SCOUTING LOCAL NFL TALENT
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Date: September 4, 2011
Categories: Metro Index, Sports
May 18, 2012
Blog by John Steigerwald
I’ve always been suspicious of high schools that continually crank out winning seasons and quality players.
My guess has always been that those kind of can’t-lose, won’t-lose high school athletic programs cheat … by recruiting players, which is in direct violation of PIAA rules.
But instead of doing any investigating, the media simply takes the easy way out and chalks it up to “great coaching.”
I think the PIAA rules on transferring are stupid. If a kid’s family is willing to move to another school district because it wants him to play for a coach who will give him a better chance of getting a scholarship, I don’t see why the kid should be penalized. That doesn’t mean I’m OK with a kid “moving in” with his aunt so he can play for the team of his choice.
Years ago, George Junior Republic, a reform school in backwoods Mercer County, was a small-school basketball power that competed in PIAA District 10. It was amazing how so many 6-9 kids (from out of state, no less) got sentenced to that small institution. Think the coaches of that district’s public schools thought GJR might’ve had an advantage?
Please explain to me how a starting-five that’s comprised of kids from Washington, DC., NYC, and Baltimore, Maryland, ought to be allowed to compete for a small-school Pennsylvania State Basketball Championship.
There’s a lot of corruptions within the PIAA. There’s far more corruption than there is “great coaching.”
I remember George Junior had a 7 footer fromCincinnati named BJ Grove who ended up signing with Huggins at U. of Cincinnati. Imagine a 7’0″/280 pivot player playing Class A hoops.
I think he chose Cincinnati over Princeton.
I don’t find it the least bit shocking that a reform school would have a roster of future criminals, I mean NBA players.
I think you missed the point. Those so-called future NBA players were from out-of-state, yet they were still allowed by the PIAA to compete for a Pennsylvania state basketball title. I am a little shocked that the shadiness within high school athletics is taken so lightly. I guess if it doesn’t involve the WPIAL, it’s not worth noticing.