Pitt WPIAL Targets Continue Exodus Out of State

With WPIAL football set to kick off this week, one of the area's most promising young quarterbacks and a Pitt Panthers target won't participate.

Last year Anthony Smith broke the single season passing record as a freshman at Southmoreland High School with 2,110 yards and 22 touchdowns. The class of 2028 QB standing at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds has drawn Division I offers from Syracuse, Sacramento State and Towson.

After transferring from Southmoreland to Seton LaSalle over the offseason ,the WPIAL Board ruled him ineligible in July and on Aug. 8 the PIAA upheld the decision. They believe the switch involved ‘athletic intent’.

PIAA Bylaws, Article VI, Section 11 declares any transferring student ineligible for a period of one year from the date of transfer or the date of the decision, if the Committee finds the transfer in whole or in part for any athletic purpose.

Smith’s family cited concerns involving his safety around the transfer. They claim months of targeted cyberbullying and an escalating off-field incident involving a local spectator was the reason. The family has filed a lawsuit against the PIAA last week after they ruled him ineligible.

A court filing outlined how an adult man from Tarrs had allegedly harassed the family online in hundreds of posts and was even ejected from a Southmoreland game last season due to repeated violations of the spectator code of conduct.

Smith taking the field in the state of Pennsylvania this season is out of the question. Likely leading him to transfer elsewhere out of state where he would be immediately able to take the field.

A Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Harry F. Smail granted Smith permission to play in Seton LaSalle’s scrimmage against Plum over the weekend but he chose to sit out.

High school football is around the corner for the entire country so Smith will need to act fast. Other local highly recruited athletes transferring out of state is becoming a trend. It allows them to avoid both the WPIAL Board and PIAA.

Sa’Nir Brooks and Larry Moon both left Aliquippa. Brooks is in Baltimore, MD. with St Frances Academy and Moon is in Bradenton, FL. with IMG Academy. Both Brooks and Moon already hold offers from Pitt.

Brooks is a three-star RB in the Class of 2027 who shared carries with current Penn St running back Tiqwai "Tikey" Hayes last year. Brooks ran for 621 yards on 90 carries averaging 6.9 yards a carry. ESPN has him rated as the 27th best RB in the country.

Moon is the 11th ranked CB in the class of 2027 according to ESPN. Both would be huge gets for the Panthers. This will be Moon's third high school as he began at Pittsburgh Central Catholic before transferring to Aliquippa and now across the country with IMG.

Jance Henry Jr. is another local Pitt target that will play out of state this year. The former Central Valley RB ran for over 1,000 yards last season and has reeled in offers from Pitt, Akron, Connecticut, Miami, Ohio, Michigan State, Ole Miss, NC State, Syracuse, Temple, Toledo, UNLV, Central Florida, West Virginia and Wisconsin. In December, shortly after the season ended he made his transfer to Archbishop Hobon High School in Akron, OH official.

Pitt might lose out on talented local talent going forward, if the WPIAL and PIAA continue deeming players ineligible for moving schools.

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