Another of the Gateway Kromkas headed to college

Tri-State Sports & News Service

John Paul Kromka has so many basketball players in his family that his parents installed a second hoop in the family driveway.

It turned out to be a good idea.

“We used to have two, but the one broke, so now we only have one. We would hang on the rim a little bit. Sometimes a little too much,” said Kromka, a senior at Gateway and the third-youngest of Joe and Suzanne Kromka’s eight children.

Kromka sharpened his skills and developed some toughness playing in that driveway over the years, and it paid off recently when he became the fourth Kromka brother to earn a college basketball scholarship.

JPK is headed to UPJ. Kromka signed his letter of intent with Pitt-Johnstown last month. Pitt-Johnstown competes in the Division II PSAC. Kromka said he also considered Shippensburg, Case Western Reserve and some Division III schools.

John Paul follows in the footsteps of brothers Joe (Carnegie Mellon), Mike (Clarion) and Tom (Saint Vincent). Joe and Mike have seen their careers come to a close, while Tom is in his senior season.

“It’s great. I grew up watching my older brothers play and I always wanted to be like them. To go and do what they did, it means a lot,” said Kromka, a 6-foot-8 center who averaged 13.4 points per game and was named all-section his junior season.

Four brothers playing basketball in college is no small feat. Then again, the Kromkas are one tall family. Mike is 6 feet 6, Joe 6-5 and Tom 6-5. John Paul is the tallest. Their father is 6-4 and was a key player on the Ford City team that was a WPIAL and PIAA runner-up in 1979.

What makes the Kromkas’ story even more unique is that all four brothers committed to different schools. So, did any of the other three put the full-court press on John Paul tocommit to their schools? “Only jokingly,” he said. The other four siblings have all been basketball players, too. Joe and Kate played at Gateway, Mary is a junior and plays on the Gators’ girls team, and Will is an eighth-grader at St. Bernadette in Monroeville.

Who knows, Will could end up becoming the fifth Kromka brother to play in college.

“I don’t want to put any pressure on him,” John Paul said, laughing, “but he definitely has the makings of being a good player.”

P-T star

Penn-Trafford running back-cornerback John Gay had a terrific senior season and currently owns four scholarship offers.

Don’t be surprised if he ends up at one of the service academies. Navy was the first school to offer Gay. He made an official visit there last month and said he came away impressed. Air Force then joined the mix when it offered Gay this past weekend. Gay also holds offers from Howard and Seton Hill.

Gay (6 feet, 190 pounds) rushed for 1,285 yards and scored 19 touchdowns this season for Penn-Trafford, which finished as the WPIAL Class 5A runner-up after reaching the championship game for the third time in school history.

Gay’s father, also named John, played at West Virginia.

Commitments

• Apollo-Ridge senior basketball player Megan Ost to Carlow.

• Seneca Valley senior baseball player D.J. Alway to Slippery Rock.