Nahki and Donovan Are Ruled Ineligible By The WPIAL; I Have Something To Say About This

Above: Nahki Johnson takes a picture while in his Steel Valley football jersey.

Source: TRIB LIVE HSSN

Below: Donovan Johnson (5) shoots a basketball over Brandon Caruso (23) during a PIAA 5A Boys basketball playoff game.

Source: TRIB LIVE HSSN

Defensive end Nahki Johnson has been ruled ineligible by the WPIAL to compete in the 2019 WPIAL football season. Nahki will be a junior at West Mifflin Area High school in the fall and he played his first two seasons of high school football at Steel Valley. He won a WPIAL 2A football championship at Steel Valley back in November 2018. The WPIAL ruled Johnson ineligible for the 2019 football season because of the fact that they thought Johnson transferred from Steel Valley to West Mifflin for athletic reasons. The WPIAL does not allow students to transfer schools for athletic reasons. Johnson transferred to West Mifflin back in December 2018 and a month after Johnson's transfer, Rod Steele (former Steel Valley head football coach) took the job of being West Mifflin's head football coach.

Also just recently, the WPIAL ruled Moon Area basketball player, Donovan Johnson, ineligible for the 2019-20 WPIAL basketball season due to the fact that he apparently played six seasons of basketball after sixth grade. "Under PIAA rules, which the WPIAL follows, a student may not play in more than six seasons in a sport after the sixth grade. However, a waiver can be granted for an extra year because of severe and personal hardship." The WPIAL did not allow Johnson to have an extra year of eligibility and a lot of people wonder what he is going to do next year. Will Johnson just be a regular student at a high school? Will he finish high school early in the summer and attend college early? Could he move out of the state to play his senior year of high school basketball? Both Nahki Johnson and Donovan Johnson will appeal to the PIAA to try and play next season in their respected sports. Now that you know about all the facts that happened between both of them; everything I say after this sentence is going to be simply of my opinion on the PIAA and WPIAL not allowing students to transfer because of athletic reasons. Also, I will opinionate on how middle school basketball should not be a factor for a student allowing to play high school basketball for four years. The WPIAL and PIAA does not like the fact that high school students transfer due to athletic reasons and not educational reasons. I personally love the fact that high school athletes move from different school districts for athletic reasons. It shows that the high school athletes are willing to take sacrifices to play their sport at a better school. These high school athletes that transfer, sacrifice living in the house that they were used to living in and they sacrifice being with their friends from the current school that they are at. The fact that the WPIAL and PIAA are not letting Donovan Johnson play high school basketball because he played an extra year of middle school basketball is absolutely insane. Who cares if Donovan played middle school basketball. There were not thousands of people watching his middle school games like they are watching his high school games. If you ask many people (like 1,000 people) whether if they pay attention to high school sports more or middle school sports more, I bet that 98% of the people say high school sports more. I am being absolutely serious. Is there like a WPIAL league for middle school sports? No, there is not. Some students might only play middle school sports just as a hobby, to try something new or see if they even like a sport. Donovan Johnson might be the reason why Pittsburgh Steeler running back, James Conner, and Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver, Tyler Boyd, attended the WPIAL 5A Boys basketball championship game back in March 2019. The fact that the WPIAL is not allowing one of there most popular athletes not play is so dumb that it is making me lose brain cells. Donovan Johnson will be 18 years old next WPIAL high school basketball season; so, it's not like Donovan is going to really have an advantage over the other high school kids. I see if Johnson is 19 years old next basketball season and then maybe we could be having a totally different conversation. Now, the fact that college athletes can transfer colleges due to athletic reasons and Pennsylvania high school athletes cannot transfer due to athletic reasons can make some people upset too. I could imagine being one of the WPIAL board members voting to not allow Nahki Johnson play football at West Mifflin next season. Those board members who voted "No" must not feel like they just ruined a child's hope to play football. If you are on the WPIAL board committee,"Do you really care that much that some random athlete transfers schools?" The WPIAL should maybe focus more on seeing if any of these high school athletes are using steroids or any types of performing enhancing drugs. The WPIAL should stop deeply focusing on if whether it's okay if a certain athlete is transferring schools for academic reasons. There is no way colleges are happy that both Donovan and Nahki are ineligible to play their sports at their respected high schools. No matter which school in the WPIAL that both Donovan and Nahki attend they are still going to graduate high school. I sometimes feel that the WPIAL thinks if a high school athlete transfers schools due to athletic reasons than their chances of graduating high school decrease which is simply not the fact at all. There are definitely other WPIAL athletes that have gotten screwed just like Nahki and Donovan; but, you do not hear much of it because they are not superstars that are highly recruited like both Donovan and Nahki. Many high school athletes have been able to transfer schools while in high school and still play their respected sport while graduating high school. Khori Fusco, Rayquin Glover, Jamie Diven, Brandon Lipford, Kenny White, Thomas Melonja are just some of the athletes that have been able to transfer schools, play their respected sport and graduate high school. So, just let Nahki play football at West Mifflin for the 2019 season and I promise that he'll find a way to graduate high school. I really hope other people can be on my side in letting WPIAL athletes transfer schools and to no let middle school basketball be a factor in whether athletes can play their four years of a high school sport. I rest my case.

BY Hilton: bythebossandgoat@gmail.com and Twitter @BYHilton13