JotCast | Mike White's high school sports chat: 11.26.24

Mike White's high school sports chat: 11.26.24

Mike White

10:57

Well, WPIAL football season is now complete. State semifinals this weekend. And hoops and winter sports starts in Pennsylvania Friday night. Great time of year, right? Busy, but great time. So let's talk.

40stripes-retired

10:57

Hi Mike. Happy Thanksgiving. Just a shout-out to all eight teams that played at Acrisure on Saturday. A dream come true for many of the young men. Congratulations on a wonderful season and best of luck in the future.

Mike White

10:58

Yep. Crowds aren't close to what they used to be. But it is a special thing for the kids.

Todd

10:58

You would think that with the football success Clairton has had over the years they could find a kicker. I guess there’s no headlines in kicking though. Losing a WPIAL championship because you can’t kick an extra point is a tough lesson to learn.

Mike White

10:58

Not always easy to find kickers, espeically at some small schools. Especially if you don't have soccer.

ray613

10:59

wpial champ better pay attention to Bishop Guilfoyle

Mike White

10:59

Totally agree. Westinghouse found out.

Your Cuz

10:59

Being the hockey afficionado that you are, what the heck is wrong with the Penguins?

Mike White

10:59

Well I think Jean Pronvost and Pierre LaRouche need to step up their game a little more. That would help. And someone needs to stand on their head.

Hsfan

11:00

Many complained when PR got the 1 seed, I guess the committee knew what it was doing.

Mike White

11:00

There were some complaints. But I didn't have a problem with it. Had to be either Pine or USC. And committee did get it right. No. 1 seed could've gone either way.

Anonymous

11:01

What do you have against Oobi Strader????

Mike White

11:01

Huh???

11:01

Which WPIAL schools do you see potentially winning the state title.

Mike White

11:04

Well they all potentially could win it. It won't be easy for Central, but they have a shot. Pine facing a Bishop McDevitt team Friday that has Stone Saunders, who is close to state passing record. He's Kentucky recruit who has 13,299 yards in career. I think TJ might have best shot at winning it all. I'll say three WPIAL teams win it.

FAB 22 Enthusiast

11:04

Hi Mike, Happy Thanksgiving! The Holiday Tradition of the Fab 22 is something I look forward to every year! I can only imagine how difficult the selection process can be on the committee. My question is, how do you weigh on field play & vs recruiting profile? In my opinion, a lot of so called “big time” recruits underperformed on the field this year or were hindered by injuries. Some big timers lived up to the hype, but others seem to only have offers due to measurements or projections. Love to see the best on field performers selected for this great honor. Thank you!

Mike White

11:07

Hey Fab 22 enthusiast, we don't just big the biggest recruits or those who have the best stats. There have been numerous higher Division I recruits who we didn't pick. There will be a few again this year. It's a tough call. We talk to coaches and try to consider a few different things. Certainly not exact science and we don't always get it right. This year, like many other years, there are 11 or 12 who are pretty much no-brainers. But for the last 9 or 10 spots, it seems you could pick any of 20-25 kids. It comes out Thursday. Thanks for the interest.

11:07

After his high school career is over, will Matt Sieg be considered the greatest WPIAL athlete of all time? He may not be the best WPIAL football player or best WPIAL basketball player, etc...but overall athletic achievements put him in rare company. Arrington, Pryor, Roth, Baldwin to name a few (that were during my lifetime) of the top in my opinion.

Mike White

11:10

Hey TM. Yes, he will finish with one heckuva career. Will he be one of the greatest football players of all time? That's saying a lot. But he certainly should end up as one of the most "accomplished" football players ever. What he's done statistically is unheard of. And that winning touchdown Saturday will be a play that will be remembered for a long time. He says he is playing basketball again this year. He's an OK player. Not great. But he doesn't put much time into that sport. Of course he will play baseball, too.

Alex Divitto

11:10

Ive noticed you and Ed had a lot to say about us younger creators, just wanna say times have changed and they come to us more often then not compared to you older guys.

Mike White

11:11

I have no idea who "Ed" is and I have no idea what you mean by "younger creators." And I have no idea who "us" is. Sorry.

Herb Pope

11:11

Mike- when can we expect some basketball previews?

Mike White

11:12

Boys and girls previews will be in printed paper Thursday. Girls preview was posted on our web site this morning. Boys will be posted tomorrow. Here is girls preview: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-basketball/2024/11/26/...

Mr Ed

11:13

To me Mike, Clairton’s dominance over teams actually worked against them vs Fort Cherry. Specifically, kicking game and 11 penalties. Those things don’t matter and get paid much attention always winning 50-0 but against a good team they do. Hard to have high conversion percentage going for two always against a good team. Punting put them in bad field position too. Also didn’t think Sieg could be that good to overcome a clearly more talented team but he certainly was.

Mike White

11:14

Clairton got a lot of holding penalties. Fort Cherry I don't know if they had one. Just sayin'. But yes, kicking game can be important in big games. But like I said above, it's not always easy to find a kicker at small schools.

Guest

11:14

Congrats to Duke Johncour and offensive guru Barry Johncour a young 70 something from Churchill High on winning WPIAL. Is that their first under Johncour ?

Mike White

11:15

Second one for Duke Johncour. Also won in 2019 with that star running back Jax Miller

Guest

11:15

Thomas Jefferson needs to move to 5 A and Pine Richland and Peters and USC to 6 A ...................some Athletic Directors on WPIAL Board have a conflict to protect their schools and stop this from happening ? Not including Cherpak, who will welcome the challenge .............hmmmm ?

Mike White

11:17

What? ADs on the WPIAL board are preventing their school from moving up? What in the world are you talking about? Classifications are done by the PIAA, if you didn't know. And classes are made by school enrollments. So are you basically saying ADs are lying about their school enrollments? Wonderful insight.

Finals Fan

11:17

Some Great performances this weekend at Acrisure Stadium.. I would think PINE was the best team down there. Other then them who do you think was the best team? Do you think any of the other teams could have won any of the other classifications? Best Player? I'm guessing Sieg!

Mike White

11:17

Yes I'd say Pine was the best team. But the championship team in biggest class is often the best team. TJ could play with them maybe, though.

5Adevotee

11:18

All the hype in 5A this year was South Hills. Good teams but they have won 1 WPAL title in 9 years since 6 classes. The elite teams are coming from somewhere else.

Mike White

11:19

Sorry, but I think in 5A there were three very good teams in South Hills - USC, Bethel and Peters. Just because they didn't win it doesn't mean they aren't good teams.

Diego

11:19

Hoops right around the corner. How is New Castle looking this year, after missing the playoffs?

Mike White

11:20

Three starters back, including Ralphie. That's Ralphie Blundo, coach's son who was all section last year. Two other starters back, Damian Harris (17 ppg) and Kyrel Harris. Plus a promising freshman.

Benson DuBois

11:20

In the 5A final, would Upper St. Clair have been a tougher out for PR than Peters? No knock on Peters as they deserved to be there.

Mike White

11:21

Well, Peters just beat USC in semis, you know?

Buddy

11:21

Which of the 6 WPIAL Champs is most likely to not make it to the final?

Mike White

11:21

I think they all have a good chance at making it.