Daemar Kelly is on the move again.

The former Penn Hills standout will be coming back to Pennsylvania to play at Mercyhurst. The Lakers compete in the Division I Northeast Conference after a long stint as members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Kelly played last season at Northern Illinois University.

Kelly made 15 starts for the Huskies, contributing 5.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Kelly was a 1,000-point scorer for the Indians and committed to Quinnipiac after high school. He chose to transfer after his freshman season.

Kelly moved on to Saint Francis (Pa.) and helped the Red Flash make a surprising run to the NCAA Tournament. His time with the Red Flash to be the most fruitful in his career thus far. Kelly started all 34 games he appeared in, averaging 8.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

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

The Western Pennsylvania basketball scene will have another new player on the scene next school year. Something that will be considerably different from the norm. The Life Male STEAM Academy, which is based out of Penn Center in Wilkins Township, hired former Imani Christitan coach Khayree Wilson to lead its boys basketball program.

Wilson will be the Director of Basketball Operations, including the middle school program, and be the head coach of the high school team. Life Male STEAM Academy is a charter school serving students from grades six through 11. Wilson said on X that this will be a program that has the aims of playing a national schedule.

Wilson resigned in March after spending three seasons with the Saints and guiding them to a 38-34 record. During Wilson's first season, Imani Christian won the WPIAL and PIAA Class 1A titles. The Saints then chose to bump up to Class 6A for the next two-year enrollment cycle. Imani Christian made the playoffs in both seasons, but finished 19-24 overall.

The Saints had a male enrollment of 33, but chose to play up after dominated Class 1A. 

Wilson said in a statement that he will always love the school. 

"This program and this  school will always be part of who I am," Wilson wrote. The memories we built together, the battles we fought, and the relationships we created will stay with my forever. Sometimes new chapters end so new ones can begin."

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

John Calipari avoided becoming a victim to perhaps the most feisty of all of the mid-major entrants into the NCAA Division I men's basketball championships Saturday night. Calipari, a Moon graduate, help the fourth-seeded Arkansas men's basketball overcome High Point with a 94-88 victory at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. The Razorbacks only led by one point at halftime and the game saw 15 lead changes, 10 of which came after halftime.

​Former Lincoln Park standout Meleek Thomas scored 19 points for Arkansas. Thomas spent a few seasons with the Leopards before he transferred to play for Overtime Elite Academy in Atlanta. Thomas has had a standout season playing for Arkansas, being named to the SEC All-Freshman team.

The win puts Calipari back in the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. Calipari has gotten back on track at Arkansas. Two of Calipari's last three losses in the NCAA Tournament during his time at Kentucky were to mid-major programs. The Wildcats were eliminated by Oakland in 2024 and St. Peter's in 2022.

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.

Blackhawk graduate Sean Miller made the leap back into a power conference this season when he took over as the Texas men's basketball coach. The Longhorns didn't make a perfect adjustment to the veteran coach, but Texas has figured things out on the big stage. After earning its way into the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament by getting a bid in the First Four, Texas has ran off three wins in five days.

The Longhorns' most recent masterpiece came during a 74-68 win over Gonzaga Saturday night in Portland, Oregon. No. 11 Texas took down No. 3 Gonzaga 74-68. Miller, who has a career record of 507-210, is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2022-23 season, when he took Xavier that far.

Miller will coach in the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in his career. Despite all of Miller's success, he has yet to break through to a Final Four. Miller has made it to the Elite 8 four times, including once during his first tenure with Xavier during the 2007-08 season and three times while he was at Arizona.

Texas is set to play the winner of Miami and Purdue in the next round. The Hurricane and Boilermakers are set to meet on Sunday afternoon.

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.

Herb Sendek, a 1981 Penn Hills graduate, appeared in position to end several streaks Friday afternoon. The Santa Clara men's basketball team was two seconds away from their first NCAA Division I Tournament win since 1996 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Sendek, who has coached the Broncos since 2016, was stung by a missed timeout call and late magic from Kentucky.

