Before Josh Shapiro became the governor of Pennsylvania, he was a student at Akiba Hebrew Academy in Merion Station and led the team to the 1991 tri-county championship as a point guard.
On Tuesday, Shapiro is diving back into his basketball roots. He’s scheduled to jump on 93.7-FM The Fan radio for its broadcast of a college basketball game between Pitt and Syracuse, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Shapiro’s planned appearance predated the massive fire that took place at Jenkintown’s SPS Technologies. It was unknown if the governor also planned to visit the location on Tuesday. A request for comment from The Inquirer was sent to Shapiro’s office on Monday morning but has not yet received a response.
Shapiro will be in the booth alongside play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove and former Pitt basketball star and color analyst Curtis Aiken, on the live broadcast. Aiken also served on Shapiro’s transition leadership board upon his election to the governor’s mansion in November, and Shapiro later appointed Aiken to the Board of Trustees at Pitt in Jan. 2024.
Shapiro attended the University of Rochester and grew up in the greater Philadelphia area, but his daughter graduated from Pitt in 2024.
It’s Shapiro’s second sports radio appearance this month, after “Josh from Abington” called into 94WIP following the Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl LIX.
Pitt basketball is 15-10 this season, and currently in 10th in the ACC.