The WPIAL Board of Directors will meet Monday afternoon, and the eligibility of two former Knoch students and basketball players is one of the items on the agenda.
Jackson Bauman, a rising senior point guard who led the Knights to a runner-up finish in Section 1-4A, a fifth-place finish in the WPIAL tournament and a spot in the PIAA playoffs, is now enrolled at Moon.
Jackson’s younger brother, Brody, a rising junior who was part of a group of players who came off the varsity bench this past season, also has enrolled at Moon.
Their father, Alan Bauman, who resigned as Knoch’s coach following the season, said a change in his job necessitated his family’s move.
“I work for our family trucking company, and we have places throughout the country,” Bauman said.
“We have a huge contract out on Neville Island, and we also do work in Ambridge. My boss is my uncle, and with me not coaching, he wanted me to get more involved. I am handling that side of the business over there.”
He said that as part of the changes, his family bought a house in the Moon Area School District.
The board on Monday will determine the Bauman brothers’ eligibility status for the regular season and the playoffs.
The Bauman brothers fall under a PIAA rule that states when athletes transfer after their sophomore seasons, they are ruled ineligible for postseason games with their new team.
There are exceptions to that rule, one being a change in a family member’s employment status, and the WPIAL committee will examine all of the information and make a ruling.
Jackson Bauman was a difference maker for Knoch in the 2024-25 season. The Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year averaged 16 points a game for the Knights, who defeated rival Deer Lakes in the Class 4A fifth-place game in late February with a trip to states on the line.
In that game, Bauman scored 21 points, added 10 rebounds, and dished out five assists.
Knoch qualified for the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2006.