Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette Next season, scouting service gurus will tell you that Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor will likely be ranked among the top 50 basketball seniors in the country, and the top 100 football seniors. Click photo for larger image.

Terrelle Pryor was talking to a guidance counselor at Jeannette High School recently when Pryor told him what happened the previous day.

"He told me he got a scholarship offer from the University of Nebraska for football -- and the University of Connecticut for basketball," said Rick Klimchock. "I told him I've had some good days in my life, but I don't know if I ever had a day like that."

But such days are becoming common for Pryor.

Western Pennsylvania hasn't seen a combination football-basketball athlete like Pryor in more than 25 years. The WPIAL has produced its share of two-sport stars in that period of time, but no one has been recruited as heavily as Pryor in football and basketball. Some of the nation's premier programs are offering him scholarships.

And no one has enjoyed the lofty national reputation that Pryor has in both sports. Next season, scouting service gurus will tell you he will likely be ranked among the top 50 basketball seniors in the country, and the top 100 football seniors.

Consider this: Ohio State, the No. 1 football team in the country, offered him a scholarship a few months ago, and Ohio State basketball coaches are now starting to show interest in him. Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Rutgers, Clemson and a few others already have offered him a scholarship for football. Pitt, Penn State, Clemson, Miami and a few others also have offered him a scholarship for basketball. And he's only a junior.

Pryor, a quarterback-defensive back in football, has led Jeannette to the WPIAL AA football semifinals. The Jayhawks play Brentwood tonight.

"I've been in this scouting business since 1977 and I can't think of anybody like him," said Joe Butler of Metro Index Scouting in Pittsburgh. "It's been a long, long time since this area has seen someone with his athleticism and talent level in both sports."

As for top two-sport WPIAL athletes, Aliquippa's Darrelle Revis -- now a starting cornerback on Pitt's football team -- comes to mind from a few years ago. But he wasn't that highly recruited in football and his basketball offers were from schools such as Akron and Western Kentucky. Go back to the 1980s when Darelle Porter was a two-sport standout in the City League. He had a few scholarship offers from football, but not from big-time schools. He eventually played basketball at Pitt.

Legend has it Ringgold's Joe Montana, an NFL Hall of Famer, also was a basketball talent. True, but his basketball recruiting becomes more fictitious over time. He wasn't even the top player on his Ringgold team and wasn't as highly recruited in basketball as Pryor.

To find a Western Pennsylvania football-basketball star recruited like Pryor, you might have to go back to Tom Clements, a 1971 graduate of Canevin who went on to play quarterback at Notre Dame. Bob Jacoby is now the football coach-athletic director at Bishop Canevin and was an assistant football coach during Clements' days at the school, which was a member of the Catholic League back then.

"He was terrific in both sports," Jacoby said. "He had a lot of offers in both sports. Here's what his decision came down to: Football at Notre Dame or basketball at North Carolina. [Notre Dame coach] Ara Parseghian wanted him for football and [North Carolina coach] Dean Smith for basketball."

Less than a year ago, Pryor was intent on playing basketball in college. In January of his sophomore year, he made a verbal commitment to Pitt to play basketball. But he has since rethought his decision and reopened his recruiting.

Pryor's star is rising in football with a tremendous junior season. He has rushed for more than 1,000 yards (1,082 on 115 attempts) and thrown for more than 1,000 (71 of 121 for 1,232 yards).

"I like playing football now more than before," Pryor said.

In a quarterfinal victory against Aliquippa last week, Pryor had 215 of Jeannette's 243 offensive yards.

"If ever I saw a game where one guy beat the other team, that was it," said Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac. "If you're going to ask me how good he can be as a quarterback? I don't know how well he throws the ball to play that position in college. But with his size and ability, he sure looked like Vince Young to me.

"As an athlete and just a football player, he's as good as I've seen in a long time."

Klimchock was Jeannette's basketball coach until resigning after last season.

"People have wondered if he could play quarterback in football, but it looks like he might be able to," Klimchock said. "He's never even gone to any of these summer football camps to be seen by colleges."

Pryor is a guard-forward in basketball who averaged 21 points a game as a sophomore. Scout.com ranks him as the No. 19 junior in the country.

The question Pryor gets asked most often is what sport will he play in college.

"I'm real tired of hearing that question," he said with a chuckle.

Right now, he is saying he wants to try both sports in college and would like to be either a quarterback or receiver in football. He said he will probably only consider colleges that will let him play both. But the two-ball trick is tough to master in college.

"He's a good perimeter player in basketball with size," Butler said. "In football, he could play quarterback, H-back, wideout, tight end, defense. It depends on how big he gets. He has options that most young men don't have."