Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Player of the Week for March 25, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Monday, March 25, 2024 | 11:26 PM

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Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week: Brandin Cummings

School: Lincoln Park

Class: Senior

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Guard

#Earned: The senior guard known as Beebah had a monster finish to a tremendous season and a magnificent scholastic career last week. In the PIAA Class 4A semifinals, Cummings scored 29 points in leading the Leopards past Hampton, 74-53, in a rematch of the district championship game. Then in the PIAA 4A championship game, Cummings connected on 14 of his 18 shots from the field, including an incredible 7 of 8 from behind the 3-point line. He ended up with 37 points, four assists and one steal as Lincoln Park cruised past Archbishop Carroll, 80-50. In five state playoff victories, Cummings, bouncing back from a late-season illness, averaged 30 points a game for the Leopards, who captured their fourth PIAA championship and their first back-to-back state crowns.

What coach says: “Once Beebah came back from being sick, he actually got back into his normal routine, then our team moved to a new level,” Lincoln Park coach and athletic director Mike Bariski said. “We became a better defensive team as a whole. It was right around then that we really got unselfish one through six.

“In the state playoffs, he was in a freaky zone. We’ve all had good players, but the zone he was in was unbelievable. He got sick somewhere around seven games left and he really got hit hard with an upper respiratory thing. He struggled to stay in condition, but once he got fully better, he got on this incredible run.

“Brandin‘s four years here has elevated us from a WPIAL power to a Pennsylvania power. He also helped make us recognizable throughout the country. The last three years with him and Meleek (Thomas), they’ve made us one of the top programs in the state.”

Background: Brandin successfully followed in the footsteps at Lincoln Park of older brother Nelly Cummings, who helped lead the Leopards to their first state title in 2014 and graduated in 2017. Nelly began his college career at Bowling Green and transferred to Colgate for three years before returning home to play at Pitt in the 2023 season. Brandin will again follow in his brother’s final collegiate shoes as he will play for Pitt. Cummings finished his high school career leading Lincoln Park to back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA championships.

2024 Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Players of the Week

Week 11 – Nate Brazil, Imani Christian Academy

Week 10 – Derek Errett, Fort Cherry

Week 9 – Josh Pratt, Aliquippa

Week 8 – Bobby Fadden, Mohawk

Week 7 – Jacob Guillen, Aquinas Academy

Week 6 – Michael Plasko, South Fayette

Week 5 – Lorenzo Gardner, Monessen

Week 4 – Joe Roth, Ellwood City

Week 3 – Jay Wrona, Mohawk

Week 2 – Peters Kramer, Hampton

Week 1 – Joey Dopirak, North Allegheny

Tags: Lincoln Park