Another week goes by, and there is nothing new to report on Terrelle Pryor.
I cannot tell you how many people are asking about Pryor, either through e-mails or phone calls. In my 17 years as a sportswriter, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
In this week’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a tongue-in-cheek look at what led Pryor to his non-decision decision. On a serious side, we’ll check in on the PSU basketball teams and have our weekly spotlight on one of Penn State’s verbal commitments.
Off we go.
Terrelle Pryor is down to four schools. How did he get there?
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
The Pryor Report
To sign or not to sign. For Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor, that was the question.
Signing Day 2008 came and went and Pryor, the nation’s No. 1 recruit according to Rivals.com, did not commit. In fact, he didn’t even come close.
As of this writing, Pryor is down to (in no particular order), Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State. The reason for his delay appears to be the Nittany Lions.
Pryor’s father is a fan of Penn State, a fan of the way the coaching staff has treated his son. Yes, Signing Day went a little bit different for Pryor. So in an age of blogs and daily recruiting diaries, we thought it would be interesting to see exactly how things went for Pryor before he decided not to decide.
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, here is a look at the hours leading up to Pryor’s news conference in which he announced that he was not announcing.
Tuesday, Feb. 5
11:02 p.m. — Pittsburgh television station KDKA opens its late night newscast with reporter John Shumway doing a live report from Jeannette High School.
“Nothing new to report,” Shumway announces. “I spoke with a janitor earlier tonight who said he thinks Terrelle will surprise everyone and go to Pitt.”
11:07 p.m. — University of Pittsburgh football message boards begin lighting up with the news that Pryor is now considering Pitt.
11:17 p.m. — Pittsburgh television stations WPXI and WTAE begin looking into the Pitt rumors.
11:36 p.m. — Pryor’s cell phone rings. It’s a Pittsburgh newspaper reporter checking to see if he’s made a decision. Pryor informs him that he has not.
11:47 p.m. — Pryor makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In a bit of a surprise, he has juice instead of milk with his sandwich.
Wednesday, Feb. 6
12:14 a.m. — Pryor’s father tells him to “sleep on it.” Pryor does indeed, go to sleep.
3:47 a.m. — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette lands on Pryor’s doorstep. The story of his recruitment is the newspaper’s lead story. It’s above the fold, even more prominent than a story about Super Tuesday.
6:30 a.m. — Pryor’s alarm goes off. On ESPN, morning talk show host Mike Golic makes a final plea.
“Terrelle, if you are listening, come to Notre Dame. You will get the chance to play with my son, who is one of the finest freshmen linemen in the land. And you will get a chance to play for the great Charlie Weis. He’ll turn you into one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
Look what he did for Jimmy Clausen.”
Mike Greenberg points out that Notre Dame has not won a bowl game since the 1970s. The two of them jaw back and forth before ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson bursts into the studio and begins a profanity-laced tirade directed at Golic, Weis, Touchdown Jesus, Jerome Bettis, the color green, Lucky Charms and St. Patrick’s Day.
“Here we go again,” Greenberg says. “Dana, you’re gonna get fired this time.”
Pryor hits the snooze bar.
7:02 a.m. — Pryor gets dressed for the day. He considers the Michigan Nike Hoodie, the Ohio State polo, the Penn State long sleeve T-shirt and the Oregon football jersey.
He decides to wear a plain white Nike T-shirt, just to throw everyone off the scent, keep everyone guessing.
7:18 a.m. — The doorbell rings. It’s a delivery for Terrelle. It’s a muffin and fruit basket. The card reads, “Good luck with your decision. Signed, coach Tressel.”
7:29 a.m. — The doorbell rings again. It’s another delivery for Terrelle. The package is covered in blue wrapping paper with a giant yellow bow. Pryor opens it. It’s a Nintendo Wii and the video game NCAA 08. “Here’s a little something to help you make up your mind.
Signed, R.R.”
But there’s also a P.S.
“When you play Michigan on the game, take out Chad Henne and Ryan Mallett and let yourself play quarterback.”
7:37 a.m. — The doorbell rings yet again. Another delivery. This one is a little different, however. A man dressed as a duck enters the doorway and begins to sing to the tune of Happy Birthday. “Happy Signing Day, to you. Happy Signing Day, to you. Happy Signing Day, dear Terrelle. Happy Signing Day, to you.”
Pryor laughs, munches a blueberry muffin and examines the Wii.
“Nothing from Penn State,” his father says. “Interesting.”
7:52 a.m. — Pryor heads to Jeannette High School. Along the way, he is asked where he’s going to sign approximately 241 times. Among those who ask are a postman, a bus driver, a couple hundred students and the janitor who started the Pitt rumor.
8:01 a.m. — Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is standing outside JHS.
“I hear you might be interested in Pitt again. And I’ve seen you at some basketball games,” says Wannstache. “Would you like to come to Pitt?”
