'07 PA PF Herb Pope (NMSU Verbal)

[wadc45]

Rivals Profile
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Aliquippa (PA)
Aliquippa High School (alma mater of Tony Dorsett and Ty Law)

(TRANSFERED to Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day 8/24/05)

Height: 6-8
Weight: 220 pounds

Interest in Cincinnati, Duke, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Xavier and Maryland.

4-star by Scout and rated the #4 PF in the 2007 class.
4-star by Rivals.
Rated the #15 player in the country in the 2007 class by SchoolSports.com.

Rivals $

6/25/04

From the Maryland site...Herb has several friends that have gone on from Aliquippa to play football at Pittsburgh (cousin Tommie Campbell) and Ohio State (Rory Nicol). Duke and Ohio State are his early favorites.

Rivals $

12/2/04

From the Pitt site...Herb transferred this past year to Aliquippa from Montrose Christian in Rockville, Maryland. He lives with one of his grandparents in Aliquippa. His cousin, Tommie Campbell, was a 2005 signee on the Pitt football team.

[wadc45]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05058/463721.stm

WPIAL Boys' CLASS AA Championship: Beaver Falls wins in 3 OTs

Last-second 3-pointer decides boys' AA thriller

Sunday, February 27, 2005

By Terry Shields, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When it comes to any Aliquippa-Beaver Falls athletic competition from football to tiddledy-winks familiarity breeds intensity, heart-pounding excitement and, of course that old stand-by, contempt.


And so it was again last night before a packed house at the Palumbo Center as these two longtime Beaver County rivals battled with the WPIAL Class AA boys' basketball title on the line.

The latest rendition of this passion play yielded one of the greatest WPIAL championship games in history. Beaver Falls (23-3) pulled out a 79-78 thriller in triple overtime as Lance Jeter banked in a 3-pointer from about 30 feet out to win it.

For Jeter, a 6-foot-3 junior guard who finished with 37 points, it was the final exclamation point on a night of heroics.

"It's just Lance," Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega said after the pulsating victory. "God blesses certain people with tremendous athletic ability and he's one of them.

"If it had been anyone else throwing up that shot, I probably would have just gotten up and walked over to the Aliquippa bench to congratulate Marvin [Emerson, the Quips coach]. But because it was Lance, I figured it had a chance."

For his part, Jeter was humbled by the turn of events.

"I guess I'm lucky," he said, referring to the deciding shot. "I just threw it up there."

Yep, he just threw it up there after dribbling up the floor after Sjavante Gilliam's apparent winning lay-in with about five seconds showing on the clock, taking a quick peek at the clock then wedging his body between two Aliquippa defenders to launch the game's final dagger.

Jeter turned in an unbelievable performance on a night of outstanding efforts on both sides. He was 13 of 16 from the field, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. He was 7 of 10 from the free-throw line and had five rebounds.

Oh yeah, and he made another 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation to send the game into the first overtime.

As one might expect in a game that was so closely and hotly contested, there was plenty of glory for both sides to share. Aliquippa's Herb Pope, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, scored 24 points, snared 14 rebounds and had 3 blocked shots before fouling out with 1:46 left in the second overtime.

He was joined on the bench by another Quips standout, 6-3 sophomore forward Mark Lay, who scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out in the third overtime. Included among his points was a driving baseline layup with less than a second remaining in the first overtime to force the second overtime.

For Beaver Falls it was its seventh WPIAL title, but its first in Class AA (the previous six were Class AAA or its equivalent), the most recent in 1994.

It also was the rubber match of the season series between the Section 2-AA co-champions. Beaver Falls won the first meeting on its home court, 80-51, but the Quips (21-7) exacted some revenge on their court, 71-64. But this one topped those for excitement.

"I can't remember being part of a game nearly this exciting," Emerson said. "No game was even close.

"What are you going to do? Lance comes up and hits the clutch shots. What can you say? I guess you just have to give the credit to Lance."

The game was tight throughout. The largest lead by either team was a seven-point spread by Beaver Falls, 12-5 in the first quarter.

The Quips had a six-point edge in the final minute of regulation, but that was negated by two 3-point shots from Beaver Falls, one by Dom Henderson and then Jeter's at the buzzer.

Beaver Falls will meet Washington in the first round of the PIAA tournament; Aliquippa will face Farrell.

The Tigers ruined Aliquippa's bid for its third consecutive WPIAL crown, but Biega wasn't about to gloat.

