WPIAL cancels eligibility hearings for 2 Aliquippa transfers after Central Valley drops opposition

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, April 29, 2024 | 11:24 AM

The WPIAL has canceled eligibility hearings for Aliquippa sophomore Joseph “J.J.” Work and freshman Khalil Ellerbee, saying Central Valley no longer contests their transfers.

The two students were among seven football players who transferred to Aliquippa from various schools in recent weeks. The hearings for Work and Ellerbee were scheduled for Thursday.

“The Central Valley Administration informed me that they did not have evidence of athletic motivated transfer and are not attending the hearing,” WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said in an email.

Central Valley principal Shawn McCreary said earlier this month that Aliquippa’s paperwork was marked in a way that indicated possible athletic intent, and Central Valley agreed. But Seltzer said Monday that there was an errant mark on Aliquippa’s transfer form.

“The original paperwork submitted by Aliquippa had the principal signing that he believes that the transfer was not athletically motivated,” Seltzer said, “but there was a mark that looked like a box was checked.”

Seltzer said the mark was the reason Central Valley’s administration contested the transfers. He said once Aliquippa submitted an updated form, Central Valley agreed to sign off.

“They were permitted to change their paperwork and contradict their original paperwork,” McCreary said Monday. “If that’s the case, we’re not going to fight it any further.”

The WPIAL board will review the information May 6.

Work, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound linebacker, had 89 tackles and three sacks last season at Central Valley. Ellerbee is a 6-2, 240-pound lineman who also wrestles.

Three transfers to Aliquippa were granted eligibility earlier this month without a hearing. The WPIAL approved freshmen Sa’Nir Brooks and Larry Moon and sophomore Ray Miller on paperwork alone. Brooks and Moon transferred from Central Catholic and Miller came from Seton LaSalle.

Two other sophomores recently indicated on social media that they transferred to Aliquippa: former North Hills lineman Jamar Allen and former Bishop Canevin linebacker Daiveon Taylor, who committed Saturday to West Virginia.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa