Apr 18, 2024 By Chris Dugan 3 min read

Following his team’s stunning loss to Charleston (W.Va.) in the second round of the NCAA Division II men’s basketball tournament last month, which ended a 28-5 season, California head coach Danny Sancomb vowed that the Vulcans “will be back.”

That became a whole lot harder when K.J. McClurg, the Vulcans’ sharp-shooting guard, recently entered the transfer portal.

McClurg, a consensus All-American and the Atlantic Region Player of the Year, averaged 22.6 points per game and shot an amazing 42 percent from three-point range.

But, the transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away.

McClurg, a Morgantown, W.Va., native, transferred to Cal this year after two seasons at New Hampshire.

This is not the first time that Cal has had its best player enter the transfer portal after a highly successful season. Two years ago, following a run to the third round of the Division II tournament, the Vulcans’ Philip Alston transferred to Loyola of Chicago, where he was a starter for the Ramblers.

With the new transfer rules that no longer require players changing schools to sit out one year, it makes you wonder why any coach these days would want to take over a struggling college football or basketball program, especially at the mid-major or Division II level. The school’s president and athletic director will both tell you to build a winning program. Yet once you develop good players and start winning, you run the risk of losing those players to other programs from higher levels that are seeking a quick fix, some offering NIL money.

It’s a culture that makes building a program and keeping teams together extremely difficult.

* Based upon the early results, which have been hampered by rain and cold weather, this could be a very good year for spring sports in our area. This Saturday’s Washington-Greene County Track & Field Championships, which will be held at Peters Township, should showcase several PIAA hopefuls.

In softball, Chartiers-Houston and Carmichaels appear to be very solid, and as Tuesday’s 13-inning suspended game shows, very evenly matched. The Bucs and Mikes meet again today in Greene County. Trinity, despite a surprising home-field loss to Peters Township in section, should be a contender again.

In baseball, Waynesburg is the only remaining unbeaten team in the area, while Canon-McMillan, Trinity, South Fayette, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Carmichaels and Avella all seem capable of beating anybody on their schedule.

* About 225 baseball players have already registered to take part in the Frontier League’s annual two-day tryout and player draft, which will be held Monday and Tuesday at Wild Things Park and W&J’s Ross Memorial Park. That number could reach 300 by the time workouts begin Monday morning.

* Four months after leading Belle Vernon to its second consecutive PIAA championship, running back Quinton Martin was named the offensive MVP at Penn State’s annual spring football game.

Martin scored the first two touchdowns of the game on runs of nine and 12 yards. Those were Martin’s only two carries.

“He had some bumps and bruises so he missed a decent amount of time this spring, so I don’t have a true evaluation,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said of Martin after the game. “What I will tell you is he’s an awesome dude. He’s learned the offense really well. I think he’s got really good vision.”

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com