Aliquippa titles in football and basketball
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How'd I miss them. Would have been interesting to see what Pryor would have done if he stuck with basketball. The general McLane wins were amazing. Drew Astorino who ended up starting at safety for Penn State scored the winning TD in the football state championship and scored the winning basket in the basketball state championship.
They did and the year before they took a loaded roman team that one the state into OT. Pine Richland had some great teams with jerkovich and Kristofic.
I saw him in hoops vs ? (06-07) and he was impressive. We went there as much to see Villanova's Pavilion as him! Beautiful place a half hour up the road. Check it out.
PS; don't know DD; how could you forget the Rollers!?. Wood, maybe, but the Rollers
I did see him play in both basketball (playing north east) and in football (Karn city). He was a man amongst boys. Just a freak athlete that was faster and bigger then everyone else. 6'6 and could jump out the roof. It would had been interesting to see what he could have done if he chose basketball. Him and Steve Taneyhill (91) were the two best dual athletes in football and basketball I've seen play at the highschool level in Pennsylvania. Taneyhill ended up playing QB at South Carolina but he would not miss a shot and was an amazing point guard who could dribble and pass as well. I saw him play at Altoona playing alongside Danny Fortson where they beat Erie McDowell in the second or third round of the state basketball tournament. He had both basketball and football offers but like Pryor decided on football.I saw him in hoops vs ? (06-07) and he was impressive. We went there as much to see Villanova's Pavilion as him! Beautiful place a half hour up the road. Check it out.
PS; don't know DD; how could you forget the Rollers!?. Wood, maybe, but the Rollers
Speaking of dual sport athletes, who eventually picked one sport, I was told Lonnie Walker was like an arcade game at WR when he was in junior high. I don't even know if he actually played football, but I've heard the story more then once.
how about this- would coulda- but given the path of Pryor and Jurkovic? Would either have been "better off" playing basketball? Phil- idk, maybe gonna sell insurance- Pryor's life is kind of chaotic- probably out of money, been in court a lot. Thoughts?
Malik hooker and new castle finished the 2014 AAAA basketball season undefeated and winning the state title game against la salle. He's playing in the NFL right now but I thought he was a better basketball player. He just didn't have the height at 6'2. If you haven't seen his highlights pull them up. He had a dunk against lower meron the year before in the western finals that made the sportscenters top 10 plays of the week. I went to a few of thier games that year just to see him play. He was the real deal.
. Kristofic was a good basketball player as well. I believe he didn't play basketball his senior year at PR to focus solely on football. Those pr teams had two big d1 athletes playing down low. They lost in the state championship in 17 and in 18 took took roman Catholic the eventual state champs into overtime.
Pryor should have listened to Wannstedt and played WR. He would have been a lottery pick if he took the advice and ran with it.
Amen 2020, coulda-shouda-woulda. Was one heck of a crybaby in HS two games I saw. Over the top immature with zero leadership skills.
Phil wasn't a D1 basketball player let alone NBA player
Pryor made the right decision, he looked bad against a kid that ended up being a high draft pick in a game played in Florida, having trouble remembering his name right now
Pryor should've always been a college receiver but everybody at the time wanted Vince Young at quarterback
i wonder if he's still with that girlfriend that almost stabbed him to death, I know they were at least a year after that incident when he got arrested for throwing pumpkins at her car
yeah he got into multiple fights against South Fayette and North Catholic, his status protected him from getting suspended
also got into a fight with a Kennywood security guard
best overall high school athlete i ever saw, but a total punk
that state title game against PR was the worst basketball game i ever saw
most of it was Walker just standing there dribbling to run out the clock, high school basketball desperately needs a shot clock
i remember Phil being quoted in the papers saying some wpial kids were better players than Walker
Phil was full of $hit.. How many lottery picks has the WPIAL produced in the past 25-30 years? I probably saw Lonnie play live 15x in his HS career. I haven't seen a WPIAL player at his level who played at the highest classification since Lonnie graduated. Not to mention, Reading was playing Imhotep, Neuman Goretti, Chester, and a slew of other Philly powers during his time.
