Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 41 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 / / / / / / / T here aren't too many recruits in Penn State's 2023 recruiting class who kept a lower profile than linebacker Tony Rojas of Fairfax, Va. One of the Mid- Atlantic region's most coveted players — On3 ranked him No. 86 nationally in the class — Rojas always favored the Nittany Lions, but his college destination was unclear to most observers up until he announced for PSU last July. To set the scene, Rojas had already earned more than two dozen scholarship offers by the beginning of March 2022. Penn State was among the first group of schools to make that move, extending an offer the previous summer after he ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash and a 4.2-sec- ond shuttle at the staff's Beast of the East camp in July. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Rojas was one of the most athletically gifted linebackers in his class. Other schools such as Maryland, North Carolina, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech intrigued him enough to earn visits in 2021, but the Nittany Lions were the clear front-runners at the start of the new year. That's when Clemson arrived on the scene. During an unofficial visit on March 5, Rojas not only earned an offer but quickly built a strong relationship with head coach Dabo Swinney and his staff. When he followed up that trip with another visit just a month later on April 6, it was clear that Penn State had a seri- ous competitor. Then came another surprise. The fol- lowing week, Rojas headed south again, this time to visit Miami and Georgia in a three-day span. When the defending na- tional champion Bulldogs offered, Penn State had a fight on its hands. "The competition didn't really come for Penn State until I got Georgia and Clemson," Rojas said. "I liked Miami, but Clemson and Georgia were especially up there. Up until then, Penn State was al- ways my favorite." Rojas almost didn't get to the point where he was seriously entertaining other offers. Toward the end of 2021, he and fellow linebacker prospect Ta'Mere Robinson were close to committing to Penn State. Then defensive coordinator Brent Pry announced that he was leav- ing State College to become head coach After Brent Pry left for Virginia Tech, Rojas quickly forged a strong relationship with new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT Tony Rojas Unfazed by staff change, Virginia linebacker sticks with PSU RYA N S N Y D E R | R YA N. S N Y D E R @ O N 3 . C O M