Lincoln Park senior Josh Pratt will be making his college decision this week. Pratt, who was voted the PIAA Class 3A player of the year last season while at Aliquippa, has a number of Division I offers.

Pratt made the move to Aliquippa following a wild offseason for the Quips. Aliquippa parted ways with coach Nick Lackovich after the program reached the WPIAL final and PIAA semifinals last year.

Pratt helped the Quips win the WPIAL and PIAA title as a sophomore.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Josie Fontana announced Tuesday night that she committed to play basketball for Richmond follow her senior season at Oakland Catholic. Fontana helped the Eagles win the WPIAL Class 4A title last season. Oakland Catholic finished 25-4 and reached the PIAA quarterfinals before bowing out to Lansdale Catholic.

Fontana is headed to a Spiders' program that had a lot of success last season. Richmond finished 28-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament, upsetting Georgia Tech before being bounced by top-seeded UCLA.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo. 

Shady Side Academy senior Karis Thomas helped the Bulldogs make history last season. The 1,000-point scorer led Shady Side Academy to the PIAA Class 3A final for the first time in school history. She announced her commitment to play at Purdue Fort Wayne Friday afternoon on X.

Thomas averaged 19.4 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a junior. The Bulldogs were the WPIAL runner-up in addition to making a trip to Hershey for the state final. Purdue Fort Wayne finished 27-9 season, losing in the Horizon League championship game.

The Mastodons picked up two wins in the WNIT before being eliminated by Cleveland State.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] on on X @J_oshRizzo

The annual wave of PIAA and WPIAL transfer hearing meetings are already causing a lot of headaches for athletes, administrators and sports fans around the area.

The WPIAL and PIAA agreed that Bishop Canevin's Brady Wagner will be ineligible for this football season after being ruled as having transferred due to "athletic intent." Wagner enrolled at Bishop Canevin and played baseball for the Crusaders last spring.

Another piece of transfer news is likely to cause waves soon. Former Seton LaSalle standout Khalil Taylor enrolled at Pine-Richland. There will be pressure on the district and state to be consistent with their rulings. There has already been plenty of clamoring about decisions made over the past few weeks.

Here's a look at some of the other notable decisions:

• Former Steel Valley great Charlie Batch, who went on to a professional career with the Steelers and Detroit Lions, was vocal over his disappointment when Seton LaSalle sophomore quarterback Anthony Smith was ruled ineligible by the WPIAL for the 2025 season.
• Lincoln Park's Josh Pratt was approved to transfer from Aliquippa to Lincoln Park, but is ineligible under PIAA rules to play in the postseason. 
• A pair of brothers who transferred from Knoch to Moon, Jackson and Brody Bauman, already had their postseason waivers denied. The Bauman boys moved schools after their dad, Alan, resigned as coach at Knoch
  

​Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo. 

By Josh Rizzo
MONROEVILLE - Mike O'Lare came out of the locker room following Mohawks' 59-45 loss to Forest Hills in the second round of the PIAA Class 3A boys basketball tournament full of reflection. The Warriors graduated six players from last season's team that made the state quarterfinals and only had guard Bobby Fadden to lean on.

Mohawk (21-7) responded by placing third in the WPIAL and beating Chestnut Ridge in the first round of the state playoffs. But against the Rangers, the Warriors ran into a deeper team.

"We discussed that in the locker room," O'Lare said. "I have a ton of sophomores and a year from now, we've got to be at that point and that's on me. We have to have nine or 10 guys ready. You know, we have to develop a bench. You can't play in a state quarterfinal game with five games and expect to win those games. You have to have some depth. I thought Forest Hills had some nice depth to them. We've got to get back to work."

Mohawk led 15-10 after the first quarter. However, the Rangers' stifling defense made life difficult of Fadden. Fadden scored a team-high 18 points, but he was shut out in the second and fourth quarters.

Drew Wrona knocked down three 3-pointers for the Warriors and he finished with 10 points.
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"It's hard for Bobby to accept losing and we tell him he doesn't have to do it himself," O'Lare said. "We've got guys to help. Tonight, I thought he did. He moved the ball. When they started covering him up a little bit, he was trying to find other guys and did."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Plum senior guard William Beckner announced his commitment to Saint Vincent College on X Friday afternoon. Beckner averaged 12 points, four rebounds and three assists per game for the Mustangs. 

Beckner was selected second-team all-section by the Big 56.

The 5-foot-9 guard will be heading to a program that has had strong run of season in the past few seasons. The Bearcats went 20-6 this season, but were eliminated by the Washington & Jefferson in the Presidents' Athletic Conference semifinals. Two years ago, Saint Vincent lost in the PAC championship game to Geneva.
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Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and College. Story ideas can be submitted at [email protected] or on X @J_oshrizzo.

The Oakland Catholic girls basketball team put together one of its best performances of the season to beat section rival North Catholic 57-29 in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals Monday night at Fox Chapel High School. London Creach, who didn't play in either of the regular season meetings between the two teams, returned to score 15 points for the Eagles.

The Eagles are returning to the WPIAL final for the first time since 2023. Oakland Catholic lost that matchup to South Fayette.

The Mohawks boys basketball team lost six seniors last season. But despite the roster turnover, the Warriors have battled their way back to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals. Mohawk took the next step in the process by beating Southmoreland 55-38 in the quarterfinals at North Catholic High School.

Bobby Fadden led the Warriors with 22 points.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to @J_oshrizzo on X or [email protected]

The Bishop Canevin girls basketball team rolled to a 45-12 win over Springdale Monday on the road. Isabella Sysak led the Cruaders with a game-high 19 points.

The Crusaders were the lower-seeded team, but the result shouldn't really be considered an upset. Bishop Canevin dominated the game, building a 29-7 lead by halftime and started the game on a 6-0 run. The Dynamos haven't won a playoff game since 1998.

The Dynamos finished the season with 11 wins, which was their most since the 2012-13 season. Springdale also collected eight section wins, which was its most since the 2009-10 season.

Josh Rizzo is the owner and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to Rizzo42789@gmail or on X @J_oshrizzo.

Following Arkansas coach John Calipari to Kentucky hasn't worked out how Adou Theiro thought it would.  Thiero, a Quaker Valley graduate, has been productive on the court. But the Razorbacks have struggled to win games consistently.

But on Saturday night, Thiero, and has coach, got revenge on their former school by beating Kentucky 89-79 at Rupp Arena. Thiero finished with a game-high 21 points. The Razorbacks led by one at halftime, but really dominated the last 20 minutes. The Razorbacks (13-8, 2-6 SEC) are still well outside the picture for the NCAA Division I Tournament, but Thiero has continued to provide proof he could be headed for the NBA.

Thiero averages 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.