WPIAL legends come together for Stop the Violence Shootout

It’s not often WPIAL legends have the opportunity to get together and give back to their respective communities, but since 2018, Wilkinsburg alum Taz Williams and co-organizer Drew Schifino have brought some of the best basketball players in WPIAL history together.

In 2018, an alumni game between Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills sparked the idea for the Ballers Alumni Tournament, which took place for the first time in 2019. Then, after the coronavirus canceled last year’s tournament, Williams, who also starred at Point Park, and Schifino, who played at Penn Hills and West Virginia, morphed the tournament into a one-day shootout type event.

With 12 teams from 12 different communities, the Stop the Violence Shootout, which will take place Saturday at the Monroeville Pro Sports Center, is hoping to bring awareness to violence that is affecting communities around the Pittsburgh area.

“There is a lot of stuff going on in the city right now, and we’re just trying to create positive vibes,” Williams said.

Games will take place on three courts Saturday. The first set of games will start at 3 p.m. and another three will take place at 4:30 p.m. Doors will open at 2 p.m., and masks are required. Tickets are available for cash only and will be sold at the door. There also will be food and several vendors as well.

Teams from Westinghouse, Brashear, Wilkinsburg, Imani Christian, West Mifflin, Beaver Falls, Penn Hills, Perry, Allderdice, Woodland Hills, Schenley and Aliquippa will be participating, and the rosters are stacked with talent.

Lance and Sheldon Jeter are playing for Beaver Falls, while players like Dwight “Dewey” Hines, Antonio Reddic and Terry Patrick highlight the Aliquippa roster. Schifino will lead the Penn Hills roster and Schenley is set to have players like Larry and Jamaal “Onion” Bryant, Greg Blair, Chaz McCrommon, Shawn Hawkins and others.

“These guys are all-decade players, they weren’t just good in high school, they went on to have successful overseas careers and some went on to the NBA,” Williams said. “It’s pretty cool to see. I knew or played against just about everybody as far as the captains but the rosters range from ‘87 up to 2019. So, the rosters vary a lot.”

Woodlands Hills’ Keandre Bowles is one of the more recent high school graduates who is playing Saturday, and he might be joined by recent Super Bowl winning tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“I know Steve Breaston, who played in the NFL for a while, is playing, that’s what the Woody High guys are saying but I don’t know,” Schifino said about the possibility of Gronkowski playing. “If they bring Rob out I might as well bring Aaron Donald out.”

There also will be a Rising Stars All-Star game. Williams said he picked 12 players from the classes of 2024, 2025, and 2026 who play for programs around the area.

“I think every single one of these kids is going to go to school for free, I can guarantee it,” Williams said. “Some of these kids are the best in the state. I think two of them could even go to a Power 5.”

Williams said he’s splitting the 12 players into two teams and they will play 20 minutes running clock during the halftime intermission of each set of games.