Plenty of good things happened to Thomas Melonja in three years as a basketball player at Lincoln Park. He was a starter for two seasons, averaged in double figures, made all-section, played in three WPIAL title games and won one championship.
But Melonja won’t finish his career at Lincoln Park. In a sense, he is coming home.
Melonja has decided to leave Lincoln Park and transfer to Peters Township High School. He filled out transfer paperwork Friday at Peters Township and will be at the school when classes start in a few weeks. Melonja and his family have lived in the Peters Township School District since they moved from Wisconsin when Thomas was in fourth grade. Melonja attended Peters Township schools through eighth grade, but transferred to Lincoln Park for his ninth-grade year. Lincoln Park is a charter school in Midland.
Melonja’s transfer isn’t earth-shattering news in WPIAL basketball circles, but it is notable because he is a 6-foot-6 guard-forward who has one Division I scholarship offer from NJIT. An excellent shooter from 3-point range, Melonja averaged 11 points a game last season for a team that won the WPIAL Class 3A title. He will certainly help a Peters Township team that was 5-17.
But Melonja said his transfer was not for basketball.
“It’s really an academic move,” said Melonja. “Peters Towsnhip, I think, is one of the top schools, maybe even in the state. I can get better prepared for college, take harder classes and AP classes. I want to major in business or something in the engineering field. There was wasn’t enough at Lincoln Park to prepare me for that.”
Melonja said he wanted to make the move before Aug. 6, when a new PIAA rule goes into effect where any student-athlete who transfer after a sports season in 10th grade is ineligible for postseason play at his new school, unless he qualifies for a hardship case. However, the WPIAL will still have to approve Melonja’s eligibility.
Melonja traveled to Lincoln Park every day for school the past three years, either taking a bus that Lincoln provided or sometimes driving himself. Melonja said Lincoln Park is about an hour’s drive for him.
“Gas can be a lot, especially if you’re driving out there a few times a week,” said Melonja. “But that’s not the main reason for this.”
Keeno Holmes, a senior and Lincoln Park’s leading scorer last season, also lives in Peters Township. But like Melonja, he decided to attend Lincoln Park as a freshman rather than Peters Township High School.
Critics of charter schools and private/Catholic schools say those schools have an unfair advantage in athletics because they do not have geographic boundaries to take students. Public schools can only take students who live in their district.
Over the years, a number of players have transferred to Lincoln Park, which has irked many coaches and fans in the WPIAL. But for once, a charter school athlete is going back to a public school.
“We wish him all the best and hope he’s successful,” said Mike Bariski, Lincoln Park’s coach and athletic director. “We believe in school choice here, but it’s just hard to understand. He’s been here for three years, he was very successful, we have a great relationship and he’s leaving a program that had the ability to do some big things this year. This is really a shocker and no one had any idea that this was coming.”
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: August 4, 2018, 5:29 p.m.
