Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Schenley's Jaamal Bryant (15) and Embry Williams celebrate after defeating Chester, 78-71, in the PIAA boys' Class AAAA championship Saturday at Penn State.

By Mike White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Schenley High School boys' basketball team is in the process of raising money to order rings for winning a PIAA championship.

But it looks as if the Spartans already have a spot in the ring of Western Pennsylvania's all-time great teams.

Some coaches, former players and followers of Western Pennsylvania basketball are calling Schenley the best team from the City League or WPIAL in the past 25 years. They also are calling Schenley possibly one of the top 10 teams of all time.

But top five? Hold on. It seems no one is quite ready to put the Spartans on the same level as the 1967 Ambridge team, or Midland in '65, or Schenley in '71 or Schenley in '66, or Fifth Avenue in '76. Those are some teams mentioned often as the best in Western Pennsylvania history.

	Related chart Comparing greatness

Dwight Clay is a Fifth Avenue High graduate who played against the '71 Schenley team that featured future NBA player Maurice Lucas. Clay, who played at Notre Dame, puts this Schenley team in the top 10 all time. He officiated a few Schenley games this season.

"They were very good," Clay said, "but I don't think they could've beaten the Maurice Lucas team, or the Kenny Durrett Schenley team [of 1966] or the Sam Clancy Fifth Avenue team [of '76]. I would put them right in line after the Clancy team."

Durrett was a college All-American at La Salle and the No. 4 pick in the 1971 NBA draft. Clancy had a stellar Pitt career.

Highly successful former Blackhawk coach John Miller saw Schenley play and believes the Spartans belong in the top 10 of all time.

"But people don't understand today what basketball was like around here back in the 1960s and '70s," Miller said. "There were some fierce teams. Myself, I'm partial to the '65 Midland team and the '67 Ambridge team."

The '65 Midland team had point guard Norm Van Lier and 6-foot-7 forward Simmie Hill. Van Lier made the NBA All-Star game three times.

Miller was an assistant coach at Moon when the '67 Ambridge team went undefeated. From that team, Dick DeVenzio went to Duke, Dennis Wuycik to North Carolina and Frank Kaufman to Purdue.

Kaufman watched on television this past Saturday as Schenley defeated Chester, 78-71, in the PIAA championship.

"I really can't make any comparisons with this Schenley team," Kaufman said. "But after having 40 years to think about this whole thing, my feeling is that Ambridge in 1967 was playing extremely well in February and March. It would've been very difficult for any of these quality teams to beat us during that time."

Kaufman did say Schenley could be a top 10 team.

This season, Schenley defeated perennial eastern Pennsylvania power Chester twice and also beat DeMatha Catholic (Md.), 85-74. DeMatha had four Division I recruits.

Schenley finished with a 29-3 record and was ranked in the top 20 in the country in three different polls. One of the losses was by forfeit for using an ineligible player. The other two losses were to Lake Howell (Fla.), 88-75, and Lincoln (N.Y.), 75-54.

Lincoln won the New York City championship this year and a state title. Lake Howell won the Florida 5A state championship and had two players who signed with the University of Florida.

"The thing about this Schenley team is you'll remember some of their players' names for a long time," said Dave Pober, a longtime member of the selection committee for the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic, a high-profile all-star game played in Pittsburgh from 1965-92. "I think what they did is so refreshing. Western Pennsylvania basketball had a lull for so long. Now we have a team, a City League team, that will be remembered for a long time."

The player recognized as the heart and soul of Schenley was DeJuan Blair, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound senior who has signed with Pitt.

Schenley's other four starters were 6-6 senior guard D.J. Kennedy, 6-2 junior guard Deandre Kane, 6-2 junior guard-forward Greg Blair, DeJuan's brother, and 5-10 senior point guard Jamaal "Onion" Bryant.

The two Blairs, Kane and Kennedy all averaged between 13 and 17 points a game. Bryant was a big key with his ballhandling, passing and defensive play.

"The thing that I liked about them is they played so unselfishly," said Bob Pajak, retired director of City League athletics.

And don't forget their coach, Fred Skrocki, who finally got a PIAA title in his 24th year as coach.

"I know there are going to be arguments about where this team belongs," Skrocki said. "But that's the way sports should be. It gets you talking."

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Comparing greatness

Schenley won five PIAA playoff games on its way to the Class AAAA title. Here is how the Spartans' run through the PIAA playoffs stacks up against some other great WPIAL and City League teams from the past half century that also won PIAA titles.

Year	School	Games	Points for	Points against
2007	Schenley	5	77.4	56.2
1992	Blackhawk	5	74.0	57.0
1976	Fifth Avenue	4	66.8	53.5
1971	Schenley	4	76.5	59.3
1967	Ambridge	3	79.7	57.7
1966	Schenley	3	71.0	62.3
1965	Midland	3	83.0	63.0
1964	Uniontown	3	70.3	48.0
1962	Uniontown	3	65.0	50.7
1960	Farrell	3	61.0	41.0
1955	McKeesport	3	68.7	52.0