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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

R
Not quite the same, but a “best that never was” from up here is Kyle Newell, defensive end/tight end out of Bethlehem Catholic.

I saw Newell play in a middle school basketball gane for Northeast Middle School in Bethlehem, when he was already about 6’4/6’5, but was essentially playing swing man. Must have had 50 points, like three in traffic dunks, just an insane display of physical ability from an 8th grader.

That fall, he started as a freshman at defensive end for Bob Stem’s last team at Becahi, the 2001 team that probably blew a chance at a state title when their all state quarterback got kicked off the team in week 9. I think Newell and Dan Kendra III were the only freshmen starters Stem ever had. As a sophomore, he put up double digit sacks for the Becahi team that lost to eventual state champ Parkland in that classic 02 D11 title game. He was their best defender on the last truly great Becahi team. Following his junior year, where he was an All State pick at defensive end, Rivals had Newell as the #59 overall player nationally in the class of 2005. He also put up over 800 yards receiving as a tight end (where NC State was recruiting him) and was a first team all state basketball player who scored 1,500 career points and led Becahi to the state quarterfinals twice. Put that all in a 6’7 250 pound frame and it seemed like the sky was the limit.

But Newell was “mercurial” at best. Basketball coach Jim Hutnik, who later coached at Easton, used to tell stories of him just disappearing for days at a time, then showing up for the bus for games and scoring 25 points and grabbing 20 rebounds, then they wouldn’t see him at practice again for a couple days. He’d do the same thing to coaches recruiting him, allegedly royally pissing off Rich Rodriguez and Joe Paterno. He also was hampered by chronic ankle injuries as a senior in football, and rivals dropped him down to a 3 star and out of the top 100. He chose NC State over Tennessee (who offered him as a freshman and was the first school really in on him), no doubt aided by Lehigh Valley native Chuck Amato being willing to gamble on him for his old friend Stem (he was one of five different Becahi players who played for Amato in the 00s). But I don’t think he ever made it to campus, and everybody I know has totally lost track of him.

The other big what-if with Newell is, he went to Becahi for what ended up Stem’s last season. His freshman and sophomore years, Becahi was awesome, top 3 team in the state, major contender. But they slipped to under .500 the last two years as Stem’s big recruits cycled out to college and they didn’t backfill behind Newell’s class. Meanwhile, Newell’s home school Liberty hired Tim Moncman and started their run, going 10-2 and was ranked in the top 6 in the state during Newell’s senior season with a sophomore Dan Persa. They may have been able to beat Easton and make a state run a season earlier with Newell on the roster, rather than miring away at a bad Becahi team. Which is not what the plan looked like when he picked schools in 2001. Moncman and his staff also probably were more prepared to help guide a kid like Newell than the Becahi staff was. Life is funny.
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Aliquippa forced up again? PIAA wrong or right?

2
Stalker said:
We'll see what's left of St. Joe's after St. Eds pounds them. Hope they survive. And about the Quips. I doubt they get out of the West and maybe not the Wpial with a big surprise lurking.
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crazy- apparently "court was in session" today, in Beaver County Court- as per Pgh media- Harlan-trib and White-PG. Crazy. If they "stay" for now? That would require changing like 20-30 team schedules??
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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

S
BradlyPitt said:
Monroe Weekly of Aliquippa

he picked Pitt over Miami when Miami was the big powerhouse in college football back in 2001

I think he got busted with steroids at Pitt, and then ended up in prison for armed robbery

i wonder if he's still in prison today

who can forget him punting the basketball into the rafters when the quips lost the basketball state championship, he punted better than Pressley Harvin
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Dipre was the one I remember who got busted with the juice.
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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

S
DripDrop said:
Another Erie guy from when I was in school was Roosevelt Benjamin for erie central. He was on those 93 and 94 teams that made it to the western finals. The 94 team lost to eventually champs McKeesport 13-14. Benjamin was getting recruited by lots of major D1 schools but they found drugs in his locker. He went on to star as a starting basketball player on those 90s George Junior teams that were so talented. As good as a basketball player he was he was an even better football player. Later on after highschool he ended up getting in trouble again and eventually arrested for selling drugs to an undercover agent in a giant drug sting in Erie. To this day I say he was one of the best athletes to ever come out of Erie.
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Benjamin tried to play football at Clarion but I don't remember him doing much. He looked the part but he seemed kinda slow.
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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

B
Monroe Weekly of Aliquippa

he picked Pitt over Miami when Miami was the big powerhouse in college football back in 2001

I think he got busted with steroids at Pitt, and then ended up in prison for armed robbery

i wonder if he's still in prison today

who can forget him punting the basketball into the rafters when the quips lost the basketball state championship, he punted better than Pressley Harvin
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More Hc Openings

S
HSFB99 said:
Mole, I didn’t realize how severe the recent struggles were; 10-20 over 3 years is rough for a program with that kind of tradition. What’s the outlook on the 24 squad? Will they right the ship?
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That really is a pronounced drop off. Add to that the fall of North Penn and Pennsbury (Abington?) to see how dramatically the SOL has declined recently. The Skins and Knights WERE the SOL for years!
(Skinner Man; fired buddy's Mossberg 500-12GA this week. Scary weapon, 470-some grain. Better hold on!)
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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

D
I was looking up whatever happened to dapree Bryant the other day. The football player/ basketball star at coatsville who I believed signed to play football at Villanova. He was arrested for playing with a gun at a party and shooting one of his friends. Also Chuck carr who I believe is the all time district 10 rushing leader was shot and killed in Farrell last year.
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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

R
Yeah, but for every YaYah story, there’s also a James Middleton.

