Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Belle Vernon’s Devin Whitlock
Luke Campbell/Observer-Reporter
Sophomore point guard Devin Whitlock averaged 19.4 points per game and had two games of double-digit assists in leading Belle Vernon to a runner-up finish in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs and a win in the PIAA tournament.
Luke Campbell /Observer-Reorter
Sophomore point guard Devin Whitlock averaged 19.4 points per game and had two games of double-digit assists in leading Belle Vernon to a runner-up finish in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs and a win in the PIAA tournament.
Devin Whitlock
The clock inside North Allegheny High School’s gymnasium ticked under five seconds.
Devin Whitlock pointed at the rim for Thomas Hepple to add the game’s exclamation point. After taking a pass that put them in alone in the frontcourt, as New Castle had hoisted the white flag on the game, Hepple threw down a two-handed dunk and a courtstorming by the Belle Vernon boys basketball team ensued.
Whitlock had met Hepple at the hoop, simultaneous to his dunk. He jumped just as high. He was just as excited.
The Leopards had just knocked off the three-time defending 4A champions in the district semifinals en route to their first trip to the WPIAL finals since 1978. And while a two-handed jam might never be in the cards for Whitlock, who is usually the smallest player on the floor, the mentality the sophomore brought to the Belle Vernon basketball team spoke loudly enough.
“There is no doubt that he brought it every night,” Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino said. “Devin pushed the point that we were never underdogs. He is the kid that thinks he is the better player no matter who he goes up against, no matter the size. That’s the kind of kid you want on your team.”
For helping take Belle Vernon from an eight-win team last year to 20 wins and the WPIAL runner-up spot in Class 4A, Whitlock has been selected the Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Whitlock is only the second player ever from Belle Vernon to be named the O-R player of the year. The other was Vince Graham in 1994.
A sophomore point guard, Whitlock did it with more than just his 19.4 points per game scoring average and leading the Leopards in scoring in 21 of 28 games. He brought more to the table than the two double-digit assist games that led Belle Vernon to postseason wins.
Whitlock helped unlock the true potential of the Leopards.
“From the beginning of the year, we felt like coming off a good football season that we had a good chance to be great. We knew we had something,” said Whitlock, who did not play a basketball game in a Belle Vernon uniform until this season.
Whitlock transferred from Monessen last summer after leading the Greyhounds to the both the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals as a freshman.
Stepping into the point guard position – a move that swung Cam Nusser to a more natural role as a shooting guard – helped create a one-two punch in the backcourt. Combine that with the leadership of senior forward Mitch Pohlot and it helped create vast improvements from a season ago when the Leopards started 2-14 in Salvino’s first season.
“I definitely saw a couple things coming in,” Whitlock said. “I knew if me and Cam could click, then we could both have big nights. At first, Cam and I were just regular teammates with the same goals, trying to get wins and make it to the (Petersen Events Center, site of the WPIAL finals). Our relationship blossomed. We have ended up being best friends.”
Whitlock wasn’t kidding when he felt right at home from the start of the season at Belle Vernon. He scored at least 25 points in each of the Leopards’ first four games.
He eclipsed 20 points 14 different times throughout the season, including two games of 30-plus points. Whitlock led Belle Vernon in scoring in four of its six playoff games, even finding success in both of the Leopards’ postseason losses. He scored 25 points with five assists and three steals in a 72-54 loss to top-seeded Highlands in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game. In an 84-82 loss in four overtimes to Lancaster Catholic in the second round of the state tournament, Whitlock scored 14 points, had 10 assists, collected five rebounds and had three steals.
The Leopards stopped a 38-year drought without a PIAA playoff victory when Whitlock scored 15 points and finished with 11 assists in a 65-60 win over District 9 champion Clearfield.
“The run in the playoffs was fantastic,” Salvino said. “I’ve been doing this a long time and have had teams that people expected to be there. I don’t think anybody gave them a chance. That in itself was phenomenal. I have to give those kids all the credit in the world. They weren’t going to be denied.”
Whitlock has already surpassed 1,000 points in his young career, a plateau many high school players don’t reach until their junior or senior seasons. It was an achievement pushed aside as Whitlock became one of the leaders who kept Belle Vernon focused on team play and winning games.
“I think coming in they needed a little bit of leadership,” Whitlock said. “I tried to bring a little bit of that with some of the seniors. I feel like coming in expecting to win is how you have to view everything.”