Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545007
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State didn't have to wait long to get an answer from offensive tackle David Tarawallie. On May 6, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound offensive lineman picked up an offer from PSU assistant coach Ryan Clanton fol- lowing a workout at his school. Less than 24 hours later, the Painesville, Ohio, na- tive committed to the Nittany Lions. A combination of factors prompted Tarawallie to end his recruitment abruptly, without taking any official vis- its. "Being closer to home, Coach Clanton's history of developing guys' bodies, a great business school and awesome facilities really pulled me in," he said. Tarawallie's rise was nothing short of meteoric. Just two months earlier, the three-star Riverside High prospect hadn't earned a single FBS scholarship offer. Tarawallie picked up his first offer on March 14 during an unofficial visit to Cin- cinnati. In the weeks that followed, sev- eral Group of Six schools followed suit. He went on to visit Penn State on March 26, and two days later he earned an offer from Michigan State. When Power Four schools began show- ing interest, the floodgates opened. By April, Tarawallie was being pursued by Louisville, NC State, Pitt, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Nebraska then became the 15th school to offer on May 1, and the Cornhuskers were quickly followed by Penn State. Tarawallie's head coach, Jeremy Ish- mael, said he "probably has more FBS of- fers than every other football player in Riverside's history combined." "Once schools started noticing him, everywhere he went, boom, he immedi- ately got an offer," Ishmael added. "Penn State was the first place he went to that did not offer him right away. When we were there, he loved everything about Penn State. I think he was a little disheart- ened by that at the time, and so, when they came back and offered on [May 6], he was the happiest kid in the world." A major reason Tarawallie wasn't on anyone's radar sooner is that he played at around 240 pounds as a junior, seeing action at both offensive tackle and defen- sive end. Since then, he's been focused on adding good weight. He had his wisdom teeth removed in late December, and that slowed down his efforts to bulk up. But even so, he recently surpassed 265 pounds and still has time to pack on more muscle ahead of his senior season. "I don't even think he's remotely close to scratching the surface of his poten- tial," Riverside High strength coach Bryan Doberdruk said. "If you look at him, he's a skinny 264-pound kid. He'll probably play this year at around 275 pounds and be an incredibly athletic 300-pound col- lege freshman. I've been a strength coach full-time for 17 years, and I've never had a kid this size who moves so well." In addition to Penn State, Tarawal- lie took unofficial visits to Cincinnati, Michigan State, Ohio State, Pitt and the University of South Florida this spring. He was considering official visits to Cin- cinnati, Michigan State, Tennessee, USF and Wake Forest this summer, but those trips are no longer expected to take place. Rivals lists Tarawallie as the No. 65 of- fensive tackle prospect nationally and the No. 31 player in Ohio. In the Rivals Indus- try Ranking, which incorporates grades from the other major recruiting websites, Tarawallie is the No. 792 overall prospect and No. 57 tackle nationally, and the No. 29 player in his home state. ■ Meteoric Rise Culminates In Commitment To PSU RYA N S N Y D E R | RYA N . S N Y D E R @ O N 3 . C O M Tarawallie's recruitment took off this spring when Power Four schools like Penn State and Michigan State began showing interest. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS COMMITMENT PROFILE DAVID TARAWALLIE At 6-foot-6, David Tarawallie has the prototypical size and build of an offensive tackle. The combination of a big frame and long arms is exactly the kind of measurable you cannot manufacture later in a prospect's development. There's little doubt that he should be able to grow into a 300-plus-pound lineman by the end of his time in Penn State's weight room. Tarawallie is an excellent overall prospect whose length and quickness mark him as a can- didate for the left tackle position at the college level. He's been well-coached and shows sound positional fundamentals, moving consistently with a good base and rarely getting off-balance when attacking the second level. However, he does have some quirks in his game. One of the more curious aspects of Tarawallie's film is a specific struggle to win reach blocks and cutoff blocks to his inside on run plays. These blocks demand an explosive first step, plus the quickness and flexibility to get inside a defensive lineman and wall off backside pursuit. From a traits standpoint, it might suggest a lack of explosiveness, but that doesn't square with the rest of his film. It seems more like a technical issue than a broader red flag. Still, this creates some uneasi- ness when projecting his overall athletic ceiling. — Thomas Frank Carr P L A Y E R E V A L U A T I O N