WPIAL schedules eligibility hearing for Imani Christian all-state basketball player R.J. Sledge

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, April 27, 2024 | 1:23 PM

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Imani Christian junior R.J. Sledge won his third straight PIAA boys basketball title in March, but his ability to win a fourth next winter is in limbo.

The WPIAL has scheduled a hearing for May 6 to decide whether the all-state player is eligible for his senior year.

Imani has requested a “period of participation waiver,” which would allow Sledge to play next season, WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said. The waiver is for students who repeated a year of school.

PIAA rules permit athletes to participate in only six seasons of a sport after the sixth grade. If a student were to repeat a year of middle school and play school-affiliated basketball both years, that would use up two of those six seasons.

Sledge’s father, Robert, said his son repeated a year at Manchester Charter but didn’t play basketball there, meaning he should be eligible for another season. He said a clerical error likely caused the confusion.

The 5-foot-10 guard with Division I college offers was voted second-team all-state on Wednesday after helping Imani Christian repeat as WPIAL and PIAA Class A champions. Sledge averaged 10 points, five steals and three assists per game for the Saints, who went 19-10 while playing a national schedule.

As a freshman, he won WPIAL and PIAA titles at Bishop Canevin.

In this year’s state finals, Sledge scored a game-high 22 points with eight steals and six assists in a 79-52 victory over Berlin Brothersvalley. He lists college offers from Bethune-Cookman, Canisius, Fordham and North Carolina A&T.

This will be his second eligibility hearing with the WPIAL.

In 2022, the WPIAL ruled Sledge ineligible, saying his transfer from Bishop Canevin to Imani Christian was athletically motivated. However, the PIAA overturned the WPIAL decision on appeal weeks later, making him fully eligible.

• The WPIAL also has scheduled eligibility hearings May 2 for Aliquippa sophomore Joseph Work and freshman Khalil Ellerbee. The two transferred from Central Valley.

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: Imani Christian