By Chris Rossetti, www.D9sports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The WPIAL, the conference that encompasses the major Pittsburgh metropolitan area, has long been known for great football talent.
The likes of NFL Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino and Mike Ditka have come from the hallowed playing fields of the WPIAL. Now a new generation of players is hoping to make its mark on the college and then, hopefully, the NFL scene.
One of those players is a multi-sport athlete from Westmoreland County who is one of the best - if not the best - to ever go through his school. And no, we aren’t talking about Jeannette’s superstar quarterback Terrelle Pryor, but instead another player who could have gone to a NCAA Division I institution for either football or basketball – Norwin’s Mike Shanahan.
Shanahan last Wednesday officially signed a national letter of intent to play for his hometown Pittsburgh Panthers.
“Going to Pitt was a pretty easy decision,” Shanahan said. “They were recruiting me very hard. Really, it was just them and West Virginia the whole time. After I made my visit to Pitt, I knew that is what I wanted to do.”
Like Pryor, whose Jeannette squad plays just 10 minutes east of Norwin, Shanahan has the size to play major college football or basketball. He is listed at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and was a top-notch wide receiver and defensive back on Norwin’s WPIAL playoff football team while also being a key member of the Knights WPIAL-qualifying basketball squad.
This past football season, he caught 37 passes for 731 yards while leading Norwin to a 7-4 overall record and a trip to the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals, where the Knights lost a heartbreaking 35-28 overtime decision to neighboring McKeesport.
On the basketball court, Shanahan averages 16 points per game and has helped lead Norwin to a 19-6 overall record, including a first-round WPIAL playoff win over Butler last Friday night.
With skills in both sports, Shanahan received offers from both Division I football and basketball schools; last summer he appeared ready to play basketball in college. But as the football season progressed and an opportunity to play big-time college football arose, Shanahan had a change of heart and chose football.
“I think one of the reasons I chose basketball over the summer was because I was playing so much AAU ball,” Shanahan said. “That had some influence on me. Once football season came, we were doing well and I was having fun. I kind of just stepped back and looked at what would be best for me in the future. I thought playing football was my best option. But I was defiantly thankful to have had the option to go Division I in either football or basketball. I was really looking at Bucknell, Vermont and Akron as well as Duquesne and Air Force in basketball.”
The fact that major college football programs came looking for Shanahan wasn’t surprising. The fact Shanahan was a big-time football recruit coming out of Norwin was.
You see, historically, going to Norwin and playing football isn’t normally the road to a NCAA Division I scholarship. The last Knight prior to this year to earn a Division I scholarship was Chris Paliscak, who went to Temple back in 1990, according to Norwin athletic director Randy Rovesti.
Prior to that, it was Jay Murray who went to Pitt in 1988. The Rasp brothers, John and Mike, each went Division I in 1986; John attended Pitt as a punter and Mike played at Arizona State as a tight end/defensive end. The last Norwin player to play in the NFL was Doug Plank, with the Chicago Bears, back in the 1970s.
But that history started to change this year. In addition to Shanahan going to Pitt, his teammate Tyler Urban, an H-back in high school, is going to West Virginia while offensive/defensive lineman Brad Rodgers is going to NCAA Division I-AA Robert Morris.
“We’ve all been playing together since we were little kids,” Shanahan said.
“When we got to high school, no one was going big time on that team when we were sophomores. We had an inner drive to be pretty good and to make the team pretty good and to accomplish something. By the three of us getting some looks, it should bring some opportunities for the other kids. Now (college) coaches know our head coach and know Norwin has some good players coming out. It has been good for me and all my teammates and all the players from Norwin for this to happen.”
Shanahan becomes a member of one of Pitt’s more highly touted recruiting classes in recent memory, a class ranked in the Top 25 in the nation by some national publications. Some point to Pitt’s upset of West Virginia, a result that kept the Mountaineers out of the Bowl Championship Series title game as a reason for that recruiting success. While Shanahan decided to go to Pitt after that game, he said the game didn’t really have a lot of effect on his decision.
“It did a little bit, but it wasn’t anything that was the main reason,” Shanahan said. “During the game, West Virginia and Pitt were even and stuff. It helped a little that Pitt won, but even if they had lost, I think I would have had a great time on my visit (to Pitt) and made the same decision.”
