PIAA schedules eligibility hearing for West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson

By: Chris Harlan
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 | 4:54 PM

West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson will learn this month whether he can play football in the fall.

Johnson, ruled ineligible by the WPIAL, will have his appeal heard July 30 by the PIAA. The rising junior and Pitt recruit transferred from Steel Valley in December.

Steel Valley administrators contested Johnson’s transfer as athletically motivated at a WPIAL hearing June 20.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end moved to West Mifflin shortly before coach Rod Steele also switched from Steel Valley to West Mifflin.

PIAA rules prohibit a student from following a coach to another school. Even though Johnson transferred before Steele was officially hired, the WPIAL panel voted 6-3 to make him ineligible for one year from his transfer date.

The major-college recruit also received offers from Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan, Mississippi State and others.

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: Steel Valley, West Mifflin