Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 2 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / P L A Y E R B I O S / / / / / / / J ust before the start of the early sign- ing period in December, Penn State earned a recruiting win by following an old saying: If at first you don't succeed, try again. The Nittany Lions had appeared poised to land On3 Consensus four-star linebacker Kaveion Keys the previous summer. A standout at Varina High in Richmond, Va., Keys took official visits to only two schools, North Carolina and Penn State. The Nittany Lions hosted him last and seemingly had all the mo- mentum heading into July. When it was time to make a pick, though, Keys chose the Tar Heels. That decision, announced in late August, could have been the end of his Penn State story. However, PSU's coaching staff treated the pledge as a speed bump rather than an immovable roadblock. Their work paid off. Keys took an unofficial visit to State College to see the Lions rout Minnesota 45-17 in the White Out game last October. That trip put the wheels in motion for the line- backer to eventually back away from his Keys totaled 135 tackles in his last two seasons and helped lead Varina High to the Virginia Class 4A title as a junior. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER Kaveion Keys Four-star Virginian finds the right fit at Linebacker U G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G. P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M LB | 6-2 | 195 Varina High Richmond, Va. Rankings Stars Nat. Pos. State On3 Consensus HHHH 263 27 6 On3 HHHH 171 14 5 ESPN HHH — 32 10 Rivals HHH — 30 8 247Sports HHHH 186 16 6 Statistics • Made 70 tackles, including 9 for loss, and 11 sacks as a senior while guiding his team to an 11-2 record • Helped lead Varina High to the Virginia Class 4A championship during his junior season while making 65 total stops, 11 tack- les for loss and 15 sacks, and adding 5 pass breakups Notable • Was twice named a team captain • Earned first-team all-region nods as a line- backer following his junior and senior seasons • Named second-team all-region as a re- ceiver in 2021 Recruitment • Committed to Penn State on Dec. 16, 2022 • Recruited by running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider, safeties coach Anthony Poindexter and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz • Picked Penn State after decommitting from North Carolina on Dec. 8, 2022 • Officially visited June 24, 2022 2023 Projection Keys is not an early enrollee, which will put him behind fellow freshman linebackers Tony Rojas and Ta'Mere Robinson. That said, he'll have every opportunity during preseason camp to earn a special teams role, and don't rule him out as a potential contributor at linebacker. They Said It Marcus Lewis, Varina High head coach: "He's a kid who can play either inside or out- side linebacker. With him going to Penn State, he has the size and the frame to be success- ful. I could see him growing up to about 230 [pounds] and still having the ability to run and be explosive. I think his ceiling is really high, and Penn State is the right school to get that out of him." BWI analyst Thomas Frank Carr: "Athleti- cism is off the charts with Keys. He has great speed and natural bend. Everything you're looking for from an athleticism standpoint, he has it." T H E K E Y S F I L E