Gateway grad, John Paul Kromka off to fast start this season for Pitt-Johnstown

Two seasons ago, as a sophomore on the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team, Gateway graduate John Paul Kromka averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds a game as the Mountain Cats went 22-9 overall, 15-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and made it to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Kromka hoped to build on that season, but the covid pandemic laid waste to those plans as the entire 2020-21 schedule was canceled.

A 20-practice, two-scrimmage stretch in March brought the team back together, but Kromka said it just wasn’t the same.

Now, Pitt-Johnstown, along with many other programs in the same boat last winter, is back to a regular schedule. Kromka is returning to form and hoping to take that next step forward.

“Last winter was pretty interesting with all of the school’s covid-related restrictions,” said Kromka, who is averaging 17 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, and 3.0 assists through last Wednesday’s 95-83 loss to perennial NCAA Division II power West Liberty State. Pitt-Johnstown is 2-1 overall.

“I was joking with all my family and friends that I felt like a normal college student where I could come home and have a full winter break and not have to come back to school early. We were limited to what we could do, but I was able to go to the gym and also get on the court to shoot and do other things. It definitely was challenging, but I wanted to get into a routine of work so I would be ready when we got the chance to play again. I wanted to take full advantage of whatever opportunity I was given.”

Pitt-Johnstown coach Bob Rukavina said Kromka made his time count in staying in top form despite the limited amount of time available to stay sharp.

“You can see how much stronger JP is,” Rukavina said. “There is a difference. A lot of that has to do with just being a year older in college, but he also worked extremely hard at it.”

Kromka played in the Pittsburgh Pro-Am League over the summer, and he was on the team that won the league championship.

“I know he played really well throughout the summer,” Rukavina said. “He really benefited from that game experience.”

Kromka kicked off the season in a big way in Pitt-Johnstown’s 96-91 overtime victory over Concord (W.Va.) Nov. 12 at IUP’s Hilton Garden Inn Classic.

He scored a game-high 26 points on 11 of 14 shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds, and blocked five shots.

“The morning of the game, I went down to shoot around a little bit, and I was already getting those pre-game jitters, six or seven hours before the game even started,” Kromka said.

“It had been a while, well over a year and a half since we last played, but it is starting to feel like we are really swinging back into things.”

Rukavina said he was very impressed with Kromka’s performance in the opener.

“I thought he was dominant,” Rukavina said.

“It was one of the most dominant performances from one of our big guys since our assistant coach, Pat Grubbs, played here. He did everything for us in that game. He has really come into his own, and he showed it in that game. I feel he is not only the best player in the PSAC but also one of the best players in the country.”

Grubbs, a Serra Catholic graduate, is Pitt-Johnstown’s all-time leading rebounder with 996. Kromka has 524 rebounds, and he added to that total with 14 to go along with 15 points, three blocks and five assists in the Mountain Cats’ 77-49 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan on night two of the IUP tournament.

For his efforts in both tournament games, Kromka earned PSAC Western Division Defensive Player of the Week honors Nov. 15.

Kromka, who owns a 3.9 grade-point average in mechanical engineering, said he appreciated the opportunity to play a program like West Liberty State despite coming up on the short end of the result. He finished the game with 10 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and four assists.

“It was good to play them, especially early in the season,” Kromka said. “They seem to always make the (NCAA) tournament and always do well. Those are the type of teams we always want to test ourselves against. That’s where we want to be at the end of the year, right there with them. That gave us some insight on what we need to work on.”