WPIAL delays decision about Moon basketball transfers' eligibility | Trib HSSN
Monday, May 12, 2025 | 8:29 PM
Christopher Horner | TribLive
Jackson Bauman scores for Knoch against North Catholic on Feb. 4 in Cranberry.
The basketball eligibility of Moon transfers Jackson and Brody Bauman won’t be decided until next month.
The WPIAL board on Monday voted to delay a decision until its next meeting. The Bauman brothers transferred from Knoch to Moon after their father, Alan, resigned in April as Knoch boys basketball coach.
Neither school has contested the transfer as athletically motivated. Rather, WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said the WPIAL board simply wanted to gather more information about their move before finalizing the Baumans’ eligibility.
The board meets again June 16.
Jackson Bauman, a 6-foot-2 point guard, averaged a team-best 16 points as a junior this past season. Knoch made its first state playoff appearance since 2006, and Bauman and was named the Valley News Dispatch Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Younger brother Brody Bauman came off the bench as a sophomore.
Their father, Alan, said last month that his resignation was “the best thing for both our family and Knoch basketball,” without elaborating. The Knights went 55-60 in his five seasons as coach and 34-19 over the past two. The team made the playoffs four times.
Since his resignation, Alan Bauman said he bought a house in the Moon Area School District so he could become more involved in a family-owned trucking business.
“We have a huge contract out on Neville Island, and we also do work in Ambridge,” Alan Bauman said. “My boss is my uncle, and with me not coaching, he wanted me to get more involved. I am handling that side of the business over there.”
The WPIAL must decide both regular-season and postseason eligibility.
Under PIAA rules, most transfers are automatically ineligible for the playoffs for one year, unless they meet specific criteria for a postseason waiver. One of the qualifying criteria involves a change in employment.
According to PIAA bylaws, a postseason waiver can be granted “following a bona fide change of residence resulting from a change in employer of a parent.” However, the bylaws note that “a job reclassification or shift hours change with a current employer will not support a request under this provision.”
The WPIAL board is making its decision based on paperwork submitted by the schools. Depending on the outcome, Moon can later request an appeal hearing.
Officers elected
The four officers now leading the WPIAL board will keep their jobs for another year.
Board members voted Monday to retain Peters Township athletic director Brian Geyer as president, Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan as vice president, Brentwood principal Jason Olexa as treasurer and Hempfield event coordinator Tom Evans as secretary.
The 2025-26 school year starts July 1.
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 [email protected].
