March Madness Spotlights a Sport Relegated to Pittsburgh’s Shadows: Basketball

The basketball talent that came out of Pittsburgh did not have similar staying power.As the steel mills closed, the city’s population dwindled and by the mid-1980s, the flow of college prospects slowed to a trickle. There were fewer places for city kids to play, but also fewer places for suburban players to test themselves — as they had done since Cumberland Posey’s days.And then there is the lure of the Steelers.In Ohio, said Dambrot, who was LeBron James’s first high school coach, the best athletes will play basketball first and football second. In western Pennsylvania, it’s…