When he isn’t playing sports, Shanahan likes to hang out with his friend, sit down and relax a little bit. He also gives back to the community as a referee of second-grade basketball.
“A lot of those kids come to see our football and basketball games,” Shanahan said. “They see Tyler and I out on the court and look up to us. When they see us ref, it allows them to get in touch with us. If they want to grow up and be pretty good athletes, they can look up to us and what we have done.”
Shanahan not only understands that he can be a role model but embraces that challenge.
“It makes me feel pretty good,” Shanahan said. “I have to thank my parents for that. They have helped me realize that and stuff. I feel humble about it. I am not the one who goes around and brags about what I do and stuff. I just play the game and play it hard. Whatever happens, happens. I am kind of a laid backed person.”
Shanahan is the son of Mike and Diane Shanahan, and has two sisters, Becky (20) and Megan (14).
Pitt Leans Heavily on Western Pennsylvania for Help
Shanahan is one of 19 members of Pitt’s 2008 recruiting class, with 12 of the 19 coming from Western Pennsylvania.
Other members of the class include Aliquippa wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin; Wilmington running back Chris Burns; Gregg Cross, a junior college quarterback from Georgia; Bishop McCort (Johnstown) tight end Mike Cruz; Gateway (Monroeville) linebacker Shayne Hale and wide receiver Cameron Saddler; Kevin Harper, a kicker from Mentor, Ohio; Ronald Hobby, a defensive back from Fort Washington, Md.; Easton Area defensive back Jarred Holley; Robb Houser, a junior college offensive lineman from California; Thomas Jefferson’s (Pittsburgh) Lucas Nix, an offensive lineman; Greater Johnstown defensive back Antwuan Reed; Pittsburgh Central Catholic quarterback Tino Sunseri, the son of former Pitt linebacker and former Panther coach Sal Sunseri, who is now a coach with the Carolina Panthers in the NFL; Pittsburgh CC’s Andrew Taglianetti, whose dad, Peter, won two Stanley Cups in the early 1990s with the Pittsburgh Penguins; Joe Trebitz, a linebacker from Boca Raton, Fla.; Hopewell lineman Ryan Turnley; Justin Virbitsky, a tight end from Jermyn, Pa.; and Clairton lineback Manny Williams.
Additional Western Pennsylvania Players Committed to D-I Football
In addition to the Pitt recruits, twenty-seven other Western Pennsylvania (Districts 7, 8, 9, 10) players have signed to play NCAA Division I football. The players are listed alphabetically by school:
Akron
Marvase Bryd – McKeesport (District 7)
James Harvey – Cochranton (District 10)
Mitch Straight – Eisenhower (District 10)
Army
(Note: Players committed to Army haven’t been officially confirmed by the United States Military Academy, and won’t be until the recruited football cadet-athletes arrive for Reception Day (R-Day) this summer.)
Aaron Retter – Greensburg Central Catholic (District 7)
Zach Watts – North Allegheny (District 7)
Boston College
Chris Hayden-Martin – Greensburg Central Catholic (District 7)
Kaleb Ramsey – Laurel Highlands (District 7)
Cincinnati
Jared Rains – Hopewell (District 7)
Connecticut
Blidi Wren-Wilson – General McLane (District 10)
Eastern Michigan
Jon Pryor – Gateway (District 7)
Kent State
Leon Green – Gateway (District 7)
Rontez Miles – Woodland Hills (District 7)
T.J. Williams – West Mifflin (District 7)
Northwestern
Jeravin Matthews – Canon-McMillan (District 7)
Quentin Williams – Pittsburgh Central Catholic (District 7)
North Carolina
Christian Wilson – Montour (District 7)
Notre Dame
Dave Posluszny – Hopewell (District 7) - Brother of former Penn State star and Buffalo Bill Paul Posluszny
Ohio University
Brandon Weaver – Trinity (District 7)
Ohio State
Andrew Sweat – Trinity (District 7)
Penn State
Mike Farrell – Shady Side Academy (District 7)
Mike Yancich – Trinity (District 7)
Syracuse
Dan Vaughan – Pittsburgh Central Catholic (District 7)
Temple
Jared Williams – Perry (District 8)
Toledo
Terrell Anderson – Pittsburgh Central Catholic (District 7)
Jermaine Robinson – Brashear (District 8)
West Virginia
Tyler Urban - Norwin
