East Xtra: Toledo grabs six recruits from area, including three from Penn Hills
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Penn Hills High School's Corey Jones runs for extra yardage against Woodland Hills this past season.
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Over the past half-century, there has been a general trend of population migration from Pittsburgh to points south and west.
Recently when it comes to Division I football recruits, there's been a trend of some of the area's top players heading about four hours to the west.
Six high school football prospects from the East Xtra area were expected to officially commit to the University of Toledo on Wednesday morning.
As of Wednesday morning, there were 33 players from the WPIAL or City League who committed or signed with Division I colleges for football. That means better than one in six chose the Rockets of the Mid-American Conference.
"There's a lot of people out there who live in Pittsburgh or lived in Pittsburgh or played football in Pittsburgh at that school," said Penn Hills receiver Corey Jones. "So I know I won't be out there alone."
To put Toledo's six recruits from the WPIAL and City League in perspective, that's the same number that had committed to Pitt through Tuesday. From the East Xtra readership area, 15 were expected to make their Division I college decision official on national signing day Wednesday. That means 40 percent chose Toledo.
At Penn Hills, it was a clean sweep. All three Indians from the Class of 2012 moving on to play Division I football -- Jones, receiver/defensive back Chaz Whittaker and lineman Treyvon Hester -- were committed to Toledo. Rivals.com reported Hester's intentions Monday night.
"I will say this," Penn Hills coach Ron Graham said. "There's a lot of Penn Hills kids who have experienced extreme success at Toledo. [Safety] Barry Church, [linebacker] Archie Donald and [safety] Tyrrell Herbert were guys who have gone there who have been very successful [in recent years].
"What I believe is that from word of mouth, these kids know each other, and the older guys there speak to the younger guys, and they talk about how they like that atmosphere."
Toledo went 9-4 last season, winning the Military Bowl. The Rockets went 7-1 in the MAC, losing only, 63-60, to Northern Illinois in a memorable ESPN game Nov. 1.
First Published February 2, 2012 12:00 am
