Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1082442
T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 9 >> WHAT HE DID A four-year starter at Parkersburg, Strange helped the Big Reds develop into one of the most improved teams in West Virginia. ABer back-to- back 4-6 >nishes during his freshman and sophomore seasons, Parkersburg put together a combined 14-9 record in 2017 and '18. Last fall, Strange >nished with 1,083 yards receiving and nine touch- downs. He added 65 tackles on defense, including 10 tackles for loss and six sacks, and intercepted three passes. For his ca- reer, he racked up 2,822 receiving yards on 186 catches (14.3 ypc). Strange scored 37 total touchdowns, including seven rush- ing TDs and four defensive scores. He holds the single-season and career records at Parkersburg for most recep- tions and receiving yards. WHAT HE WON In 2018, Strange earned >rst-team All-MSAC honors, as well as >rst-team All-State honors in West Vir- ginia's Class AAA. He was also part of USA Today's All-USA West Virginia team. Unranked by Rivals.com following his junior season, he turned in a series of im- pressive camp performances last summer and was rated a four-star prospect prior to the start of his senior year. He >nished No. 221 overall in the Ri- vals250, ranked sixth na- tionally at tight end and third among all prospects in West Virginia. WHERE HE VISITED Head- ing into the summer of 2018, Strange's only schol- arship o@ers were from Al- bany and Rutgers. But aBer excelling on the camp cir- cuit, that list quickly grew to 16, including o@ers from the likes of Louisville, Maryland, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue and West Virginia. Penn State was one of the last programs to ex- tend an o@er, doing so aBer seeing him at a camp in late July. On an oAcial visit to University Park for the Ohio State game in late September, Strange saw all he needed to see and verbally committed on Oct. 1. QUOTABLE Strange: "I would describe myself as a receiver in a tight end's body. I have the frame for a tight end. I'm going to build on that frame and put some weight on and I'll be a complete tight end, I believe." PHIL'S TAKE Strange is one of the 11 Jan- uary enrollees in Penn State's Class of 2019. At 6-foot-4, 214 pounds, he should be viewed as a pure ?ex tight end in the Mike Gesicki mold who could also line up at the X receiver spot in a three-wide re- ceiver set. He has good speed and is capa- ble of stretching the >eld vertically. Now that he's in Penn State's weight program, I can envision Strange bulking up to be- tween 240 and 250 pounds. With Danny Dalton transferring to Boston College, Strange is likely to compete with redshirt freshman Zack Kuntz and senior Jonathan Holland for the No. 3 tight end spot behind Pat Freiermuth and Nick Bowers. ■ LEAP OF FAITH Strange saw his offers sky- rocket after a strong showing on the camp circuit last summer. Photo courtesy of Ri- vals.com Rivals.com BRENTON STRANGE RIVALS ★★★★ | POS TE | HT 6-4 | WT 214 | HOME Parkersburg, W.Va. | SCHOOL Parkersburg