Direct from their website:
What would have happened if Jeannette football coach Ray Reitz and assistant Roy Hall would not have had that talk with Terrelle Pryor three years ago? Western Pennsylvania might have missed out on one of its best athletes ever.
It was after Pryor’s freshman year at Jeannette High School, when he was seriously thinking about leaving and transferring to a private school out of state. Although Pryor played football, he fancied himself a basketball player and he was maybe a day or two away from leaving Jeannette and going to basically a basketball factory.
Reitz and Hall had talked to Pryor previously about his possible move. But they had heard his departure was imminent.
“He was living with a guardian right across the alley where we lift weights,” Reitz said. “I think he was going to leave the next day. So Roy and I said, ‘Let’s give it one last shot.’ What we tried to tell him was, ‘Why don’t you just give yourself a shot in football here and continue to play basketball?’ The rest is history.
Pryor stayed at Jeannette and turned into one of the best athletes in WPIAL history. For his efforts, Pryor is the MSA Sports Boy Athlete of the Year for the 2007-08 school year. He was selected among all WPIAL athletes.
But Pryor isn’t just an athlete for this year. He is one for the ages. He did things in both football and basketball that no athlete in the WPIAL has ever done. He was the first in Pennsylvania history to rush for more than 4,000 yards and pass for more than 4,000, and led Jeannette to WPIAL and PIAA titles as a senior. He was the national player of the year in numerous publications.
In basketball, he averaged over 20 points a game and finished his career with 2,285 career points, eighth-best in WPIAL history. His performance in the WPIAL Class AA championship game this year was unforgettable, when he had 39 points, 24 rebounds and 10 blocked shots against Beaver Falls.
He helped Jeannette become the first WPIAL school to ever win PIAA football and basketball titles in the same school year. Only two other schools in the entire state have accomplished the feat.
Pryor is the only athlete on the WPIAL 4,000-yard rushing chart in football AND the 2,000-point chart in basketball.
“If there will ever be another one like him, I’d love to see him,” Reitz said.
When Pryor started playing varsity sports as a ninth-grader, he didn’t think much about future greatness.
“I never thought about any of this stuff,” he said. “All I wanted to do was play and win.”
He did a lot of both. He became a starter in football midway though his freshman year and was a four-year starter in basketball. His record the past three seasons in football was 38-4 and he was 74-13 the past three seasons in basketball.
Pryor finished his football career with over 8,000 yards in rushing and passing. He had 4,238 rushing and 4,340 passing. And don’t forget about his touchdown reception in the PIAA title game this year, and his 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in another PIAA game.
He had one of his most memorable performances in one of the most memorable WPIAL games ever. He rushed for 331 yards when Jeannette beat Aliquippa, 70-48, in a WPIAL Class AA semifinal.
Pryor was the No. 1 football recruit in the country and signed with Ohio State in March. He already has left Jeannette for classes and workouts at Ohio State.
But Pryor also had Division I offers from big-time basketball schools. The Western Pennsylvania athlete probably most comparable to him, at least in terms of football-basketball recruiting, was Tom Clements, a two-sport star and a 1971 graduate of Canevin.
Clements had a tough decision to make as a senior at Canevin. Did he take a scholarship to become a point guard for Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina? Or did he take a scholarship to become a quarterback at Notre Dame? He chose Notre Dame and football, and led the Irish to a national championship.
“Probably the biggest thing I learned in high school was you have to have instincts to play,” Pryor said. “You have to try and let everything come naturally.”
Pryor was probably the most publicized athlete in WPIAL history.
“It wasn’t that tough,” he said. “You have to deal with stuff whether you want to or not.”
One Division I basketball coach recently said Pryor had enough athletic ability and talent on the hardwood to someday play in the NBA – if he played only basketball.
“He has uncanny ability to pass the ball,” Nesser said. “He wants to be unselfish, too. He has a feel for the game you can’t teach. Now you throw in the athletic ability and how competitive he is, and you really have something. There is no doubt he could’ve been a point guard at the Division I college level.”
Then again, Terrelle Pryor could probably be anything he wanted. Considering the move he thought about three years ago, maybe Western Pennsylvania fans should consider themselves lucky Reitz and Hall had that talk with Pryor.
“I thought he was hyped so much,” said Jeannette basketball coach Jim Nesser. “But in my opinion, I think he surpassed the hype, and I don’t think you see that too often.”
I think you'll like it a lot. I do! And also new this season will be the way you can order these beauties. I came across a fantastic site, called Scribd.com.
Sam FM 107.1 has released their 2008 Westmoreland County preseason football rankings. Guess who's on top? Check it out right here.
The Post Gazette has revamped their entire website, it's kind of like giving it a good spring cleaning, so to speak, with a new paint job, and changed the fan belts. And they didn't stop there, they also redid their Varsity Blog, and I gotta tell ya, I like it!
Kennywood, along with ESPN Radio 1250 and MSA Sports Network have teamed up this year to hold the first Kennywood High School Football Kickoff, on July 30th.
Bo Ruffner will take over as head coach at Mount Pleasant High School this season. The full story can be read here.
Direct from their website:
On Aug. 30th, Woodland Hills will compete against Justin Northwest High School, from Justin, Tx. in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series in Dallas, Tx.
Get use to it, cause this is how it is!
He caught a 14 yd pass from Terrelle for a TD, and returned the favor by throwing a 28yd TD pass, to Terrelle at the half mark. Jordan rushed for 128 total yds on only 9 carries, that's a 14.2 yds per carry average, he also caught 2 passes for 37 yds, in that game. Now here's my point, he is only 1, of the many talented players returning this year.
