Minnie gets a second taste of Duke
Monessen native Elijah Minnie made a name for himself in high school as an underclassman for the Greyhounds and then at Lincoln Park after transferring.
After helping Monessen win the WPIAL Class AA championship as a freshman in 2011, Minnie helped Lincoln Park win the 2014 WPIAL and PIAA Class A championships after his controversial transfer from the Mon Valley school.
He signed with Robert Morris and as a freshman during the 2014-15 season, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while starting 21 of the 32 games played.
The last game he played in that season was an 85-56 first round loss in the NCAA tournament to eventual national champion Duke in Charlotte, N.C. In the game, Minnie started and went scoreless in 29 minutes.
(A fun fact from that game was that two other Monessen natives were at the game as Larry Scirotto officiated it and I was sitting eight rows back in the Duke section.)
After two years at Robert Morris, Minnie transferred to Eastern Michigan.
Minnie sat out during the 2016-17 season as per NCAA Transfer guidelines, but he made up for it last season as he made the All-MAC third team after averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.8 steals and 1.1 assists per game.
This past summer, Minnie declared for the NBA Draft to test the waters, and the experience helped him prepare for this season where he is hoping to exhaust his college eligibility with a showing worthy of an NBA tryout.
Now a senior, the 6-9 communications major is looking to help the team make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.
Last Wednesday, Minnie was able to add his name to the short list of players who have faced Duke while playing for two different teams as the Eagles went to the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium to face the Blue Devils.
Duke came out on top of the Eagles, 84-46, while Minnie started, played 29 minutes and scored two points.
So far this season, Minnie has started four of the five games he has played, and is averaging 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
Local rivals have impressive week
For years, Yough and Belle Vernon have been rivals in sports.
The neighboring districts have a great athletic disdain for one another, but after the impressive week each had last week with student-athletes signing to further their careers in college, each had to tip their cap to the other.
Yough baseball ace Jarett Bach signed with the University of Pittsburgh last Wednesday, and he will be reunited at the school with his sister Hannah, a freshman on the Pitt softball team.
Two days later, Kierra Waywood, who is entering her third season as the starting pitcher of the Yough softball team, signed with California University of Pa.
While Yough had its two aces sign, Belle Vernon had three student-athletes take part in the early signing period last Wednesday.
Scott Joll, the defending WPIAL wrestling champion at 170 pounds, signed with West Virginia University. Baseball player Josh Hoffman, a shortstop who also plays second base and can move to the outfield if needed, signed with Youngstown State, and Isaac Evans, a cross country runner, will continue his career at Thiel.
Despite being separated by a shade of green in their uniforms, and in some cases, literally by being on one side of the road instead of the other, the two rivals have to appreciate what they combined to accomplish in a 48-hour period last week.
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