James played tailback and point guard at Easton, was the best offensive weapon as a junior on the 2010 team that lost to LaSalle in state quarterfinals, and was the leading scorer on their basketball team ranked in the top 10 in the state that winter. He came back the next year and had 1,100 yards from scrimmage in 9 games, but got kicked off the football team after an ugly fight in school that caused him to miss the postseason (Easton lost 28-21 to Nazareth, and common wisdom is with James they win their third straight D11 title and get another crack at LaSalle, who beat Nazareth 41-33). James came back for basketball season, but was permanently suspended again in January and missed a run to the state quarterfinals, which again, could have been deeper with their best player. He was incarcerated when he got his diploma that June.

The story gets better. After some time in the wilderness, James got his life together and got an opportunity to play basketball at Delaware CCC. That turned into an associates degree and an opportunity to transfer to a four year school and get a degree. He finished out his college career both as a player (nearly an 1,000 point scorer) and a college graduate. He works in juvenile justice for Northampton county now, and after coaching women’s basketball at LCCC, he took the job last year as Whitehall’s girls coach. Having known James since he was a little kid, couldn’t be prouder of how much he’s done to change his narrative.

www.lehighvalleylive.com

Former Easton Area High School sports star James Middleton makes most of college opportunity

The former Red Rover nears completion of a long journey that will culminate with a degree from Penn State Lehigh Valley.
www.lehighvalleylive.com www.lehighvalleylive.com

www.lehighvalleylive.com

Whitehall hires former Easton standout Middleton as girls basketball coach

James Middleton was most recently the women's basketball coach at Lehigh Carbon Community College.
www.lehighvalleylive.com www.lehighvalleylive.com
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Aliquippa forced up again? PIAA wrong or right?

J
2020sports said:
well- kinda all public now- this article kind of sums things up!! crazy, 5 transfers, maybe all good players

tribhssn.triblive.com

WPIAL to hold hearings for 2 Aliquippa football transfers, approves 3 others | Trib HSSN

A WPIAL hearing will decide the eligibility of two Aliquippa football players who transferred from rival Central Valley.
tribhssn.triblive.com tribhssn.triblive.com
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Wow so with all those kids already there now this article has another from seton la salle and a freshman from Central Valley. That’s like what 10 or 11 now since january. Over half their line up is going to be moveins next year. Ridiculous.
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Great athletes in Pennsylvania that got in their own way and couldn't stay out of trouble.

D
Another Erie guy from when I was in school was Roosevelt Benjamin for erie central. He was on those 93 and 94 teams that made it to the western finals. The 94 team lost to eventually champs McKeesport 13-14. Benjamin was getting recruited by lots of major D1 schools but they found drugs in his locker. He went on to star as a starting basketball player on those 90s George Junior teams that were so talented. As good as a basketball player he was he was an even better football player. Later on after highschool he ended up getting in trouble again and eventually arrested for selling drugs to an undercover agent in a giant drug sting in Erie. To this day I say he was one of the best athletes to ever come out of Erie.
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Aliquippa forced up again? PIAA wrong or right?

2
sammyk said:
I say let the quips do what they do. Someone needs to beat St. Joes Prep.
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well- kinda all public now- this article kind of sums things up!! crazy, 5 transfers, maybe all good players

tribhssn.triblive.com

WPIAL to hold hearings for 2 Aliquippa football transfers, approves 3 others | Trib HSSN

A WPIAL hearing will decide the eligibility of two Aliquippa football players who transferred from rival Central Valley.
tribhssn.triblive.com tribhssn.triblive.com
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Aliquippa forced up again? PIAA wrong or right?

J
aerogenes said:
What's happening at Aliquippa is beyond ridiculous now. They have officially entered the world of the privates/non-boundary schools.
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Honestly, there’s no way all these kids are going to be eligible, that’s really going to be a disfavor for some of them. The quip people on Facebook are talking like there is going to be more too
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Aliquippa forced up again? PIAA wrong or right?

J
aerogenes said:
Aliquippa’s transfer bonanza is without a doubt the most brazen recruiting campaign in WPIAL history. In a couple months they have landed 4 big time transfers, 2 with D1 offers and the other 2 with D1 potential. And make no mistake, these are all transfers. Once you play for a high school, any move to another school is officially a transfer, doesn’t matter if it’s from private to public. Doesn’t matter if you are transferring back to the public school where you live, as is the case for 2 of these.

What’s really going to be interesting is how the WPIAL/PIAA handle their eligibility. Anyone with a functioning brain knows these transfers are for athletic reasons. Will the WPIAL/PIAA rule these transfers are athletically motivated and deny eligibility? The WPIAL has frequently ruled these types of transfers as ineligible in the past. And the PIAA frequently overrules the WPIAL on appeal. Would the PIAA do that this time?

If these 4 are playing for Aliquippa this fall, it pretty much means the end of rules barring transfers for athletic intent in Pennsylvania, just throw it out the window and make it a free for all. Like college.
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