"Before I left for the game, I told my wife, 'This is like the Yankees and the Red Sox.' And the Quips are the Yankees, they always seem to win the big one.

"I figured it was going to be decided in dramatic fashion, but not like this. It doesn't get any better than this." Well, not unless the two meet again in the PIAA western regional final.

[jimotis4heisman]

Same hometown, different high school as fuss-cheatam i believe

[msj2487]

Herb committed to Pittsburgh today per BSB.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Here is the link....

RIVALS$

3/11/05

Pope, the No. 33 ranked player in the class of 2007, made a verbal commitment to the Pitt Panthers.

[wadc45]

The campus is about 25 miles from Aliquippa, and that was a huge factor.

Family wins out...huge pickup for the Panthers.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

LINK (Free)

3/12/05

<CENTER><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Herb Pope

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>2007 Stud Pope Makes Decision
By Dave Telep National Recruiting Director
Date: Mar 11, 2005

The Pittsburgh Panthers landed a key commitment this week. Jamie Dixon and Co. struck paydirt in the Class of 2007 with No. 18 Herb Pope.
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>

Herb Pope, a 6-foot-8 ½ sophomore power forward out of Aliquippa (Penn.) High is headed to play for the Pittsburgh Panthers in the fall of 2007.

According to the Beaver County Times, Pope committed to the Panthers this week. “I feel comfortable that I’ll be able to play for Coach Dixon and Coach Rohrssen and the whole Pitt staff,” Pope told the paper.

The native of Hopewell, Va., played at Montrose Christian last year and was part of D.C. Assault’s championship team at the adidas Super 64 (second division) last summer.

The big fella can flat out play. He’s mobile inside, can score with his back to the basket and makes face-ups. In his team’s high school playoff run this year, Pope is averaging 21 points a game. At this point, you have to consider Pope’s commitment one of the more significant underclassman additions of the season.

Pope was one of the elite performers at the Nike Hoop Jamboree last summer. This is a big time addition for the Panthers as Scout.com regards him as the No. 18 sophomore in his class.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

</CENTER>

[wadc45]

Rivals $

3/15/05

From the Pitt site...Aliquippa will meet Beaver Falls again on Wednesday at the Palumbo Center on the Duquesne campus in a state AA semi-final game.

I am still shocked Herb is off the board already. I expect the OSU staff to stay on him despite his verbal.

[wadc45]

Rivals $

5/26/05

From Rivals.com...Rivals has posted some video of Herb, for anyone interested.

I hope Rory Nicol can still lay the OSU pitch on pretty thick and change Herb's mind...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

There are rumblings that Pope's verbal may not be that strong at this point. This has been a constant chatter, so I am opening the thread back up and putting his verbal as soft for now.

Lamb on BN says there is a possiblity that Pope will be playing next year in a high school in Ohio.

The plot thickens.

[jwinslow]

For those of you who don't know, this kid is a prospect, 6th best PF.

Sheesh, at this rate Coach K's gonna have to start asking favors of Matta... Thad in his graciousness will let Mike choose one prospect that he'll allow the other guys to chase.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ScoutHoops.com$

7/29/05

At the 17-and-under AAU Nationals in Florida....Pope put on quite a show, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He is on the rise.

[LitlBuck]

Lamb on BN says there is a possiblity that Pope will be playing next year in a high school in Ohio.



He is going to be playing his senior year at Youngstown Ursuline per Lamb

[wadc45]

Also something to keep in mind...I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating; Pope is good friends with Rory Nicol.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

scout.com

8/4/05

A little blurb about Pope and the possibility he plays in Ohio next year....

In the last few days we are hearing about several high school players transferring to Ohio from other states. Is this happening a lot in other places?


Kyle S. Lamb (Aug 3, 2005 2:27:42 PM)
(Referring to Herb Pope, and potentially Eric Wallace)

Dave Telep (Aug 3, 2005 2:28:50 PM)
Have not heard about Pope; he's been in HS in Va, Md and Pa from what I can gather. He's a big timer and we had him at No. 15 BEFORE the summer began. As for Wallace, if he leaves the state of NC then there's a good chance his college choices move as well. Kyle S. Lamb (Aug 3, 2005 2:29:34 PM)
I want to add to what Dave said, that I hear the staff may have an interest in Wallace, so if he ends up in Ohio, I'm sure they will take a look