WPIAL clears 6-9 basketball player Ama Sow after transfer to Montour

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, January 6, 2023 | 5:16 PM

Montour sophomore Ama Sow kept asking boys basketball coach Bill Minear the same question.

“He would ask, ‘When can I play? When can I play?’” said Minear, who finally could answer his question Friday, after the WPIAL held an eligibility hearing and fully cleared Sow to play this season for the Spartans.

A 6-foot-9 native of Senegal, Sow originally arrived in Western Pennsylvania to attend First Love Christian Academy, which ran a prep school basketball program in Washington County. Minear said Sow was in limbo when the program moved across the state, becoming First Love at Scotland Campus, so Sow moved in with a resident in the Montour district.

“He was kind of left stranded,” Minear said. “He has no family in the country, so he had nowhere to go when they closed their facility in Western Pa.”

Sow was considered eligible and played the first six games this season for Montour, before the WPIAL scheduled Friday’s hearing. Minear said Sow averaged around 12 rebounds per game in that span, but the team started 2-4.

He last played Dec. 17.

Minear said Sow won’t start Friday night but will be in the rotation when Montour (3-7, 0-1) hosts South Allegheny (9-0, 1-0) in Section 4-4A.

“He just turned 16, he’s in 10th grade, so obviously he needs coached,” Minear said. “He knows very little nuance of the game, but the potential is up there.”

The PIAA postseason rule doesn’t affect Sow since he transferred before the start of 10th grade. He’ll be eligible for the playoffs, if Montour qualifies for the postseason.

“I’m happy now he knows,” Minear said. “He can just move forward. It was difficult seeing the disappointment in his face.”

The WPIAL also granted regular-season eligibility in boys basketball to Uniontown transfer Kelan Milsom and Penn Hills transfer Lamire Redman. Redman, who previously attended Central Catholic, can also participate in the postseason. However, Milsom, a junior from Laurel Highlands, is ineligible for the playoffs under PIAA rules.

Montour forward @SowTening is electric!!! pic.twitter.com/Delkp1aQLg

— Jeremy Grubbs (@iamCoachGrubbs) December 9, 2022

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: Montour