Larry Rupert was a baseball standout at Kiski Area who graduated in 1967.
He went on to coach various sports at his alma mater for 30 years. Most notably was the 14 years he served as the Cavaliers boys basketball coach through the 2005-06 season — the most in school history — and the 173 games he won during that tenure.
Corey Smith helped Rupert accumulate many of those 173 wins during an all-star basketball career at Kiski Area. The multi-sport star’s accolades on the hardcourt included twice being named all-section while helping lead the Cavaliers to the 2002 WPIAL Quad-A semifinals and PIAA playoffs.
Now, Smith continues to help bring home more victories to the Kiski boys basketball team as its varsity head coach.
With so many connections between Rupert and Smith, it was only fitting that the two would sit next to each other on the dais during the Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sept. 5 at the Green Orthodox Church Social Hall in Oakmont.
“We got to talk the whole time and share a lot of great memories,” Rupert said.
“I remember the motion offense, and Corey played the four position. He had the best hands of anyone I ever coached. We wanted the ball in his hands as much as we could get it there because he seldom made a mistake. He made so many good decisions. We wanted the ball in his hands, and now he has the whole program in his hands, and it makes me feel very comfortable.”
Smith said a highlight for him was coming back to see former teachers and coaches and see the love they still have for the Kiski community,
“We all still bleed the Blue and Gold, and we are KA All Day, even 20 years after I graduated and some 30 to 40 years or more since some of the other inductees graduated,” Smith said.
“We all weren’t at Kiski Area at the same time, but there are so many connections among the athletes and coaches. It was just so special to share this great honor with all of them.”
Smith said he was honored to have his 95-year-old grandmother in attendance to support him.
“It was just a great time,” he said.
Smith and Rupert shared the spotlight with eight other Cavaliers greats as the Kiski Area athletic community came together to celebrate the Class of 2026.
Also inducted were Megan Aller (Class of 2016, cross country track and field, swimming); Don Grimm (Class of 1968, football, track and field); Chad Kuhn (Class of 2016, football, wrestling); Wendy McDivitt (Class of 1986, volleyball, basketball, softball); Zach McKendree (Class of 2006, wrestling); Phillip Nevin (Class of 1985, basketball, track and field); Frank Roberto (Cavaliers wrestling coach); and Greg Scott (Class of 1968, football, track and field, posthumous induction).
Rupert has been a Kiski Area guy since his earliest days. His 1967 graduating class was the fifth since the formation of the district. He taught 33½ years, all in the district.
“I am Kiski through and through,” he said. “It was such a special evening.”
The hall of fame ceremony brought the inductees from different eras and sports together as one. It was, in a way, an annual athletics reunion.
“When you look at all the inductees did and all of their accomplishments, you wonder when they found the time to do all these things,” Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame chairman Anthony Nicholas said.
“They all promoted the idea and belief that Kiski Area was a special place to go to school and form that foundation that has carried them throughout their lives. It was such a nice evening.”
This year’s class of 10 brings the total number of individual inductees to more than 170 since the first group was enshrined in 2006.
Nicholas said more than 200 attended the banquet, and he was able to welcome 26 former inductees to the ceremony.
Plaques recognizing the inductees will be on display in the athletic wing of the high school.
In addition to the enshrinement of this year’s class, the hall of fame committee honored Tim Toy with the Bill Miller Community Service Award for his dedication in promoting girls volleyball in the Alle-Kiski Valley and Western Pennsylvania through the We Serve First Foundation.
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Both Rupert and Smith, as well as several others in this year’s induction class, plan to be at future hall-of-fame enshrinement ceremonies to celebrate the next groups of honored Cavaliers athletic greats.
“I look forward to being involved way more,” Smith said.
