Jeannette standout picks Mich. State
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If the Jerry Sandusky saga had never happened at Penn State, Demetrious Cox very likely would have announced Monday night that he would play football for the Nittany Lions.
Instead, he has a different state of mind.
Cox, a standout defensive back at Jeannette High School, announced he would play at Michigan State. His other finalists were Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Cox acknowledged that Penn State was his top choice until the Sandusky child sexual abuse case became public.
"When all that stuff went down, I just found a little more stability at Michigan State," said Cox, the Post-Gazette's WPIAL Class AA Player of the Year. "Really, after I went up to Michigan State for the Michigan game, I've liked Michigan State. I saw how crazy it was up there. I never realized how football-oriented everything is up there."
Sto-Rox defensive back Marzett Geter, who committed to Pitt last spring, will attend Slippery Rock -- and a recent Twitter post by Geter is one of the reasons he won't be going to Pitt.
When Pitt got a commitment last week from cornerback Ryan Lewis of Sammamish, Wash., Geter tweeted that he thought Pitt might be "wasting" scholarships and also tweeted "Another corner commits. I'm not liking this at all."
Pitt coach Paul Chryst then pulled Geter's scholarship. But it was already questionable if Geter would qualify academically to play at Pitt.
"Unfortunately, he was on the bubble because of academics and that [Twitter post] just kind of pushed him right off the bubble," Sto-Rox coach Ron Butschle said. "I was upset with [Geter] at first and then I really realized that he's a kid who made a really, really dumb mistake. He truly understands that he made a mistake and feels bad about it."
Sto-Rox running back Josh Beverly will also attend Slippery Rock.
In other Pitt news, the Panthers got a commitment from offensive lineman Gabe Roberts of New London, Wis. Roberts chose Pitt over the opportunity to walk on for in-state Wisconsin.
Pete Mroczynski, Roberts' high school coach, Mroczysnki said Roberts, 6 feet 4, 290 pounds, could end up being "a diamond in the rough" for Pitt.
Upper St. Clair all-conference lineman Jake Radziukinas committed to Duquesne and teammate Zach Deitrick to Dayton. A few days ago, Duquesne landed Montour quarterback Dillon Buechel, the second-leading passer in WPIAL history.
First Published January 31, 2012 12:00 am
