As we settle into the 2017 High School Football Season and the start of divisional play in the Mid-Penn, lets take a look at some of the local athletes getting recruited to big time programs.
The Wizard reviewed the 24/7 Sports Recruiting Database to see where Senior Football Players from the Mid-Penn have been recruited to. Typically, to get into the 24/7 Sports Recruiting Database a national or regional recruiting expert from 24/7 Sports has to take notice of the athlete and sets up a page for them, however it is also possible for athletes and coaches to initiate contact as well.
Since 24/7 Sports is a national website the focus is primarily on individuals receiving Division 1 attention.
Below is a listing of current Mid-Penn players listed on the site that also have at least 1 school listed as showing "interest", which means the school is actively pursuing the athlete, not just sending generic mailings or robocalls.
The listing includes the Players Name, Their School, Their 24/7 Rating (a rating of 1.00 is a perfect rating) and the school that they have committed to, along with where they rank nationally at their position.
Committed or 24/7 Rated -
Micah Parsons - Harrisburg - .9983 - Undecided - #1 Weak Side Defensive End
Zach Kuntz - Camp Hill - .9540 - Penn State - #4 Tight End
Shaquon Anderson-Butts - Harrisburg - .8869 - Penn State - #16 Athlete
Charlie Katshir - Cumberland Valley - .8624 - Penn State - #37 Outside LB
Aaron Gethers - Bishop McDevitt - .8043 - Boston College - #181 Cornerback
Ben Phillis - Trinity - .7798 - Akron - Offensive Tackle
Timothy Kater - Steel-High - .7667 - Army - #154 Defensive Tackle
Ronald Kent - Harrisburg - N/A - Delaware State
Robert Nachtman - State College - Delaware
Others Receiving Division 1 Interest -
Michael Jones - Bishop McDevitt
CJ Laporta - Camp Hill
Onasis Neely - East Pennsboro
Yahmir Wilkerson - Harrisburg
Donnell Henriquez - Harrisburg
Drew Painter - Hershey
Brandon Clark - State College
Summary
Micah Parsons and Zack Kuntz are the cream of the crop in this year's Mid-Penn class. Both of these athletes have been recruited nationally. Before committing in November of 2016, Zack Kuntz had offers from the who's who of college football including Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and pretty much any other team you can name that thought they may have a shot of landing him.
Micah Parsons on the other hand is currently uncommitted. Micah Parsons originally committed Penn State in February 2016, however in April of 2017 he opened his recruitment back up. Currently, the top contenders for Micah's services appear to be Penn State and Ohio State. However, Micah has kept his recruitment fairly close to the guard and leaving experts guessing whether the top two contenders will eventually land Micah or if a dark horse may lock down the top ranked Weak Side Defensive End in the nation.
Hopefully the list of Mid-Penn athletes getting higher level interest will continue to grow and this list certainly does not capture all interest that local athletes are receiving from top tier schools. But can be used as a general way to track some of the more known interactions according to 24/7 sports.