Standing 6 feet 10, it’s difficult for Tyler Robbins to catch anyone by surprise.
But that’s not to say that Robbins himself isn’t surprised every now and then.
Case in point: Robbins, a rising senior at Upper St. Clair, visited Duquesne with his parents on Tuesday. And by the time he left the Bluff, Robbins was the proud new owner of a scholarship offer from the reigning Atlantic 10 tournament champions.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” Robbins admitted. “It was cool that they did that.”
Extending Robbins an offer seems like the trendy thing to do these days. Robbins picked up three of them on Tuesday, the others coming from Robert Morris and Pepperdine. Robbins was previously offered by Saint Francis and Loyola.
“That kind of caught me off guard a little bit,” Robbins said of sudden surge of offers.
It’s been a strong summer for Robbins, a teen with a 7-2 wingspan who continues to build off the momentum of his breakout junior season. After seeing limited minutes a season earlier, Robbins evolved into a force on both ends of the court, averaging 13.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.1 blocks. Robbins was the star of the WPIAL Class 6A championship, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks to help Upper St. Clair defeat Baldwin for its fourth title.
The WPIAL championship was played at Pitt, and while Robbins said he hasn’t gotten any interest from the Panthers — he did say he would be very interested if the Panthers did pursue him — three other Western Pennsylvania schools (Duquesne, Robert Morris and Saint Francis) have put their names in the running for Robbins, who plays AAU for Team Durant.
Robbins, whose sister, Kate, plays at Marist, said the Duquesne offer was a big one for him, adding that Dukes’ coaches have told him they like his playing style and his demeanor on and off the court.
“It was cool because staying home is important and that’s kind of a big jump in schools,” said Robbins, whose mom, Kim (Seaver) Robbins, was a standout at Mt. Lebanon who went on to play at Virginia Tech.
Robbins and his Upper St. Clair teammates have a big weekend ahead of them. The Panthers are one of three local teams (Imani Christian and Allderdice are the others) that will be in Philadelphia competing in the loaded Philly Live summer event. The Panthers open play Friday with games against Archbishop Wood and Archbishop Carroll.
Allderdice hooper offered
Trey Schachter has a fitting first name for a kid who is known to shoot it well from the outside.
“He’s a very good catch-and-shoot 3-point guy,” Allderdice coach Devin Crummie said.
Schachter was a reserve on Allderdice’s City League championship team last season, but the 6-3 guard will enter his senior season with a Division I offer in hand. He recently received an offer from Green Bay, which competes in the Horizon League. Schachter plays AAU for All Ohio Red of the Nike EYBL.
“It’s a pretty high-level AAU team,” Crummie said. “He’s played well for us, too, but I think that’s where a lot of the attention has come from.”
Schachter, who lives in Squirrel Hill, attended Lincoln Park before transferring to Allderdice prior to his junior season. Crummie said the commute to Midland got to be too long for Schachter, so he decided to switch schools. Schachter averaged five points a game while playing 9.7 minutes per game last season for the Dragons. He shot 47% from the field and 34% from 3-point range.
With three starters graduating, Crummie said Schachter could have a big role next season when the Dragons try to win a fourth consecutive City League title.
Said Crummie, “He has a very good chance to make the starting lineup for us and to be one of our major players.
Rising freshman picks up offers
Taylor McCullough has yet to begin high school, but the soon-to-be freshman at Peters Township is already attracting the interest of college coaches. McCullough, a 5-6 guard, picked up her first Division I offers Wednesday. Mount St. Mary’s and Maryland Baltimore County offered McCullough, who is also an excellent soccer player.
Gompers, Price commit
A pair of senior standouts recently committed to FBS schools. Central Catholic tight end-linebacker Bradley Gompers (6-5, 215) committed to Duke. Gompers chose the Blue Devils over a list of offers that included Pitt, West Virginia and Michigan State. Meanwhile, Seneca Valley cornerback Jayden Price (6-3, 190) picked Toledo. Price also had offers from a few other MAC schools, as well as Air Force and Army.
Big guys to Princeton
Princeton has been busy building its offensive and defensive lines of the future, and a couple of seniors from the WPIAL appear to be a big part of the plans. In less than two weeks, a trio of WPIAL linemen made pledges to Princeton. The trio includes North Allegheny’s Jack Yatchenko (6-3, 285) and Upper St. Clair’s Nate Stohl (6-3, 265) and Michael Albert (6-3, 245). Yatchenko was a PUP All-Star pick and all-state selection as an offensive lineman last season.
Soccer commitment
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Jillian Botti (Seton Hill).
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.