One of the top guards in the WPIAL caught a college coaching staff off guard while on a visit two weeks ago.
Oakland Catholic’s London Creach sat in an office at Robert Morris surrounded by her parents and Colonials coaches when she notified them that she was committing to play for the school.
“They had shown us a slideshow of campus, and then at the end of the meeting they asked what my timeline [for committing] was looking like,” Creach recalled. “I told them I just wanted to commit that day, so I did.”
You could say that coach Chandler McCabe and her assistants were over the moon that Creach decided to play college ball in Moon.
“Everybody started jumping up and down,” added Creach. “[Assistant] Coach Eddie [Benton] started dancing. People were giving me hugs. They said they weren’t expecting me to commit that day.”
Creach, a 5-foot-8 guard who will be a senior at Oakland Catholic this fall, chose Robert Morris over offers from Monmouth, St. Bonaventure, Coppin State and Oakland. Creach was having an outstanding junior season before tearing the ACL in her left knee in Oakland Catholic’s win against North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals. Creach averaged 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.9 steals per game for a team that finished 26-3 and reached the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals. She was a first-team PUP all-star and a Class 5A second-team all-state pick.
Creach is a great catch for Robert Morris, and it turns out a Layke played a significant part in the Colonials reeling in one of the WPIAL’s biggest fish. Two days before Creach committed, the Colonials received a commitment from Kennedy Catholic junior forward Layke Fields, the state’s Class 2A player of the year each of the past two seasons. Creach and Fields are good friends and AAU teammates on the Western Pa. Bruins.
“A big plus for me was being with my best friend, Layke Fields,” Creach said. “We’ve been friends since seventh grade. Having someone like that there is a big plus for me. And when I went on campus, they had everything I wanted. My favorite fast food restaurant, everything. And I like the coaching staff. It felt like family.”
Creach — she said her favorite fast food spot is Chipotle, by the way — was offered by Robert Morris on March 30, less than two weeks after McCabe was introduced as the program’s new coach. While Creach’s relationship with McCabe (she was previously an assistant at Central Florida) is still in its early stages, Creach is tight with Benton, who coached her at Oakland Catholic the past two seasons before joining McCabe’s staff.
“I think [playing for Benton is] really good for me, especially for me in my situation with the torn ACL,” Creach said. “I feel like if I went somewhere else, no one would trust me like he does. He knows how I play and he believes in me. I just think it’s a blessing.”
Since McCabe arrived, Robert Morris has been recruiting the WPIAL heavily. The Colonials recently plucked Uniontown graduate Mya Murray (Brown) and Carlynton graduate Jada Lee (Mount St. Mary’s) from the transfer portal, and have offers out to several top local players, among them Peters Township’s Natalie Wetzel and Greensburg Central Catholic’s Erica Gribble. Kaylee DeAngelo, an Oakland Catholic freshman, visited Robert Morris along with Creach on May 23. Murray serves as another connection between Creach and the Robert Morris program, as the two are cousins.
As for the recovery from her injury, Creach said things are going smoothly. Creach had surgery to repair her torn ACL on April 10 and said she began rehab a week later. She has a time in mind for when she might return to action.
“I know I should be cleared by the fall, but I’m really thinking about January just to be safe,” she said.
Creach will have a new coach next season as Oakland Catholic hired Henry Schechter last month to replace Benton. Schechter guided James River, Va., to the state final in Virginia’s second-largest classification last season. Oakland Catholic lost only two seniors to graduation and is expected to compete for WPIAL and PIAA titles next season.
Many offers for Mimi
It’s been a big spring for Quaker Valley sophomore Mimi Thiero, who has collected more than a two dozen Division I offers. Thiero, a 6-4 center who plays for SLAAM, certainly landed some significant ones Monday when she picked up her first Ivy League offers (Harvard and Penn) along with her first Big Ten offer (Purdue). Boston College, Providence and Robert Morris are among the schools to offer Thiero in recent months. Duquesne was the first to offer last September. Thiero averaged 19.5 points, 13.9 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game last season when she was named Class 4A third-team all-state.
Warfield to Gannon
As a starting guard at Howard, Central Valley graduate Isiah Warfield played in the NCAA tournament last season. Warfield has decided to change schools, and his new team was actually a win away from reaching the Final Four a season ago.
Warfield transferred to Gannon, which went 32-3 and reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season. A 6-5 guard, Warfield has one remaining season of eligibility after playing three seasons at Liberty and one at Howard. Warfield, the son of Aliquippa football coach Mike Warfield, averaged 7.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3 assists a game for Howard, which won the MEAC tournament championship before losing an NCAA First Four game to Wagner.
Elsewhere …
Pitt extended an offer to Devin Fitzgerald, a 6-2 sophomore wide receiver from Brophy Prep in Phoenix and son of Pitt great Larry Fitzgerald. The younger Fitzgerald also holds offers from Arizona, Washington State, Bowling Green, Akron and San Diego. … Aliquippa freshman defensive back Larry Moon continues to reel in major offers, the latest coming Monday from Notre Dame. National champion Michigan and LSU also recently offered Moon, whose offer list includes Pitt, Penn State, USC and Miami. … The son of a former Steelers linebacker picked up his first offer Tuesday. Pine-Richland sophomore wide receiver-linebacker Lawrence “Jay” Timmons was offered by Akron. His father, Lawrence, was a first-round pick by the Steelers in 2007 and played for the team for a decade. … After picking up his first offer from Akron on Monday, Chartiers Valley freshman defensive back Zachary Gleason received one from Pitt on Tuesday.
Baseball commitments
Latrobe’s Riley Smith (Westmoreland County Community College); Shaler’s Chase Beran (Seton Hill); South Fayette’s Ethan Rose (East Carolina).
Basketball commitment
South Fayette’s Michael Plasko (Washington & Jefferson).
Football commitment
Thomas Jefferson’s Aidan Whalen (Case Western Reserve).
Track & field commitments
Butler’s Landon Lacey (Duquesne); Canon-McMillan’s Louis Liberatore (Duquesne).
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.