Jeannette's Pompei hopes for a return trip to the 'Pete'
Michael Pompei, who is a junior at Jeannette High School, has a hard time picking a favorite sport. Basically, it comes down to which sport is in season. Right now, it's basketball. In the spring, it will probably be baseball.
Pompei started playing basketball in fifth grade, when he joined a Jeannette Knee High team. He got into basketball when he decided to stop wrestling.
“I wasn't very good, but I really liked the sport so I kept trying to get better as the years went by,” said Pompei. “I always thought it would be fun to play basketball. I've gotten better at it. It's fun.”
He likes that basketball gives him a chance to spend more time with his friends — he said the team is very close this year. “We're close and we made it to the championship last year,” said Pompei.
There were only three seniors last year, so much of this year's team members are returning players.
“We played JV together in seventh and eighth grade, so we've been playing together for a while,” he said.
Pompei is a shooting guard, he likes shooting the ball and driving to get other people open to receive a pass.
“In practice, we have fun but, at the same time, we're trying to get better,” he said. “We might be hard on each other, but only to help each other out.”
This team is definitely gearing up for what they hope will be another season that ends in a trip to the “Pete,” the Petersen Event Center, for a championship game.
“It was a cool experience,” said Pompei. “Pitt is my favorite college, it was cool to play in there. Since we were there last year, we don't want to take a step back. We want to get there again and have a better memory this year.”
Head Coach Adrian Batts is easy to get along with, he said.
“He's hard on us, but it's all to get better at the same time. Off the court, he's nice and helps. He's a nice guy.”
Pompei has given some thought to what he wants to do after high school, but he hasn't definitively settled on anything yet. He knows he wants to pursue math, possibly working in statistics.
“I've always been a sports fan, so when I was learning math it all came easy to me. In sports, when you score you have to add up the score so you get used to seeing it.”
He thinks he'll stay fairly close to home when it comes to choosing a college. If the opportunity to play a sport presents itself, Pompei will consider it.
His favorite sport to watch is NCAA basketball, specifically March Madness. He likes to participate in planning brackets, too.
Pompei is the son of Mike and Toni Pompei and the older brother of Matthew, who is a freshman on the basketball team this year.
“It's our first real sport with each other, so that's cool. It's kind of different, it's cool to have him on the team.”
Pompei wants to thank his coaches and his parents “for helping me through everything.”
Kristie Linden is an editor for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at klinden@tribweb.com or 724-838-5154.
