Penn Hills’ Hardy commits to Penn State; teammates Thomas, Smith also announce college plans
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Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | 7:27 PM
Penn Hills senior Daequan Hardy wasted little time in accepting a scholarship offer from Penn State.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound cornerback and wide receiver received an offer from the Nittany Lions on Tuesday afternoon and announced his commitment to the Big Ten school Tuesday night on Twitter .
Hardy was named the TribLive HSSN Player of the Year in December after leading Penn Hills to its first PIAA title since 1995. He also was the state’s Class 5A Player of the Year in a statewide vote of sportswriters.
Hardy finished his senior season with 22 touchdowns including four in the state finals.
He had 37 catches for 817 yards and also ran for 373 yards.
He recently listed scholarship offers from Akron, Toledo and William & Mary.
He wasn’t the only Penn Hills player to make a verbal commitment Tuesday night.
Corey Thomas spent one season as a member of the Penn Hills football team.
It turned out pretty well.
After helping the Indians to a 16-0 record and WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A titles last fall, Thomas on Tuesday night made a verbal commitment to Akron.
He posted on Twitter : “This is for my family…Thank you for everything! 100% committed……. #OurWay”
Thomas is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound senior safety/wide receiver who played at Serra Catholic and Central Catholic before transferring to his home district for his senior season.
A three-star prospect according to rivals.com, he also had offers from Army, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Indiana, Navy, Robert Morris and Toledo.
He is projected as a linebacker at the college level.
Another key player in Penn Hills’ run to a state title was running back Terry “Tank” Smith.
On Tuesday night, Smith made a verbal commitment to St. Francis (Pa.).
He announced his commitment on Twitter .
The 5-8, 205-pound senior had originally committed to Howard but decommitted after the coaching staff left for William & Mary.
He ran for 1,757 yards and 23 touchdowns on 213 carries for the state champion Indians.
All three players are planning to sign national letters of intent on national signing day Wednesday.
Bill Hartlep is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bhartlep@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TribHSInsider.
Tags: Penn Hills
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