Mt. Lebanon (Pittsburgh) tight end Paul
Lang has made a verbal commitment to Michigan State. Lang, who is
6-foo-5 and 230 pounds and also excels in basketball for the Blue
Devils, was more of a blocking tight end last year catching just five
passes for 37 yards and a touchdown.
Fairview's 6-foot-5, 225-pound defensive end Jordan
Kerner recently made a verbal commitment to Penn State. Kerner had
89 tackles and seven sacks last season for the Erie County-based school.
Kerner chose Penn State over Iowa, Rutgers, West Virginia and Boston
College among others.
2. Changing roles: One of the state's top boys basketball coaches of all time will be moving to the girls side this winter.
Franklin has hired its boys coach Bill Hager, who has 597 career wins in 33 years including the 2001 PIAA Class AAA state championship, 19 conference and five District 10 titles, to take over the girls program that went 18-7 last season. Hager takes over for Todd Wetjen.
Hager jumped at the opportunity to switch because is daughter Natalie will be a junior this season.
“My career is winding down, and this was a golden opportunity for me to coach my daughter,” Hager told the Oil City Derrick. “I’ve loved coaching the boys for 33 seasons, and it was extremely tough for me to walk away, especially since the guys have put in a lot of hard work this summer. I’ve always said coaching my sons, Nathan and Nick, was the greatest experience in my coaching career. I’m fortunate to get the opportunity to coach one of my daughters.”
Hager is excited about the talent level at Franklin this coming season.
“Coach Wetjen left the cupboard full, that’s for sure,” Hager told the Oil City Derrick. “This is a great group of girls, and I’ve been around them since they were very young. My goals are always the same: win the conference, compete for a district title and go as far as we can in the playoffs.”
Hager's replacement on the boys' side has yet to be named. Franklin was 11-11 last season.
3. Burrell’s Yakopec to continue baseball career at Pitt: Standout Burrell (Lower Burrell) pitcher/outfielder Dave Yakopec announced last week that he is planning on continuing his career at the University of Pittsburgh. Yakopec, a 6-foot-4 hard-throwing left-handed pitcher, went 5-4 last season while also hitting .390 and helping the Buccaneers to the WPIAL Class AA title game and into the second round of the PIAA playoffs.
4. Upper St. Clair loses running back: Coming off a 6-4 season, Upper St. Clair finds itself in the unexpected position of finding a new tailback after last year’s leading rusher Jacob Siwicki transferred to DeMatha High School in Washington, D.C. Swicki ran for 827 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns last season topping the 100-yard mark twice including a season-best 181 yards in a win over Cannon-McMillen. The top candidate going into camp to replace Siwicki will be senior Connor Scott who carried the ball 43 times for 146 yards and one touchdown last season.
5. Mildren, Pickens named Tribune-Review Athletes of the Year: The Tribune-Review recently named its high-school athletes of the year with the awards going to Laurel Highlands baseball and basketball star Ethan Mildren (boys) and Franklin Regional (Murrysville) diver Samantha Pickens.
Mildren, who will play baseball at Pitt, set a school record with 23 career wins including six in 2010 while striking out 89 in 54 innings. He also hit .482 with four home runs and 26 RBI. In basketball he averaged 22 points per game and went over 1,000 points in his career.
Pickens, meanwhile, is the only person to win four PIAA Class AAA diving titles. She added three WPIAL Class AAA titles to her resume and became the first diver to eclipse 600 points this year when she scored 605.55 at a meet. She will continue her career at the University of Arizona.
