JotCast | Mike White's high school sports chat: 03.07.23

Mike White's high school sports chat: 03.07.23

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Mike White

11:37

I know nothing about Brookville other than their record.

JOKE

11:37

Mike all this talk about private schools and the article written today is a joke. Its not as bad at 6a but 1a through 4a is bad . All I hear is union didnt complain when they beat Imani last year. First they had players that couldnt play in the playoffs last year or good chance they win. They go out and get two very talented players and beat Union this year. This would be like Union going out and adding New castles best player and Ellwoods best player. Also great stories of Deer lakes and Ellwood never happen if Lincoln Park and North Catholic do not move up. Lincoln Park knows right now next year their making the Wpial championship , Imani already knows their winning the Wpial Championship next year. If you have these top players why wouldnt you want to play at 6a challenge these kids ? I mean Lincoln park has a pitt recruit and not a state but nationally ranked player .You dont even have to coach to win .

Shooter

11:38

hey Mike, I know WPIAL postseason is over but was curious what are the stipulations to host a home playoff game? I went to watch Bishop Canevin and Champine and was really disappointed in gym. The rims were very loose, with a bounce. One had paint chipped off and wasn’t really orange. The clock/scoreboard was delayed by 30-40 seconds, had horn issues. I was really surprised to see the issues for a playoff game.

Mike White

11:38

Supposed to have a gym that seats, I believe, 1,000 or 1200. That's basically it.

Mitch

11:39

Haven’t watched a ton of high school basketball lately but did get to check out a good bit of the games this weekend. Do you think the college 3 point line threw a lot of the players off? Lots of deep 3’s taken or is that normal now? Seemed like they were setting up at the college 3 instead of taking the extra space. Lots of good action though especially that 3A game.

Mike White

11:41

Funny. I was just talking to a coach about this yesterday. Totally agree. I do think kids got mixed up a few times. This may sound crazy, but did the color of lines have anything to do with it? The high school line was white. The college line was black and stood out more. But yes, I did notice the same thing. Very observant by you.

chucksbucs

11:41

Students were not close to court at Palumbo either , should have the Media table on sideline at The Pete , that sideline looked so empty and you could get better video cliips

Mike White

11:41

I hear ya.

Bruin

11:41

Mike, has there been any talk about high school hoops adopting the restricted arc in the key?

Mike White

11:41

Not that I know of.

WPIALFanBoy

11:41

Let's all stop with the Imani complaining. There are so many public schools that recruit also. Move to Philly or out of State and see how the supposed cheating goes. Hats off to Imani for shutting people up. I hope they win again next year and so on.

Mike White

11:42

Yep and why do you think there are always complaints about Philadelphia?

Guest

11:42

Nice to see the return of the play-back games to get into states, but do they really need multiple consolation games to determine all the seeds? If you lose in the WPIAL quarters, you should be happy just to have a chance to keep playing rather than rooting for the team that beat you to keep winning. Just seems like they over-corrected on that.

Mike White

11:44

I disagree. Play them all off. What was happening was a No. 8 or No. 9 seed was getting into the PIAA playoffs just because they lost to the No. 1 seed in quarterfinals, and No. 1 seed went on to win championship. Yet, a No. 5 or even 4 seed didn't go to the state playoffs because of who they lost to in quarterfinals.

Port

11:44

Feel like the Sullivan kid is under the radar hooper! Depante was great in Championship, but Sullivan was the difference.

Mike White

11:45

DePante was excellent and Cole Sullivan is a beast. I like Cole Sullivan more as a football prospect now that I've seen his size, strength and, most importantly, athleticism on the basketball court.

etc

11:45

Thoughts on PT boys basketball run in PIAA?

Mike White

11:47

If you're talking Peters Township, yes they have a shot at going far. But in 6A, 5A and 4A boys, there are obvious choices for winners - all the Philly schools again. Roman (6A), Imhotep Charter (5A) and Neumann-Goretti in 4A. They're all loaded, especially Imhotep. Two weeks ago, Max Preps had all those teams in the top 25 in the country. But a Neumann-Goretti vs. Lincoln Park final would be interesting.

Guest

11:47

WPIAL should have a tournament of champions across classifications like I think some other areas do. All six WPIAL champs, City League champ and throw in a wild card team voted on by other coaches. Post Gazette can sponsor it. Then do the same for PIAA winners to determine the true state champion.

