the biggest issue.

QuipNation

11:16

Lincoln Park's Meleek Thomas is having a great freshman year at Arkansas. He's the WPIAL's top NBA prospect since who?

Mike White

11:16

Well, Cam Johnson was the 11th overall pick in 2019. So I'd say he's the best prospect since 2019.

Ryan

11:17

Who wins Tonight Franklin regional or shaler Go Franklin Regional

Mike White

11:17

Ahhhhh, I'll take Shaler.

QuipNation

11:18

Maybe Cal hasn't paid any attention to Lincoln Park when he says nobody outside of Sewickley Academy and Central Catholic recruit.

Mike White

11:19

Amen.

Saints roll

11:19

Mike, what are your thoughts on players yelling trash all game to adult fans during the game? Shouldn’t coaches have control over their players instead of ignoring it?

Mike White

11:19

Obviously not good.

Cal

11:20

I’m not saying other private schools don’t recruit. Used those 2 as examples because they win more than any other ones. However, public schools can most certainly take kids from out of state or from other areas? Happens quite a bit. And to say is it fair is kind of tricky considering public schools have done pretty dang well against private schools here in Wpial playoffs. Are schools like Geibel or Eden Christian really have an advantage over most public schools? Sewickley LP Central are the ones who ruin it for the smaller private schools

Mike White

11:22

Ahhh, no Cal. If you don't live in Pennsylvania, you can't go to a public school. To go to a public school, you have to reside in that district. Unless a district takes tuition students. Do people like about where they live? Of course. But to say it's not different with public and private/parochial/charter schools, you're off your rocker.

Conferences and Scheduling

11:23

Mike, I read your prediction that WPIAL will go for more small conferences in football. Maybe this will apply in other sports? As far as football goes, might they allow teams to schedule their own non-conference games? Seems to me North Allegheny did that a few years ago. Schools know what they have, they should be allowed to schedule more than Week Zero with whoever they want. Schools on the fringes of the WPIAL, like Apollo-Ridge, McGuffey and West Greene are closer to other states and PIAA districts than some of the matchups the WPIAL comes up with. 100+ mile roundtrips make sense for teams looking for better competition. Not so much for all.

Mike White

11:27

I'm not sure about other sports, but I expect smaller conferences in football. As far as teams scheduling their own games, WPIAL has scheduled all games except the opener for a long time now. Sure, some teams might like to schedule own games, but it works both ways. Many teams want the WPIAL to schedule games and here's why: The good teams would have trouble getting games because no one wants to play them. How many teams you think would be wanting to play Aliquippa that were Aliquippa's size? You think any WPIAL team would want to play Central Catholic in a non-conference game. It's not just them. Years ago, a lot of teams thought it was a good idea for WPIAL to schedule non-conference games because they had trouble getting them.

QuipNation

11:27

Will any WPIAL 6A or 5A team ever have a chance at a state title going up againt Philly powerhouses?

Mike White

11:28

It will be a rarity in 6A. Will be awfully, awfully tough. Just a little better chance in 5A.

11:28

Hey Mike, have always been curious about this. Do schools ever reach out to you guys to come to the game? Or is it you guys go where you want to based on what you think will be a good game/story. Have heard stories of schools reaching out to a few “media” people but wasn’t sure how it worked for you guys at Post Gazette

Mike White

11:30

We pick where we want to go. Try to look at the best games. Bigger classes usually have more interest, but we do cover some smaller class games, too. The schools themselves generally don't reach out to cover their game. But parents will reach out to write about their teams or own kids. Or I should say they will reach out and complain about not writing about their kid or their kid's team.

Yikes

11:31

Why are random photographers allowed to sit on the baseline of these games? It seems like every game I watched there are random people with cameras, taking up the tight spaces on the baseline.
It seems like it’s a turned angle, waiting to happen if not worse

Mike White

11:32

Because there are social media sites everywhere and anywhere. Anyone can start a social media site nowadays and say they cover WPIAL basketball or football. But at the championships, WPIAL tries to cut down on it some.

Sam

11:32

Not sure if you know off of the top of your head but what are some of the lowest points given up in Wpial basketball history? Seen some schools like Jeanette and central hold teams to under 35ppg I believe. Pretty impressive.

Mike White

11:33

No idea who has given up the fewest points. You have to remember, go back a long ways in high school hoops and it was a regularity to have games in the 30s.

QuipNation

11:33

Could a WPIAL all-star team have a chance against a Philly league champion?

Mike White

11:34

Hmmm. Interesting question. I would say yeah definitely.

QuipNation

11:39

Who's the best WPIAL Hooper in the last 20 years? DaJuan Blair?

Mike White

11:41

In mid-December, I published my top 10 players of the past 25 years. First off, Blair was City League. But my list was WPIAL and City and it was based on what they did in high school, their accomplishments in high school and their talent in high school. Not what they did after high school. I had T.J. McConnell first, DeJuan Blair second, Ethan Morton thrid, Meleek Thomas fourth and Drew Schifino fifth.

Conferences and Scheduling

11:42

Mike, I agree with you, there are schools that don't want to play others they do not feel they can compete with. There was a certain team that wouldn't play Clairton the last two years. Maybe schools like Central, Aliquippa and Clairton would like to find more suitable competition. Schools with small rosters might welcome a bye to get healthy. How about a compromise? Schedule some weeks, but not all weeks. Or maybe give schools a deadline to opt out of some games so they and the opponent they don't want to play can find another game?

Mike White

11:43

That might be a real mess, though. I think the smaller conferences and scheduling non-conference games with more competitive balance might help.

11:43

Did the Wpial and or schools ever hand out a punishment in the Penn Hills/Gateway fight? Didn’t see anything about it so I wasn’t sure

Mike White

11:43

I'm not sure.

Fleet Foxes

11:43

Does Fox Chapel stand any sort of a chance against USC ?

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