New coach gets started on North Allegheny boys basketball rebuild

By: John Grupp
Saturday, December 6, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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North Allegheny’s Rob Niederberger is coaching again after taking last season off following his remarkable turnaround job at Shaler.

His new team also is eager to get back into it.

North Allegheny, coming off the program’s worst season in at least 35 years, is energized and motivated to return to its winning ways under its first-year boys basketball coach.

“I know they are coming off a rough year,” said Niederberger, hired at his alma mater to replace Dave DeGregorio. “We just have to battle every day. We literally have to approach every game with the same mentality and be ready to go each game. That’s how we have to be.”

Similar to Niederberger’s previous stops at Shaler and Burrell, North Allegheny has nowhere to go but up. The Tigers went 7-15 last season and finished last in Section 1-6A with a 2-12 record. It was the third losing season in a row for a once-proud program that had only two sub-.500 seasons in 23 years from 1999-2022 before its recent skid.

Niederberger, a 1999 North Allegheny graduate, knows about rebuilding programs. He guided Burrell to its first WPIAL title-game berth in 34 years in 2013, and he transformed Shaler from a last-place laughingstock to a 25-4 PIAA quarterfinalist in 2024 before stepping down after nine seasons to spend more time with his family.

Niederberger, hired in August, is excited about the potential at the school he calls “home.” DeGregorio stepped down after going 41-49 in four seasons in his second stint at NA, spanning 16 seasons. He was 509-258 in 31 seasons at four schools.

“We have great kids who are here and battling every day,” Niederberger said. “I just like how we are competing. The guys have accepted. They’ve been willing to put in the work. Our older guys have been leaders. I say all of the time, ‘If you are working hard and you are doing it every day, good things are eventually going to happen. The hard work will pay off.’ ”

Senior guard/forward Blake Craft is embracing the demands after a lost junior season. The 6-foot-2 co-captain missed all but one game with a stress fracture in his back. Then, about two weeks after returning to the court in the spring, he suffered an ankle injury that cost him another 12 weeks. He finally returned in August after missing most of the previous nine months.

“It was horrible,” he said. “It was definitely a low point. But I’m feeling good. I’m ready to go and motivated. I feel making the playoffs has got to be the expectation, at least. Personally, I think we can make a big run. I like what we have.”

Senior point guard Justin Stalter (8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.3 apg) and 6-5 junior guard Jahlil Archer (2.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg) join Craft as starters.

Other top players include senior guards Bobby Dopirak and Will Robertson, junior guard Ben Coffman, junior guard/forward Jack Kinross and 6-6 senior forward Peter Bratich (3.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg).

The newfound enthusiasm was evident as NA held a spirited early-evening practice the Friday before Thanksgiving to continue its preparation for the 2025-26 season.

The Tigers didn’t play in any spring or summer leagues this offseason as the coaching search was ongoing, but they held five-day-a-week workouts in the fall and played in a fall league at NA.

“They are super positive,” Niederberger said. “They have been willing to put in all of the work that I’ve asked them. They have been fantastic, and that’s what winning teams do.”

Tags: North Allegheny