PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — During the Monessen-Brentwood game at Brentwood on February 3rd, Monessen basketball players say they were subjected to racial taunts and now the WPIAL is stepping in.

The players say two Monessen students in banana suits ran around the court and called them monkeys and cotton pickers and more.

Brentwood Superintendent Ronald Dufalla told KDKA’s John Shumway he has investigated and could find nothing to corroborate claims of a racial nature, but did discipline three students for their conduct during the game.

Monessen Superintendent Linda Marcolini wants an apology, discipline and a WPIAL investigation.

The WPIAL executive committee took up that request during its meeting Monday afternoon. Tim O’Malley is the executive director of the WPIAL.

“The consensus opinion of those three gentlemen with our legal counsel present that it would be in the best interest of all concerned [is] for us to invite the schools in,” he said.

“So, we have notified both Monessen and Brentwood that we would be inviting them and those with firsthand knowledge of the situation to a hearing.

“If either of those parties is delinquent to how they responded to that, then we can make recommendations moving forward as to what might be done to avoid future reoccurrences and what might be done in the short-term to try to at least offset what happened that Friday evening.”

The hearing will be held next Tuesday afternoon.

RELATED LINKS
WPIAL
Brentwood HS Officials Investigate Racial Slur Claims