Penn State-bound wideout Khalil Taylor eligible for regular season at Pine-Richland, not playoffs

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, August 18, 2025 | 6:07 PM

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Nationally ranked wide receiver Khalil Taylor will be catching passes for Pine-Richland this fall, but the recent transfer can’t help the Rams win a WPIAL or PIAA football title.

The WPIAL board on Monday granted Taylor eligibility for the upcoming regular season based on a review of his transfer paperwork, said WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer. However, Seltzer said the junior is ineligible to participate in the postseason this fall under PIAA transfers rules after leaving Seton LaSalle in late July.

Pine-Richland still can request a WPIAL hearing seeking playoff eligibility, if the school believes Taylor’s move fits one of the narrow criteria established by the PIAA as grounds for a postseason waiver.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Taylor is a Penn State commit, and college recruiting outlets rank him among the top junior wideouts in the country. The website 247Sports.com ranked him 10th nationally among wide receivers in the 2027 class.

Seltzer said neither school indicated Taylor’s transfer was athletically motivated.

“We always have concerns,” Seltzer said of the board’s role in evaluating transfers. “But once the information was provided, we didn’t have any evidence to deny or bring in for a hearing.”

Taylor made 51 catches for 932 yards last season at Seton LaSalle, an average of 18 yards per reception. He scored 22 touchdowns, earning first-team all-conference honors for the second year in a row.

His longest touchdown was an 85-yard kickoff return.

Taylor committed to the Nittany Lions in March over Power 4 offers from Pitt, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, Rutgers and Syracuse. He added a Notre Dame offer in June.

His arrival bolsters a Pine-Richland offense that won the WPIAL Class 5A title last season. He joins a roster that returns Florida State-bound senior Jay Timmons as the team’s leading receiver. Junior quarterback Aaron “Oobi” Strader also is a Division I recruit with Syracuse among his college offers.

The Rams went 11-1 last season and won their second WPIAL title in three years.

The WPIAL on Monday granted eligibility to 63 transfers after reviewing their paperwork.

Among the others was Taylor’s former teammate at Seton LaSalle, junior Richard “Tre” Littlejohn, an all-conference wide receiver who transferred to Penn Hills. Like Taylor, Littlejohn is eligible for the regular season. He holds college offers from Akron, Toledo and Sacramento State.

Woodland Hills senior lineman Maleek Anderson was granted regular season eligibility after transferring from Gateway. The 6-4, 285-pound tackle lists college offers from Albany and Maine.

Most students who transfer after the start of their sophomore season are ineligible for the playoffs for one year under PIAA rules. Schools can appeal that ineligibility and request a postseason waiver.

However, the criteria for qualifying for a waiver include:

• A local child-welfare-agency approved change in residence.

• A school-initiated administrative transfer within a school district.

• A transfer following a court order directing such transfer or change in residence.

• A transfer caused by a military reassignment of a parent.

• A transfer caused by release from a juvenile facility.

• A transfer following a school’s decision to terminate its interscholastic athletic program.

• A bona fide change of residence resulting from a change in employer of a parent.

• A transfer following an involuntary substantial change in financial condition and resources that compels withdrawal from a school.

• A transfer occurring after a school closes.

• A transfer resulting from bullying, harassment or other misconduct directed at the student.

• A transfer because of violence, or a threat of violence, directed against the student.

The PIAA says those requesting a waiver must provide supporting documentation.

Additionally, the WPIAL board can grant a postseason waiver for a reason not listed by the PIAA “upon proof by clear and convincing evidence by the student’s family that the transfer was necessitated by exceptional and unusual circumstances beyond the reasonable control of the student or the student’s family,” according to the PIAA bylaws.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Pine-Richland