Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1169916
close with Penn State assistant coach Terry Smith, who was the head coach at Gateway High from 2002 through 2012. While those 8ve players are the head- liners in Pennsylvania's Class of 2021, the talent pool is deeper than that. I be- lieve that close to 10 other players could end up as four- or high-three-star prospects. That list of players includes safety Tysheem Johnson of Neumann- Goretti in the Philadelphia Catholic League, linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. of St. Joseph's Prep, defensive end Elijah Jeudy of Northeast High in Philadelphia, two-way lineman Dorian Ford of Bald- win, cornerback Shafeek Smith of Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia, line- backer Nahki Johnson of West Mi:in High in Homestead, o9ensive tackle Nate Bruce of Harrisburg High and safeties Javon McIntyre and Saint McLeod of Imhotep Charter. All of the players listed above have re- ceived scholarship o9ers from Penn State except for Trotter and McLeod, and all are among the top 15 prospects in Pennsylvania's Class of 2021 according to Rivals. One additional player who is not listed in Rivals' top 15 but who deserves men- tion here is linebacker/safety Sammy Knipe of State College. Last season, Knipe had more than 100 tackles from his strong safety position. I believe he'll emerge this fall as a possible Division VI All-State player and end up with three- star status. Is there any reason to believe that Pennsylvania's Class of 2021 will be a harbinger of future classes? It's too early to say for sure. But I will point out that two members of Pennsyl- vania's Class of 2022 have caught the eye of many top programs. Those two play- ers are athlete Mehki Flow- ers of Steelton-Highspire and running back/line- backer Nicholas Singleton of Governor Mi:in in Shillington. Singleton already has received schol- arship o9ers from Penn State, Pitt, Rut- gers, Syracuse and Virginia Tech and is being closely observed by Ohio State and Clemson. His reputation was greatly en- hanced when he was invited to the U.S. Army Prospect Combine in January and impressed everyone. Flowers has scholarship o9ers from Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Kent State. As a freshman last fall, he posted 40 catches for 729 yards (18.2 yards per catch), with 8ve touchdown receptions. He's listed as an athlete and could play either receiver or safety at the college level. Flowers is the latest highly regarded prospect to come out of Steelton-High- spire. The school previously produced two great Penn State players in tight end Troy Drayton and defensive tackle Jor- dan Hill. Drayton was taken in the sec- ond round of the 1993 NFL Dra; by the Los Angeles Rams. He still holds many tight end receiving records with the Miami Dolphins. Hill was selected in the third round in 2013 by Seattle and played four NFL seasons. When he was hired in 2014, Franklin famously pledged to dominate the state. Since then, the Lions have since gone wherever they've needed to go to 8nd the players they want, making inroads in Florida and even pulling a few prospects out of Texas. But when the signing peri- ods for the classes of 2021 and '22 arrive, Penn State fans will be eager to see the Lions follow through on Franklin's vi- sion. They will absolutely want PSU to dominate its state. ■ FAMILIAR NAME Harrison is the son of Marvin Harrison, a for- mer All-Pro receiver with the Indianapolis Colts. He has 23 scholarship offers, in- cluding one from Penn State. Photo by Ryan Snyder