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P L A Y E R B I O S I t's never easy when a player has two great options and only a few days to go until signing day. Just ask John Petr- ishen. Rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, the Pittsburgh Central Catholic safety earned more than 30 scholarship o9ers during the past year, but it wasn't until the second half of his recruitment that things really heated up. With Pitt, Syracuse and Virginia all of- fering in June, Petrishen knew he had some great opportunities moving for- ward, but deep down, he knew he could do better. It wouldn't be until a;er an impressive senior season – in which he totaled 65 tackles, four interceptions and six touchdowns in the return game – that many of the region's top programs began to realize his full potential. Like all great players, Petrishen also saved his best for when the lights were the brightest, 8nishing with just shy of 500 yards of total o9ense and three touchdowns in the WPI- AL Class AAAA semi8- nals and championship. In fact, with Penn State assistant coach Terry Smith in atten- dance, his performance in the champi- onship game was a major reason Penn State ultimately o9ered. "Coach Smith hit me up a;er the game and let me know I played well," Petr- ishen said. "I know he also told Damar [Hamlin, a teammate] that he thought I played well. "So then, a few hours a;er I sent Coach Smith my 8nalized senior 8lm, that's when he asked me to call him back. I talked to him, Coach [Bob] Shoop and Coach [James] Franklin then, and that's when they o9ered me." Penn State was one of four schools that began pursuing Petrishen at the end of his season, joining West Virginia, Maryland and Northwestern. Once it became clear that no additional schools were going to make a late push, Petr- ishen eventually narrowed his list to Penn State, Pitt, Northwestern, Mary- land and Virginia. "It de8nitely got stressful at times," he said. "I didn't get the majority of my of- fers until I had two months to go until signing day, so I had to do a lot of re- search." Petrishen eventually narrowed his list down to Pitt, Penn State and Virginia, but this was ultimately going to be a battle between the two Pennsylvania schools. He took an o:cial visit to Pitt in mid-January, then traveled to Penn State the following weekend, Jan. 23-25. He was able to get a good feel for what Penn State had to o9er, and he'd already developed a relationship with Pat Narduzzi and the new Pitt coaching sta9, so Petrishen canceled his 8nal o:cial visit to Virginia. "Once I got done with the Penn State visit, I thought about it constantly and I knew I wanted to stay in the state," he said. "I talked to my family about it and my coach, and we all thought Pitt and Penn State were best for me." A;er taking a week to talk things over, Petrishen announced his decision Jan. 30. There were several factors that swayed him toward the Nittany Lions, one of which was the vibe he got from the current players. "A week a;er my o:cial visit, Mike Gesicki recruited me harder than anyone did, and so did Adam Breneman." he said, referring to the two players who hosted him on his o:cial visit. "I also talked to [Christian] Hackenberg some, too. That was key. I liked that a lot. "It was nice knowing that those guys cared about me and weren't just hosting me because the coaches asked them to." Penn State's success in holding onto Shoop – the highly respected defensive coordinator was being courted by LSU in January – also played a major part in Petrishen's decision. "Coach Shoop, he's my guy. I feel real- ly close with him," Petrishen said. "He's been saying for a while now that we're going to work really well together, and I really believe that. I've already gotten the opportunity to sit down with him and watch 8lm, break some things down, so I know what his coaching style is like already and I know he's a great guy." Petrishen's decision helps PSU finish strong U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L | TOUGH CHOICE Petrishen picked the Lions over Pitt in late Janu- ary. Photo cour- tesy of Rivals.com CLICK HERE to see video of Petrishen in action.

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