A-K Valley HOF inductee Scott Higgins left mark at Riverview, Westminster

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 9:28 PM

Scott Higgins is no stranger to Sports Hall of Fame inductions.

He was in attendance when teammates such as Jay Kumar and coaches Chuck Wagner, Jack Schmitt and Bob Rukavina were selected for the A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

So he was surprised when board member Freddy Soilis called him and let him know it was his turn to be enshrined.

“Freddy and I talked about it,” said Higgins. “We discussed whether my accomplishments merited induction, and I was hesitant. But Freddy assured me they did. It’s an honor to be selected.”

Higgins grew up in Oakmont and was a talented athlete at Riverview High School (1976-79). He played football, basketball and baseball and was a captain on each team.

“That was something I was proud of,” Higgins said. “I certainly wasn’t a vocal leader; I earned those captaincies just on the way I played.”

He also was first-team All-AIC defensive back, a Class AA All-WPIAL defensive back and earned seven varsity letters.

Higgins was a defensive back, running back and punter and will cherish his time on the football team under legendary coach Chuck Wagner, who was also a close family friend.

“My dad was a teacher at Oakmont, and a basketball coach in the early ‘60s,” recalled Higgins. “He and Coach Wagner coached together under Elmer Gross. So I was well acquainted with Mr. Wagner before I played for him.”

The team lost in the first round of the playoffs his sophomore year, but Higgins remembers his junior and senior seasons more because of the time he spent with the team.

“I do wish we did have more team success in football,” he said. “Our senior year wasn’t very good. In basketball and baseball, we won section titles my senior year. I just wish we could have had a better season for Mr. Wagner.”

In basketball, Higgins was a swingman who was selected to the Section 13-AA first team and was a WPIAL All-Star. Riverview claimed the Section 13-AA title.

“We tied Freeport that year atop the section,” Higgins said. “Back then, you had to determine a champion. So we played them at Valley High School in a packed gym, and we won a close game to be crowned section champs. It was a really fun night.”

As a shortstop and pitcher on the baseball team, Higgins was a part of the Section 13-AA champion team his senior year, but he will never forget the game played before Riverview’s prom.

“We played South Park, who was our biggest section rival back then, and I was pitching,” said Higgins. “We were up a run going into the final inning, and I gave up the tying run. The game ended up going 13 innings, and we won. The team had to scramble back through city traffic to get to prom. We were all late.

“I still take a lot of heat for that one,” chuckled Higgins.

The same set of circumstances occurred to Higgins two years later when he was at Westminster College (1980-83).

“My sophomore year, we had a formal on a Saturday at the Sheraton in Station Square,” he said. “The team was playing a round-robin tournament against Geneva and Point Park at Springdale. We lost the first two and got to the formal late.

“My girlfriend at the time, who was my girlfriend in high school and is now my wife, had to endure both of those fiascos.”

Higgins was a three-time District 18 All Star shortstop and was an NAIA All American Honorable Mention his senior year.

He also set the record for most home runs in a season with 10. The record has been tied three times since he graduated.

“I set it my sophomore year,” said Higgins. “Someone brought up that it still stands when I was up there not too long ago.”

Higgins finished his college baseball career with a .445 batting average, swiping 46 bags on 48 attempts and only striking out 11 times in 355 at-bats.

“I had opportunities to go to bigger schools like Pitt and Penn State,” he said. “But I didn’t feel I was that level of athlete. Westminster turned out to be a great fit, and I’m thankful to Coach Wagner for helping me through that process.”

Higgins was also a standout on the football field in college. He was an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention his sophomore year and a first-team All-American in his junior and senior seasons.

He was also named the NAIA National Defensive Player of the Week in ’83 after a game against IUP in which he had a pair of interceptions and Westminster won 16-13.

Higgins was named to the Pittsburgh Press All District Team, awarded the 1983 Dapper Dan Outstanding Achievement Award and was selected as a College Division II All American.

His 12 interceptions in 1981 are the second-most by a Westminster player in a single season, and he graduated with the record for most career interceptions (31).

“Westminster had a rich football tradition, winning three NAIA National Championships in the ‘70s,” said Higgins. “We upheld that, even though we were nationally ranked my last three seasons there and only advanced to the semifinals in the playoffs.”

Higgins was inducted into the Westminster College Sports Hall of Fame in their inaugural class in 1991.

After college, Higgins spent four weeks in the 1984 Cleveland Browns training camp. He made it through one preseason game, ironically against the Steelers, before getting cut.

“It was a great experience being able to be with the Browns at the same time as guys like Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome,” said Higgins.

In October 1985, Higgins found a job with Ford Motor Company, working in their marketing and sales division and moving around from Denver to Minneapolis to Detroit before settling in Peters Township in 2000 with his wife.

Higgins is thankful for what sports not only taught him but gifted him as well.

“I wasn’t always self-confident academically or in other things,” said Higgins. “But when I stepped on the court or the field, I had confidence in my ability, and it gave me the opportunity to assert myself and develop relationships.”

Now, Higgins is retired and enjoys the life of leisure.

“I’ve been retired for a year and a half,” said Higgins. “I go to the gym in the morning and then relax and see what the rest of the day will bring. My daughter is expecting, and my wife and I are excited to have our first grandchild this July.”

His family will be in attendance for his induction. His wife and three kids will be there, as well as both his parents, who are each over 90 years old.

“I have both ends of the spectrum,” said Higgins. “To have my parents there with my children is very meaningful to me. It’s also humbling to go in next to some of these people I’ve respected and known for so long.”

If you’re going

What: 53rd A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction

When: 7 p.m., May 4

Where: Pittsburgh Shriners Center, Harmar

Tickets: $40

Contact: Larry Lutz, 724-882-3695; Fred Soilis, 412-736-1809; Bill Heasley, 724-882-3079

Tags: Riverview