Trib HSSN May Madness: Lamont Wade, Clairton vs. T.J. McConnell, Chartiers Valley

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, May 20, 2020 | 9:00 AM

Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, May Madness will have one matchup each on the boys and girls bracket with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday and running through 9 a.m. Thursday, you can vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this first-round matchup.

Check the HSSN website at noon Thursday for the matchup’s final results.

Here is the contest for the boys. Round 1, Day 14:

Lamont Wade vs. T.J. McConnell is a battle between the nephew of a coach from a small school in the second 10 years of the century against the son of a coach from a bigger school in the first decade of this century.

Lamont Wade — Clairton Class of 2017

(Football, track and field, basketball, baseball)

• 2016 Gatorade Pennsylvania football player of the year.

• 2016 Pennsylvania sports writers Class A player of the year and USA Today all-state first team.

• 2016 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 25 all-star.

• Ranked No. 11 in the country and No. 1 in Pennsylvania by Rivals.com and ranked No. 17 in the country and No. 1 in Pennsylvania by Scout.com.

• Finished his career with 7,079 rushing yards, which was third in WPIAL history. He also had a district record 117 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in his four years at Clairton.

• As a senior, Wade rushed for 2,368 yards and scored 40 touchdowns on offense and had four interceptions on defense.

• In his four years, Wade helped Clairton go 51-5 and win three straight WPIAL football championships his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

• Played two years for the Clairton basketball, baseball and track teams. He helped the Bears reach the WPIAL Class A basketball finals in 2016 and won gold in the 2016 WPIAL long jump.

• Plays college football as a safety at Penn State.

T.J. McConnell — Chartiers Valley Class of 2010

(Basketball)

• 2010 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review player of the year and Terrific 25 all-star.

• 2010 Associated Press Pennsylvania Class AAA player of the year.

• 2010 first team all-state.

• Averaged more than 34 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists per game in his senior year in 2009-10.

• As a senior, led Chartiers Valley to a 29-2 record, a WPIAL Class AAA championship with a 63-50 win over Hampton and a berth in the PIAA title game where the Colts lost to Neumann-Goretti, 65-63.

• Scored a record 1,062 points his senior year, giving him 2,406 points in his career, fifth best in WPIAL history.

• A four-year starter, McConnell helped Chartiers Valley reach the WPIAL Class AAA finals as a freshman in 2007, a 62-58 double overtime loss to West Allegheny.

• Inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2016.

• Started playing college basketball at Duquesne before transferring to Arizona. He plays in the NBA with Indiana after starting his career in Philadelphia.

Lamont Wade – @Goony_38
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T.J. McConnell – @TJMcConnell

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 20, 2020

Tags: Chartiers Valley, Clairton