Blue White Illustrated

An unexpected offer from afar changes Gordon's college plans T rent Gordon's recruitment is a tale of 6rst impressions – one that stuck, one that didn't. Gordon's hometown, the Houston sub- urb of Spring, Texas, is about a four-and- a-half-hour drive from Baton Rouge, La. He grew up a fan of LSU, and some of his 6rst mental images of college football come from Death Valley. So when the Tigers o8ered him his 6rst scholarship, in December 2016 a9er an outstanding junior season at Manvel High, Gordon was quite literally at a loss for words. A9er hanging up the phone, it took him a few hours to share the news with anyone, as he needed time for the moment to set in. Then he started thinking. If his 6rst o8er came from a Southeast- ern Conference power, surely many oth- ers would follow, and LSU would still be there when he was ready. Over the next two months, he stockpiled dozens of of- fers, becoming one of the hottest prospects in the Lone Star State. In the middle of that 7urry came an o8er from Penn State, a school that was located some 1,500 miles away and about which Gordon knew very little. He had followed many of the schools in his region, but in March he decided to tour some of the places he hadn't previously seen. That decision would ultimately alter the course of his recruitment. Gordon made stops at Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee and West Virginia, as well as PSU. While LSU's initial o8er and his childhood fandom had Gordon think- ing purple and gold early on, his visit to University Park shook it all up. "They introduced me to the entire coaching sta8 in the hopes of me coming back up again, or me not ever coming back up ever again, so they brought every single coach that they had in the facility," Gordon said. "They brought all the coaches and then [greeted] me right in the middle of the foyer. A9er that, they showed me around the campus. ... "We stopped and had conversations with [students]. The way they were talk- ing to me about the campus and the coaches and the student life there, I was just like, Wow this is already a great school for me to go to. Everybody seems genuinely happy here. I want to surround myself with the people, atmosphere and the coaches." It was all he needed to see. A few weeks later, once he got home from his traveling, he committed to the Nittany Lions. Gordon's parents, Lavalius and Tanya, had encouraged him from the start to ex- plore his options. Just because he was a fan of LSU growing up didn't mean it would be a comfortable setting for his studies. "LSU was a dream school, but it didn't really have what I needed to go further in life like Penn State has, so that kind of capped that," Gordon said. "Plus, my par- ents never really liked LSU like I did." When they visited Penn State, they found a common thread. It checked o8 the boxes for both parents and son, aca- demically and athletically. Gordon wanted to get there as fast as he could to get a jump on playing time; his parents were ready for him to increase his aca- demic workload. A9er his junior year ended, Gordon made the decision to graduate early. He had to spend the summer in school and then take three college-level courses dur- ing the fall. He did it all while ranking among the top 10 percent of his senior class. He plans to study biology at Penn State, at least initially, and grad school is part of the long-term plan. In a way, his work in the classroom comes naturally to him. Acclimating to that part of college life isn't the worry. What he aims to accom- plish by enrolling in January is to carve an inside track into the three-deep. He's penciled in as a cornerback and has the 7exibility and size at 6-foot-0 and 180 pounds to slide over to safety, giving the coaches options in a secondary that loses all four starters. His high school coach, Kirk Martin, described Gordon to GoPSUSports.com as "extremely fast" and "very, very intelligent." By showing up in time for winter work- outs and spring practice, Gordon is hop- ing to demonstrate those abilities in order to be relied upon immediately. What he's really trying to do is make a strong 6rst impression. "I want to get o8 to a good start," he said. "I don't plan on going to Penn State trying to redshirt or sit on the bench my 6rst year. That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to get on the 6eld and play." ■ THE GORDON FILE STATS Helped lead Manvel High to a 14-1 record and a berth in the Univer- sity Interscholastic League 5A state title game as a senior... Totaled 41 tackles (30 solo), one tackle for loss, one interception and five passes de- fensed during his senior season HONORS Named a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 27 player in Texas and No. 21 cornerback nation- ally... Was a second- team All-District choice as a junior... Was a two-time team cap- tain CLICK HERE to see video of Gordon in action. |

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