When first approached by Wilkes University men’s basketball coach Izzi Metz, Pittston Area senior Brennan Higgins told Metz he was not yet sure whether he was going to pursue the sport on the next level.
Once Higgins decided on playing in college, he was happy with the way the coach had dealt with the early recruiting stages nearly a year ago.
After putting together an all-star season at guard on the first Pittston Area team to win a state boys basketball tournament game, Higgins has decided to continue the sport while playing with the Colonels.
“He gave me a lot of room to think about stuff and then, toward the middle of the (season), he started getting back in contact,” Higgins said. “It was really great that he gave me my own space and let me think about it.”
Higgins decided on Wilkes this week, after also considering Marywood University and Penn College in Williamsport both academically and athletically. He plans to major in business and minor in biology at Wilkes.
The Times Leader Wyoming Valley Conference all-star selection was also a two-time, first-team WVC Division 1 all-star choice by the coaches.
Higgins was a varsity contributor as a freshman and a starter from the first game of his sophomore season. After missing part of that season with an injury, he ran the Pittston Area offense as a starter throughout the past two seasons.
In the fall, Higgins also started the last two seasons as a defensive back for the Pittston Area football team. He sat out his sophomore season because of injuries, then earned the starting defensive spot in his first year back in the sport, followed by becoming a two-way starter as a senior when he also landed a wide receiver position.
During Higgins’ final basketball season, the Patriots lost out on a playoff for the WVC Division 1 title after finishing the regular season in a four-way tie for first place. They knocked off division champion Crestwood in the first round of the District 2 Class 5A tournament and earned their state tournament berth with a third-place finish in the district as the result of going 2-1, with only an overtime loss, in three straight games against division championship teams.
Wilkes is 87-72 in six seasons under Metz, including 11-14 in 2019-20 when it struggled to a 4-10 mark in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom action.
