Kromka star at UPJ, on court, in classroom
John Paul Kromka isn’t exactly your typical low-post rim protector.
The Pitt-Johnstown sophomore and Gateway grad stands 6 feet 7 and weighs about 210 pounds, meaning he would project as more of a small forward than a power forward or center were he to play at the next level.
He didn’t play AAU basketball growing up, choosing instead to take part in other sports in the offseason like volleyball and swimming.
And unlike many of the NCAA’s top student-athletes who understandably pursue less rigorous majors, Kromka is pursuing his degree in mechanical engineering — and doing so while earning third-team Academic All-American honors this past year with a 3.92 GPA. He was one of only two underclassmen among the 15 Division II players tabbed as Academic All-Americans.
Simply put, the Mountain Cats’ baby-faced big man is just different — just ask his coach.
“He’s the first captain I’ve ever named as a sophomore,” said longtime UPJ coach Bob Rukavina. “He goes out and plays hard every play and does all the right things, and a leader does that. He does a great job for us.
“I’ve never had a sophomore get the accolades he’s gotten this year.”
What accolades is Rukavina referring to, you ask? Well, where to begin?
On top of the Academic AllAmerican distinction, Kromka has received plenty of recognition for his on-court exploits in two years as a Mountain Cat. Last year, he was named the PSAC West Freshman of the Week four times, then went on to take home PSAC West Freshman of the Year and PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year honors while also being voted onto the All-PSAC West second team.
As a sophomore, Kromka was tabbed as the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week five times as well as the PSAC West Athlete of the Week three times. He won his second consecutive PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year award, and this time, he made it onto the AllPSAC West first team.
Most recently, and perhaps most significantly, he was voted secondteam All-Atlantic Region by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Division II Conference Commissioners Association.
“In terms of accomplishments, it definitely is the biggest one yet,” Kromka said of the All-Region selection. “But I’m hoping to not stop there. We’re hoping to keep on going.”
Ever since he arrived on campus, Kromka has been an integral piece of UPJ’s lineup.
In his very first game as a freshman, he hit a game-winning free throw with one second left to help the Mountain Cats upset nationally ranked Virginia State. He then went on to average nearly 15 points per game while pulling down a team-high 7.7 rebounds per contest — not to mention shooting a remarkable 63.7% from the field as well as 80.3% from the free-throw line.
“We didn’t know what to expect last year. We had, I think, five freshmen in our top seven guys,”
Rukavina said. “It was the youngest team I ever had and I just didn’t know what to expect, and we won 17 games, so we said we’re excited about the future.
“We said, ‘When these guys get to be juniors and seniors, watch out.’ And that’s coming up, so we’ll see.”
The 2019-20 season was more of the same for Kromka, who continued to stuff the stat sheet while being asked to take on an expanded role in UPJ’s offense. He finished the season as the Mountain Cats’ leading scorer (15.2 ppg), rebounder (8.3 rpg) and shot blocker (2.5 bpg), all while converting 61.4% of his attempts from the field and 74.8% from the free-throw line.
According to Rukavina, Kromka wouldn’t be wise to get too comfortable in his current role, though. With UPJ losing senior guard Josh Wise to graduation, Rukavina will be counting on Kromka to be even more aggressive on offense while stepping up as the team’s primary scoring threat.
“He’s so unselfish, that we had to call him in and I said, ‘Look, OK, you’re actually being selfish for being so unselfish,’ and he understood,” Rukavina said. “We told him the last two weeks, ‘Just go out and look to score,’ and he did.
“He had some big games down the stretch, so that was good to see.”
WIth Kromka leading the way, the Mountain Cats improved from 17 wins in 2018-19 to 22 wins in 201920. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament before falling to No. 2 seed Mercyhurst, 8466, effectively ending their season.
It wasn’t the result they had hoped for, but Kromka is confident it’s only the beginning of even better things to come for the program — provided he can handle the pressure of shouldering the bulk of the load on offense.
“I definitely need to try to get used to that role. It’s definitely [going to be] different than having Josh these past two years,” Kromka said.
“I’m not Josh Wise, so I need to adapt my game to get a bucket whenever we need to get a bucket.”
As long as Kromka continues to develop his game and stays healthy, he’s going to be spending a lot of time hunting down milestones over the next two seasons. He’ll enter his junior year with 918 career points and 489 career rebounds, which means finishing his career with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds isn’t out of the question. In fact, it’s well within reach.
Also in reach is the school’s alltime scoring record of 2,073 points, held by current Serra Catholic boys basketball coach Justin Walther.
His college career is only halfway over though, and Kromka still has plenty left to accomplish. For now, his focus remains firmly set on winning games and trying to get UPJ back to the NCAA tournament.
“That was the goal this past year, so the overall goal is going to stay the same in junior year, and then senior year again,” Kromka said. “It’s definitely something that we all want to do pretty badly. It’s definitely something we’re striving for.”
Rukavina, though, has already seen enough. He has seen plenty of top players come and go while racking up more than 500 wins in his 31 years as the Mountain Cats’ coach, and he’s already convinced Kromka ranks among the cream of the crop.
“He could end up being one of the best [Mountain Cats] of all time, no question, and I think he will,” Rukavina said. “And the best thing about him is, he’s one of the most humble guys you’ve ever seen.
“We’ve had some of the best big guys in D-II since I’ve been here, and he’s going to be right up there with them, no question.”