Aliquippa Star To Stay Put
Pope Confirms He’s Not Transferring
by Chris Dokish

As Keystone Recruiting first reported last week, junior basketball player Herb Pope has returned to Aliquippa after spending a few days in Jacksonville, Florida where he was looking at a possible transfer to Arlington Country Day School, a top rated basketball and academic school. When asked if he was going to remain enrolled at Aliquippa High School, Pope replied, “Yep, I want to stay here for my last two years.” He also stated that there are no other prep schools being currently discussed as a possible destination.

When asked why he visited the Florida prep school, Pope replied, “I just wanted to explore my options,” and cited academic and competition reasons as to why Arlington Country Day was targeted. It is believed that one of the coaches on his Pittsburgh JOTS AAU team, J.O. Stright, asked him to check out the school, but Pope would not confirm.

“I have no comment on that,” said Pope.

Pope, who gave a verbal commitment to the University of Pittsburgh earlier this year, also confirmed that he is open to looking at other colleges. Yet he reiterates that there is a “98.9%” chance that he will enroll at Pittsburgh and that as long as the current staff is there, he will be a Panther.

“I just want to keep my options open a little,” said Pope. “Cincinnati just lost their coach so you never know if the Big East will fall apart. So I just want to make sure.”

As for Panther fans nervous they might never see Pope in the blue and gold, Pope replied, “I just want them to respect my wishes to explore all of my options.”