Mike White

11:48

Would be nice. But would never happen, especially at the PIAA level.

Girls WPIAL fan

11:48

Proud of the coverage on girls WPIAL games. That was awesome to watch and read about. Looking forward to the local WPIAL girls teams in their state runs! Great March ups and talent across the board in western PA!! Thanks for all you guys do!!

Mike White

11:48

Well, thank you. Very nice of you.

Central hoops

11:48

Does Central have any kids going on to play hoops in college ? I got into a debate with someone who said they didn't have any players playing at the next level

Mike White

11:50

DePante will play somewhere, not sure of the level. Wilkerson is going to St. Vincent. Not anyone else that I know of.

BurghOfficial

11:50

Some kids in the area fought back from serious injuries. One being Damon Astorino who played at Ambridge and Eden. I know him personally from officiating games in AAU and HS. Great kid, tough player, humble, terrific family, dad was a great coach, brother is killing it on the court. Do you know where he is going to play college basketball? Will he go to a Prep School? Hearing a bunch of things. Deserves a shot. I think he is a D2 kid or maybe low D1.

Mike White

11:51

No idea about where he will go. But I seriously doubt it will be Division I, unless it's a walk-on somewhere.

Love PIAA

11:51

Do you feel the Pittsburgh area puts too much love and focus around the wpial and sort of like to forget about the meaning of states?

Mike White

11:53

No. The WPIAL is important because of tradition, especially in basketball. Funny, I don't think football carries the same weight because it hasn't been around as long. But ask anyone who won a state championship, and they know what it means. I think it's a case-by-case thing, too. Like for Deer Lakes, it's terrific for them to win WPIAL. If they lose in state playoffs, they will be upset, but not too upset. Because they never won WPIAL before.

H2P

11:53

i personally love what you do Mike for high school sports and what you said needs to be said and after last Thursday I wish I could have played for a Coach like Coach Stanley man that takes guts and his kids who play for him got guts but it’s sick bc they are the ones in the gym getting better not going out and getting better.

Jay Daven

11:53

Mike, why is there limited coverage and standings for high school wrestling?

Mike White

11:55

Really? No, we haven't run standings. But during season, we run a wrestling story every Sunday or Monday. We cover the team playoffs and team championships with stories and photos. We cover the individual Class 2A and 3A tournaments. We run results from section tourneys. We are sending someone to states. Always do. What do you want, a page of wrestling every day? I know wrestling is big in some pockets of Western Pa. and talent is tremendous. Might be best state in country. But if you saw how wrestling stories perform on our web site, and how many people actually look at them, it's not very many.

Realist

11:56

Congrats on Imani for their 2024 wpial championship no use to even play the regular season . If someone doesnt believe that , they do not know basketball

Mike White

12:00

Yes, they will be good again next year. The favorite. But I will point out something about a couple of their players. They may be listed as juniors on roster that Imani hands out. But they are in their fourth year of eligibility. I don't know what grade Imani classifies 6-8 Virgil Hall or Bez Abdul in school, but this their fourth year of high school basketball. They were at Baldwin for two years and now second year at Imani. Check out rosters. I've also checked with Baldwin. There was another Abdul kid at Imani last year who came from Baldwin and was listed as a junior. But he used up his eligibility and is not playing this year. Not sure what school he is at.

BallisLife

12:00

Single A predictions? I like Imani a lot they looked real good at the Pete. Givner had a good game and Sledge played great also. Two more years of that team is very special can’t wait to see how far they go!

Mike White

12:00

Givner and Sledge are good and big parts of team this year. But read above post about a couple other players.

BallisLife

12:00

“Make it make sense”coaches don’t put that full effort in to get these kids to college.

Mike White

12:01

That's an accusation that isn't true at many places. Plus, kid has to take some responsibility also. You know, they can do things to maybe make themselves recruitable also. And the parents, too.

Curious Hoops Fan

12:02

Mike, was curious if high school's pay fees etc to belong to the WPIAL and the PIAA?

Mike White

12:02

Yes, they do.

12:02

I know the story has to be about the kid that scores the most- but how about some love for the big guys that actually won the WPIAL for CC??

Connecting…