Blue White Illustrated

U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L Toriano Pride 5-11 183 ★★★★ St. Louis, Mo. Lutheran North Ryan Turner 6-0 185 ★★★ Miramar, Fla. Chaminade Madonna Safety Sherrod Covil 6-0 188 ★★★ Chesapeake, Va. Oscar Smith Cristian Driver 6-1 170 ★★★★ Argyle, Texas Liberty Christian Xavier Nwankpa 6-2 185 ★★★★ Pleasant Hill, Iowa Southeast Polk Myles Rowser 6-0 185 ★★★★ Belleville, Mich. Belleville Keon Sabb 6-2 195 ★★★★ Glassboro, N.J. IMG Academy (Fla.) K.J. Winston 6-2 190 ★★★ Hyattsville, Md. DeMatha * As of March 8 S A F E T Y | Longtime trainer keeps Veilleux on right track I t was a hard year for all of the prospec- tive student-athletes who signed with Penn State, but you would be hard- pressed to 4nd a player who was impacted by the pandemic more than quarterback Christian Veilleux. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Veilleux was not only forced to stop training, but he had to return home in March 2020. In- stead of being at the Bullis School in Maryland, where he could train with a head coach in Pat Cilento who also played quarterback at the Division I level, he had to do almost all of it on his own. But there was one person back home who Veilleux could count on, and that was Gridiron Academy founder Victor Tedondo, who had been working with him since he was 10 years old. Tedondo's guidance played a major role in Veilleux earning his 4rst Division I scholarship o5er, from Bu5alo, when he was in ninth grade. It was a real honor for a prospect who was still playing in Canada, but they also knew that if Veilleux was going to truly reach his potential, he had to go to the United States to make it happen, so he enrolled at Canisius High School in Buf- falo, N.Y., the following year before mov- ing on to Bullis for his junior season. Most Penn State fans know how it worked out for Veilleux by now. Earning more than two dozen scholarship o5ers, he picked the Nittany Lions over Clem- son, Duke, LSU and Tennessee. But at the time of his commitment, which took place April 29, 2020, he had no way of knowing that his high school career was already over. Not only was his senior sea- son called o5, but he wasn't able to return to Bullis to train before enrolling at Penn State this past January. Instead, he had to 4nd ways to train back in Canada, where the restrictions were a lot stricter than in the United States. "It was much tougher to work out here in Canada. Here in Canada, we took this very serious," Tedondo said. "Everything was pretty much shut down around March 15. I don't believe any of the parks opened up until sometime in May, and even then we were still kind of limited." Veilleux's only competition in 2020 was the Elite 11 4nal at the end of June. He started o5 great, earning recognition for his performance on day one, but he ulti- mately didn't 4nish among the top per- formers. Veilleux dropped from a four-star prospect to three stars, which was where he 4nished. Unlike players in the United States, and especially those down South, Veilleux was never given another chance last year to show that he's still the same player who had earned a spot in the Ri- vals250 earlier in his recruitment. "I think it was a little unfair to be dropped in the rankings and all that, just because it was only one event," Tedondo said. "Last year was a strange year THE VEILLEUX FILE STATS Played for three diBerent high schools, passing for 1,514 yards and 21 touchdowns as a freshman in the Ottawa City League, 1,693 yards and 17 TDs at Canisius (N.Y.) High and 2,006 yards and 29 TDs as a junior at the Bullis School in Maryland... Senior season was canceled due to pandemic HONORS Rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 14 pro-style QB in the Class of 2021 and the No. 15 prospect in Maryland... Named Interstate Athletic Conference OBensive Player of the Year in 2019 CLICK HERE to see video of Veilleux in action.

• Cover