PIAA schedules appeal hearing for Moon’s Donovan Johnson
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Friday, July 12, 2019 | 11:43 AM
Moon Area’s Donovan Johnson grabs a rebound over Penn Hill’s Tyree Spencer during semifinal WPIAL action Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019 at North Hills High School.
Basketball star Donovan Johnson will learn next week whether he can play his senior season at Moon.
The PIAA has scheduled his appeal hearing for Wednesday, said PIAA administrator Mark Byers. The PIAA board meets that day in State College.
The 6-foot-7 standout is ineligible for next season under a PIAA rule that restricts athletes to six interscholastic seasons starting in seventh grade. Because Johnson repeated a grade and played basketball both years, he’s already reached that limit, according to the WPIAL.
Moon asked the WPIAL to grant Johnson a waiver to the rule but that request was denied June 17.
Johnson averaged 22.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season as Moon went 28-2 and won the state Class 5A title.
He was the 2018-19 TribLive HSSN Boys Basketball Player of the Year and also was named as the state’s Class 5A player of the year in all-state voting.
He holds a list of major-college offers including Pitt, Arizona and North Carolina.
In a separate case, West Mifflin has requested an appeal hearing for football standout Nahki Johnson but that date has not been finalized, Byers said.
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: Moon
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