Greatest duo of all time?
BOYS PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: LINCOLN PARK’S BRANDIN CUMMINGS AND MELEEK THOMAS Guards claim co-POY for 2nd straight season
As duos go, Brandin Cummings and Meleek Thomas certainly were dynamic. But for these two Lincoln Park basketball players, neither played the role of a sidekick, er, Robin.
Cummings and Thomas were more Batman and Batman.
For the past two seasons, these two 6-foot-4 guards took turns dominating, showing their wonderful talents and putting together countless shining moments. And for the second year in a row, Cummings and Thomas have been selected as the Post-Gazette co-Players of the Year.
The award takes into consideration all players in the WPIAL and City League. The PG has been selecting a POY since 1993 and only once before last year were co-Players of the Year selected. That was in 1993 when Shady Side Academy’s Peter Sauer and Sto-Rox’s Monty Latimer shared the award.
Thomas and Cummings were so good together the past two years and so much alike in their domination that the P-G found it impossible to distinguish one over the other for POY — in two different years.
But Thomas and Cummings are more than just a dynamic duo the past two seasons. Couple their statistics with their winning (two consecutive WPIAL and state championships) and could a case be made for the twosome to be among the best duos in WPIAL or City League history? Or at least the best guard duos?
Cummings, a senior nicknamed “Beebah,” finished his career with 2,224 points, which is 21st in WPIAL history. He also had 271 career 3-pointers. Thomas is only a junior and already has 1,750 career points and, barring injury, is a virtual lock to reach 2,000 points next season. The WPIAL has never had two players a year apart in school who both ended up with 2,000 points.
You’ll also be hard-pressed to find two players in the history of the WPIAL who both averaged more than 22 points a game in consecutive years. It has never been done at least since 1980, and maybe never. This season, Cummings averaged 23.9 points and 2.5 steals a game while making 85 3-pointers. His 37 points in the PIAA Class 4A championship tied for the most points scored ever by a WPIAL player in a state final.
Thomasaveraged 22.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.2 steals this season.
Then there are the college futures for both. Not many WPIAL or City League teams in the past 50 years have had two players go to Power Six
colleges. Cummings will play at Pitt. Thomas hasn’t made a college decision but he is ranked by scouting services as one of the top 10 juniors in the country. Among his final list of 12 colleges are Pitt, Kentucky, Auburn, Kansas, Indiana and Tennessee.
But are Thomas and Cummings really on the same level of legendary WPIAL or City League duos? Midland’s Simmie Hill and Norm Van Lier in 1965; Ambridge’s Dennis Wuycik and Dick DeVenzio (also with Frank Kaufman) in 1967; Farrell’s Willie Somerset and Brian Generalovich in 1960; Uniontown’s Don Yates and Ron Sepic in 1962; Laurel Highlands’ Wil Robinson and Jim Hobgood in 1968; Schenley’s Ricky Coleman and Jeep Kelley (also with Maurice Lucas) in 1971; and Schenley’s DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy (also with DeAndre Kane) are just a few of the memorable duos.
Well, to get an idea of where Thomas and Cummings fit in, the Post-Gazette thought it would be best to ask some former coaches and players who know a thing or two about dynamic duos:
John Miller is a legendary former WPIAL coach at Blackhawk and Riverside who is seventh on the WPIAL all-time wins list with a record of 657-280. He won eight WPIAL titles (tied for second-most) and four state titles. But he also played at Moon (1961 graduate) and saw many of the all-time great duos like Hill and Van Lier at Midland.
“If it was back in the era of the great days, [Thomas and Cummings] would be two of the top guys, but I don’t know if they would be the top two because the era of many years ago was so different because there were so many good players and bigtime players around here,” Miller said. “I’m not saying these guys today can’t play, but basketball in this area is just not the same.
“Just take the old Section 3 back in the days when you had Farrell, Sharon, New Castle, Butler, Beaver Falls, Ambridge and Aliquippa in the same section and they were all really good teams with big-time players. They didn’t have the 3-pointer back then, either. I’d like to see Lincoln Park play Farrell, Sharon, New Castle, Aliquippa back in the heydays. I don’t think Lincoln Park would be running roughshod over those teams. I’ve watched [Thomas and Cummings]. They’re both really, really good players who will probably make it in college. But it’s tough to compare the eras.
B.B. Flenory was one of the best guards to play in the WPIAL at Valley High. In ninth grade, he made Sports Illustrated’s “Faces In The Crowd” for scoring 81 points in a junior-high game (freshmen didn’t play on the varsity at Valley at the time). He had two terrific seasons as a junior and senior and went on to have a stellar career at Duquesne University.
“I followed what [Cummings and Thomas] did all year,” Flenory said. “I think they have different skill sets, but what I found unique about them is they weren’t ball dominant, at least with each other. Sometimes when you have two guards who are really good, one still has to dominate the ball and it takes away the effectiveness of the other. It seemed like they deferred to each other as the game dictated.
“There’s no doubt the competition is weaker than the 60s or 70s. I’d say it started to go down after maybe 1979. I mean there was a time when you had maybe 40 Division I players every year from here [in the WPIAL and City League]. But these two guys are recognized nationally. When you’re in national scouting rankings as one of the top juniors in the country, like Thomas, that adds validity to them. I think just those national rankings say they at least deserve to be in the conversation with the best duos from here.”
Dante Calabria is a former Blackhawk High star considered one of the WPIAL’s best players in the past 40 years. He went on to a nice career at the University of North Carolina and had a long professional career overseas. He has been Bethel Park’s coach the past two seasons and his team scrimmaged Lincoln Park this season. He also has attended a few Lincoln Park practices because he is friends with Lincoln Park assistant Greg Cercone.
“They’re both really good with the ball, both can shoot it, change speeds well, have great hesitations, explosion and quickness,” Calabria said. “But it’s really hard to compare because the talent level around here isn’t what it was a long time ago.
“I wasn’t around to see Norm Van Lier and Simmie Hill, but I’ve heard enough stories about guys like that. It’s just that basketball is a totally different style than back then. It’s very hard to compare eras. But give credit where credit is due. [Thomas and Cummings] are very good and I think they established themselves enough to at least be in the discussion with some duos.”
Mark Jula coached at five different WPIAL high schools and had a 561-378 record before retiring. But he also was a standout guard at Ambridge (1971 graduate) and came only a few years after the famous 1967 Ambridge team that featured DeVenzio and Wuycik.
“I’ve always said Wuycik was the best I ever saw, but he was a forward,” Jula said. “Simmie Hill was a forward. There have been some great duos and it’s hard to compare because of the competition now and then. But if you’re talking just a guard duo, I would say you’d probably be hard-pressed to find two guards from around here who were big-time players and could score like these two could score.”
Rick Hauger coached Laurel Highlands for 19 seasons before retiring last year. His teams played against Thomas and Cummings. But Hauger also was a player at Laurel Highlands (1971 graduate) and grew up watching a few great duos at Laurel Highlands and Uniontown.
“We’re talking about different eras. These guys today get to shoot 3-pointers and the competition was different years ago,” Hauger said. “But I think the story of these two [Cummings and Thomas] isn’t totally written yet because a lot will depend on what happens to them beyond high school.
“But when you look at it, how much more could these two have done? I think at the very least they have to be on the fringe of the conversation of best duo of guards.”