Some items that fell off my laptop.
Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer stopped at New Castle High School two nights ago to see one of his recruits. He should have bought some popcorn, a soda and enjoyed the basketball show that Malik Hooker put on for his future coach.
Hooker, who made a verbal commitment to Ohio State last summer, tied a career-high with 36 points in a 93-61 victory against Pine-Richland. Hooker made 14 of 16 shots from the field and also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Hooker (pictured) is now averaging 23.2 points. There is no doubt in my mind some mid-major colleges would have been interested in Hooker for basketball if he hadn't already decided on football. But he would not have been as heavily recruited as he was in football.
As for Meyer, while in the area, he reportedly stopped at Central Valley High School. Ohio State is one of the many colleges that have already offered Central Valley defensive back Jordan Whitehead.
Only at New Castle
The New Castle boys basketball team has quite the fan following the past few seasons. It's great to see.
How big is the following? Well, how many schools do you think there are in Western Pa. that request 300 tickets presale for a road game about an hour away against a 9-8 team?
But that's exactly what happened for the New Castle at North Hills game tomorrow night. New Castle asked North Hills athletic director Kevin Deitrick for 300 tickets ahead of time.
About Aloi's transferEllwood City basketball coach Anthony Ovial had no comment on the transfer of Nick Aloi to Lincoln Park.
Aloi averaged 15 points a game as a freshman and showed plenty of promise. He hasn't played this season because of a torn ACL. Then Tuesday, he enrolled at Lincoln Park, a charter school in Midland that has the No. 1-ranked Class A basketball team in the state.
Ellwood City principal Kirk Lape also had no comment about the case. Is it a blow to Ellwood City? Well, consider that Aloi's grandfather, Frank Aloi Sr., is superintendent of Ellwood City schools. Nick Aloi's father, Frank Jr. and Dan, played for some strong Ellwood City teams in the mid 1980s..
Nola to return
Tom Nola has decided to return for another year as Clairton's football coach.
Like the past few offseasons, Nola was seriously contemplating retirement. But he said today that he is coming back.
Making the same points
What are the chances that two players from the same team would play 16 games, and their point totals would be only one point apart?
Ambridge's Stephon McGinnis has 309 points in 16 games, a 19.31 average. Teammate Dayton Carter has 308 points in 16 games, a 19.25 average.