Blue White Illustrated

G rowing up, Anthony Whigan always wanted to give football a try. Not only did he watch it on television, but he also enjoyed playing it with his friends in the neighborhood. Those experiences gave him the urge to try out for a local contact league, but there was just one problem: He was much bigger than everyone else his age. On top of that, his mother, Roberta, was- n't open to the idea of her son playing with kids who were two and three years older than him, so he was forced to wait until his eighth-grade year to get a shot at the sport that would ultimately change his life. Like everyone who picks up football for the 8rst time, the Lexington Park, Md., resident had a lot to learn during those 8rst few years. But by the time he reached his sophomore season at Great Mills High School, he was already pushing 6-foot-3, 270 pounds. That combination of size and strength compelled high school coach Tyrone Bell to give Whigan a shot with the varsity o9ensive line. It proved to be a wise decision. "I had about 10 scholarship o9ers com- ing out of high school," Whigan said. "Temple, Towson, Wake Forest and Toledo were some of the schools I was considering. "I ended up committing to Towson, but I had to improve academically. They still wanted me, so they had me grayshirt out of high school. When that ended up not working out, that's when I ended up at Lackawanna." Whigan enrolled at Lackawanna College in August 2017. Based in Scranton, Pa., and led by head coach Mark Duda, Lack- awanna is one of the Northeast's top jun- ior college programs and a must-stop destination for major-college coaches on the recruiting trail. Falcons o9ensive coordinator Josh Par- dini said in an interview with Blue White Illustrated last December that Towson "really didn't want to send him here, be- cause they knew there was a good chance they wouldn't get him back. Sure enough, he's been excellent for us, which is why so many other schools have started showing attention now." By the end of his freshman season, Whigan held scholarship o9ers from Maryland, Syracuse and West Virginia, while dozens of other programs were showing interest. Penn State joined those schools this past March a;er watching Whigan's 8lm from spring practice. By that time, Cincinnati, Louisville, Ne- braska and TCU had also extended o9ers, but because Whigan was a nonquali8er coming out of high school, he was forbid- den by NCAA rules from visiting any Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision programs until the end of his 8rst year of junior college. When Lackawanna's spring semester ended on May 11, Whigan wasted little time check- ing out the school he was most interested in, visiting Penn State the very next day. "I just remember how much my parents liked the coaching sta9 and the school. Really, they loved everything about it," Whigan said. "My parents were sold right from the start." In June, Whigan took o:cial visits to Louisville and South Carolina. He also gave Maryland a look, but by the end of the summer, the Nittany Lions were the clear favorites. One of his junior college teammates, safety JaQuan Brisker, was al- ready part of Penn State's Class of 2019. In addition, the Lions had already received commitments from two other o9ensive linemen, Caedan Wallace and Saleem Wormley. Whigan didn't want to risk missing out on the best school for him, so he announced his commitment on Aug. 7. "His versatility is one of the main things that Penn State really likes about him," Pardini said. "He's played tackle for us, and I think that's where he'll probably start out at Penn State, but he's quick enough to pull and play inside if they need him there, so he really helps out from that perspec- tive. He's a bright guy, too. He picks up on things quickly. He's very coachable." Now checking in at 6-5, 295 pounds, Whigan knows that he still has a lot to prove if he's going to make the sort of im- pact that he did his 8rst year at Lack- awanna. But if there's one thing that Whigan eager to get started with Nittany Lions | THE WHIGAN FILE STATS Anchored an o1ensive line that helped Lack- awanna College average 38.5 points and 401.4 yards per game in 2018, including 203.9 rushing yards... Was part of a team that went 11-0 and ended its season Dec. 1 with a 17-10 victory over Arizona Western College in the El Toro Bowl HONORS Named a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 13 juco recruit in the nation... Re- ceived first-team All-Northeast Football Conference honors in 2018... Was a sec- ond-team All-Conference honoree in 2017 CLICK HERE to see video of Whigan in action.

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