By JEREMY SELLEW
[email protected]
Devin Whitlock has withdrawn from the Monessen City School District and has enrolled at neighboring Belle Vernon Area.
BVA athletic director Matt Humbert has confirmed that the talented freshman athlete and now-former Greyhound is enrolled at BVA.
“I’m not sure of the official date, but I do know that he is enrolled with the expectation of starting sometime this week,” Humbert said.
Whitlock burst on to the scene as a freshman with the Greyhounds football program, accounting for 2,166 yards and 22 total touchdowns.
He was a jack of all trades for the Hounds, finishing with 27 catches and 504 yards and six scores as a receiver. He carried the ball 81 times for 685 yards and eight touchdowns. After a string of injuries, he took his shot as the Greyhounds quarterback. He went 37 of 50 for 674 yards and eight touchdown passes.
On the basketball court, Whitlock helped lead Monessen to the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals.
The 5-8 point guard scored nearly 20 points per game and hit his share of big shots throughout the season.
Monessen athletic director Gina Naccarato acknowledged Whitlock was enrolled at Belle Vernon.
She declined to comment on whether or not Monessen would contest the transfer with the WPIAL.
If the move is not contested, under the PIAA’s new transfer rule, Whitlock would be eligible to compete in the WPIAL playoffs with the Leopards because he transferred prior to his sophomore season.
The transfer rule says any athlete who transfers schools after the start of their 10th-grade year will be ineligible to compete in district or PIAA playoffs in any sport they participated in the previous year.
If the move is contested by Monessen – which would argue the transfer was at least in part for athletic intent – a hearing will likely be held before the WPIAL board of control in the near future.