After Allen Graves made a 24-foot 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining to put Santa Clara ahead, Kentucky's Otega Oweh caught the ensuing inbounds pass and raced down the floor. He pulled up for a 32-foot trey that bounced off the glass and threw the net as time expired to even the score. Kentucky, the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Regional, went on to win 89-84 in overtime. Sendek was upset after the game because he was clearly signaling from the bench for a timeout after Graves' 3-point make and before Oweh got the ball.

Officials didn't grant him the timeout. Sendek, who is 187-128 during his time at Santa Clara, led the 10th-seeded Broncos in March Madness for the first time. Sendek, who has also coached at Arizona State, N.C. State and Miami (Ohio), last won a tournament game with the Sun Devils during the 2008-09 season.

Sendek, who is 600-423 coaching at the Division I level, had his best season during the 2004-05 season when he lead the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16.

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

The meeting between Knoch and North Catholic's boys basketball team should be a compelling matchup of section rivals in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs Tuesday night in Plum. But having the teams meet for the fourth time this early in the state tournament provides a compelling argument for seeding the state tournament.

​It's not practical with such a large tournament.

Since Pennsylvania takes 32 teams in each classification, there are many more schools out east than in Western Pennsylvania in the larger classifications. That means when the brackets come out, there is no way to fairly set things up so east meets west in the final. Knoch (23-4) and North Catholic (20-6) each took care of business against District 10 competition in the first round of states, knocking out Girard and Sharon, respectively.

The Knights are on a historic run for the program, collecting their first-ever WPIAL title and have a 23-4 record. Knoch beat North Catholic by 24 points in the WPIAL semifinals. However, the two teams split in the regular season.

The Trojans are an excellent team that have consistently stacked their schedule under coach Jim Rocco with strong competition. North Catholic will be motivated to play better than during the third meeting.

It would be nice to see this as a quarterfinal matchup. The semifinals will be difficult to reach this season. District 10 champ Erie Cathedral Prep is averaging more than 90 points per game and has plenty of talent.

Knoch and North Catholic will be another solid entry in the history between the two sides. It's just a shame the way Pennsylvania does its state playoff bracket forced it to happen again so quickly.

The Knoch boys basketball team was one example showing how tough the competition was in Section 1-4A in the WPIAL. Deer Lakes, North Catholic and the Knights all advanced to the second round of the PIAA Tournament.

Sometimes the assignments that don't seem to have much promise more than live up to the billing. Deer Lakes boys basketball team pushed North Catholic to the limit Friday night. The Trojans came from 13 points down to trip up the Lancers.

North Catholic is one of the favorites to be the top seed in Class 4A. The WPIAL will release the playoff brackets on Monday.

Springdale picked up an important win over Riverview Tuesday night. Read my story about the game in the Valley News Dispatch.

PENN HILLS - Milani Oliver shot down the idea that scoring 1,000 points was a lifelong goal. The Penn Hills senior was pushed in that direction once she demonstrated she had the ability to reach for the stars. 

"As a freshman, it actually wasn't the goal," Oliver said. "But when I was like a sophomore and junior, (coach) Robert (Cash) was telling me to step it up and I could get it if I work hard enough to do it. He was pushing me the whole time I got it."

Oliver hit that mark early during a 48-12 Section 1-5A contest with Gateway Tuesday night at home. Oliver, who finished with 11 points to push her career total to 1,007 points, was happy to part of the lineage of Penn Hills athletes to reach the mark. Hannah Pugliese, who now plays at Slippery Rock University, was the last Indians' player to reach 1,000 points in 2014.

Before that, Penn Hills assistant coach Desiree Oliver was the last player in the program to take her scoring total that high.

"It feels great," Milani said. "It actually feels great being apart of that."

Putting aside her personal accomplishment, Milani knew that the Indians to pick up an emphatic win against Gateway. Penn Hills has lost five consecutive games entering the matchup and the Gators have wallowed at the bottom of the section all season.

"I feel like this win right here, it sets up for some of the goals we set before the season started," Milani said. "I feel like this sets us up to be good. I think our biggest competition is going to be Fox Chapel and Plum. Winning this game gave us our confidence back."

Milani said this Penn Hills has a strong support system in place alongside her. She is hoping to try and lead the Indians back to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs during her senior season. She isn't sure what will be next for her after high school.

"For college, it's still undecided," Milani said. "I was getting a lot of emails and getting a lot of looks, but I don't know yet."

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