New Kensington basketball greats Flenory, Pipkins to be honored through names of new courts

Two New Kensington sports legends will be honored through the naming of basketball courts at the city’s new downtown park.

The two courts at the park on Barnes Street will be named Court 23, in honor of Tom Pipkins, and Court 15, honoring Baron “B.B.” Flenory, Councilman Dante Cicconi said.

The courts replace those that were lost when the city sold the JFK Park next to city hall, a former elementary school, to neighboring UniFirst.

Pipkins wore the number 23 in high school and college. While at Valley High School, Flenory wore 14 at home and 15 on the road, but was strictly 15 in college. Both played for Duquesne University.

Signs will not be posted until the spring, Cicconi said.

The original courts were known for “fierce play,” he said.

“It’s about the legacy of the area more than one person,” Cicconi said. “Basketball is a team game. These are individuals we can all look up to. They put New Ken on the map.”

Pipkins was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame this spring as part of the 2023 class. He held the WPIAL career scoring record with 2,838 points for 30 years until it was broken this past spring.

Flenory, a WPIAL Hall of Fame member, gained national recognition when he scored 83 points in a junior high game. He set Valley High School’s record with 52 points in a game in 1975 and was a Parade Magazine All-American in 1976 — something only 13 players from Pennsylvania have attained.

In October, the Pittsburgh Basketball Club honored Flenory by naming an award after him. The Baron “B.B.” Flenory Guard of the Year Award will go to the top high school guard in Western Pennsylvania.

In addition to basketball courts, the new park includes a play structure and pavilion. Going by Barnes Street Downtown Playground, the site will be renamed JFK Park, taking the name of the former park beside city hall, Cicconi said.

That will require a new name for the playground that the city built not far from city hall on Fourth Avenue next to Mt. Calvary Mission Baptist Church. Featuring two play structures but no basketball courts, that facility was given the name JFK Park before Barnes Street was built.

The playground could be named for a person, Cicconi said. Among the options is Tiffany Miller — a memorial to her is already part of the playground. Miller was 5 when she went missing from her Peach Court home and was found dead in 1979.