Lonnie scored 22 points in that game which led both teams and he didn't really play near his best.
In terms of leadership and Pryor, I will say this.. His behaviors were often embarrassing but those kids he played with thought he was a God. They didn't think they could lose as long as he was playing. Kids will rally around those who they believe they can win with. Maybe that's not an ideal form of leadership but at it's core, most kids respond to that type of figure because most kids are followers.
Pryor at least made it into the league. 3 players who had all the potential in the world but who's careers where cut short because of bad decisions that pop out to me are Austin Scott, Greg Garmon, and Deshawn Coleman. The sky was the limit for all 3 but couldn't stay out of thier own way.
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I haven't kept up with Reading hoops like FB but can say they've been a force off and on in Central PA and beyond for over 40 years.
If you think Lonnie was good, you should have seen Stu Jackson of same school in 70s. Wow! One of the all-time PA greats. Saw a few games at the Farm Show in Harrisburg. Him and Kobe Bryans (Lower Merion) and Jeff Lebo (Carlisle) are the best I've ever personally seen. Billy Owens probably in there to; Owen and Lebo from the great Carlisle teams.
If you think Lonnie was good, you should have seen Stu Jackson of same school in 70s. Wow! One of the all-time PA greats. Saw a few games at the Farm Show in Harrisburg. Him and Kobe Bryans (Lower Merion) and Jeff Lebo (Carlisle) are the best I've ever personally seen. Billy Owens probably in there to; Owen and Lebo from the great Carlisle teams.
I wasn't born when Stu Jackson was playing at Reading lol. But, when I was in HS Reading had Donyell Marshall who was phenomenal as well. I think it was Marshall's Reading team that lost to Glen Mills in the state tournament who had an ineligible player.
I saw Kobe play in HS. Kobe was obviously a phenom. One of the forgotten players from my HS days was Johnny Miller from Solanco. At the HS level, I thought he was Allen Iverson before Allen Iverson even though they probably were the same age. I just didn't know who Allen Iverson was while in HS.
Heard of him down this way at Temple. I can't find Solanco in the postseason (93, 94, 95?....I think) but then they may not have got past McCaskey that was tough then or Wilson who was decent. Harrisburg and Steelton Highspire were both big schools then in D1. Tough district to get out of. That's unusual for Solanco to have guys like Miller!
The east guys like Chester, Ply White. Low Mer and Coats were the D1 powers then, and Glen Mills who had some awesome stuff on the gridiron as well.
it definitely seemed like sour grapes as Phil showed at Pitt
though in his defense Walker wasn't overly impressive in that game and it was frustrating to watch him run out the clock, never would've thought he would be a lottery pick, didn't the Jackson twins at Allderdice have their way with him the state semis the year before?
Reading's coach decided to sit Walker in the corner for virtually the entire game to combat Dice's 1-3-1 defense. I bet hevhad under 10 attempts that game. Perez was not very good in big games early on hid career.
Quips aren't giving up. They wanna recruit AND not play up. LOL.
www.post-gazette.com
Aliquippa files suit against PIAA to stop football team's move up in classification
The Aliquippa High School football team doesn’t play a game for almost five months, but the team’s first contest of 2024 will be in court. The...
www.post-gazette.com
imo, this is not really complaining- it's just a stall tactic- im sure they are not scared of playing 5A- but 6- yea that's a whole different beast- if the rules dont change, they win 5A pa state title this yr or next, they could go to 6 in 2 yrs
Quips aren't giving up. They wanna recruit AND not play up. LOL.
Aliquippa files suit against PIAA to stop football team's move up in classification
The Aliquippa High School football team doesn’t play a game for almost five months, but the team’s first contest of 2024 will be in court. The...
This just dropped. Holy sh*t!
