Those who follow recruiting may be familiar with the honor given to the top high school player in various states. Like a beauty pageant for gridiron stars, Mr. South Carolina goes to the top recognized player in the state of South Carolina. Mr. North Carolina goes to the top high school player from North Carolina. You get the idea, it’s not rocket science. The award for Mr. Pennsylvania has only been around for a few years now, but Penn State could possibly be set to add the first Mr. Pennsylvania to the program.
Penn State Class of 2015 running backs Andre Robinson and Saquon Barkley (pictured) are each up for the Class AAA/AAAA Mr. Pennsylvania Award. The three other options for the award are Pittsburgh commits Ben Dinucci (QB) and Jordan Whitehead (WR) as well as Michigan-bound Jon Runyan Jr.
The Class A/AA candidates for Mr. Pennsylvania in a separate award are QB Brett Brumbaugh (Duquesne), RB Dominick Bragalone (TBD), RB P.J. Fulmore (Duquesne), QB Sam McCloskey (Lehigh), RB Lamont Wade and QB/S Kyle Datres. Datres is completely flying under the radar and is not even listed on 247 Sports and is unrated by most recruiting services despite being named an all-state player. The Class of 2015 quarterback and safety is likely to at this point to either walk-on or pursue a college career in another sport such as baseball.
Wade will be joining some lucky program in two years. The Class of 2017 prospect should be heavily recruited by in-state programs like Penn State and Pittsburgh, although West Virginia has taken the early lead in the recruiting process for now. Wade has participated in a Penn State camp last summer and made an unofficial visit a month later, so Penn State is certainly on the radar with lots of time to go.
Bragalone might be another player to keep an eye on as a potential walk-on candidate at Penn State. 247 Sports says he is currently uncommitted but has Penn State and Rutgers each as possible options. (UPDATE: Nick Polak of Black Shoe Diaries, who covers recruiting much more closely than I ever will, says Bragalone may be heading to Lehigh)
First awarded in 2010, Mr. Pennsylvania players have gone on to play for Pittsburgh (Tyler Boyd), West Virginia (Rushel Shell), Ohio State (Noah Spence), Alabama (Robert Foster), Virginia Tech (Andrew Ford) and Arizona State (DeAndre Scott).
Fans can cast a vote for the high school award on the Mr. PA Football website between now and February 15. After the fan voting closes, a select panel of coaches and media will vote among the finalists for the award, which will be announced on February 21.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