Pryor tells him he likes basketball coach Jamie Dixon, but he’d actually like to win some football games during his collegiate career.
“But we beat West Virginia,” Wannstache yells as Pryor enters the school.
8:11 a.m. — Upon entering the school, Pryor is greeted by reporters from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Washington Post, ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, the National Enquirer, Cat Fancy and Oprah Magazine.
The reporter from Oprah magazine asks the first question.
“Are you ready to endorse Barack?” she says.
“I’m not endorsing anyone and I’m not announcing today,” Pryor explains.
8:17 a.m. — Pryor’s mentor, Pittsburgh Steeler backup quarterback Charlie Batch, arrives at JHS. He brings fellow quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to help advise Terrelle.
They meet in the JHS gymnasium.
Batch believes that by bringing Big Ben, it will take some of the spotlight off Terelle.
“Ben, you got any advice for Terrelle?”
“Yeah,” Roethlisberger says. “One, always wear your helmet when you ride your motorcycle. Two, don’t ever, ever do an American Idol commercial during the Super Bowl. I didn’t realize how many people would see that. That was embarrassing.”
“Yeah, that was pretty bad,” Pryor says.
“Can I ask you something?” Roethlisberger says.
“Sure.”
“Since you are delaying your decision, why don’t you take a look at Miami of Ohio? The MAC has a lot to offer.”
8:59 a.m. — Pryor meets with his head coach, Ray Reitz, to tell him the news. There will be no announcement this day.
“But Terrelle,” Reitz says, “there’s an awful lot of media here. They expect you to make a decision. We’ve got balloons and pizza and everything.”
12:03 p.m. — Before a throng of media, family, close friends, teachers and fans, Pryor announces that he’s not ready to make a decision. He wants to visit Penn State and Oregon, he says, even though he doesn’t like those areas.
He then takes questions from the media.
“Terrelle, who is your front-runner right now?”
“I don’t have a front-runner,” Pryor says. “But I can tell you one thing — Pitt is definitely out.”
Jack Crawford is an intriguing prospect.
(Photo courtesy of Blue While Illustrated).
Future Lion: Jack Crawford
Make no mistake about it, Jack Crawford is a project. But he is an intriguing project, to say the least.
The 6-foot-6, 255-pound defensive end He came to the United States from London before his junior year as a basketball player, but put on the pads out of curiosity in August of 2006.
By 2007, he had made his mark as one of the top recruits in the Garden State. He lined up as a tight end, fullback, slot receiver and defensive end for Dennis Scuderi’s 8-2 Hermits, who finished with their best record in more than a decade. Crawford ended the season with 32 catches for 601 yards and six touchdowns.
In a tribute to his versatility, he was named second team all-state, first team all-South Jersey and first team all-Parochial in 2007 — all as a receiver.
The London import boasts rare athleticism for a man of his size, as he has run the 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds. He will begin his career at defensive end.
Crawford’s potential also has scouts admiring his abilities. The McCarthy Report, which rates New Jersey’s top prospects, has Crawford as its No. 1 player in the entire state. He was recruited by Ron Vanderlinden and took his official visit to Penn State on the weekend of Dec. 7.
It will be interesting to see how his Penn State career plays out.
Hoops Roundup
It appears that the Penn State men’s and women’s basketball teams are headed in opposite directions.
First, the good news.
The Nittany Lions got a much-needed win on Saturday night, knocking off Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center, 52-51.
In that game, freshman point guard Talor Battle came up huge.
Late in the game, Battle drove to the basket and was fouled en route to the hoop. Staring the pressure of two do-or-die free throws dead in the face, Battle calmly sank both — rattling home the first and swishing the second.
The Lions sealed their first season sweep against the Illini in team history when Illini center Shaun Pruitt badly missed an 8-footer in the key with time expiring.
The result was a 52-51 win over the Illini for the Nittany Lions in front of 10,632 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“I had 100 percent confidence I was going to make them,” Battle said of the game-clinching free throws. “I just stepped up there with confidence and they fell.”
Penn State is now 12-12 overall, 4-8 in the conference.
DeChellis was quick to laud his freshman.
“He had the same opportunity again to show people what he can do. And he did it,” DeChellis said. “He did a great job.”
Penn State visits Michigan State on Wednesday night.
Now, for the bad news.
The Penn State women’s team took another one on the chin Sunday, falling to Michigan State, 66-50, at the Bryce Jordan Center.
It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Lady Lions, who are now
13-13 overall, 4-10 in the Big Ten.
Coach Coquese Washington compared her Lady Lions to a fire hydrant that is gushing water from every possible angle.
“The water is coming out of the top,” Washington said. “You close that and water springs out this side. And you close that and now it’s gushing out the side. You do one thing right and something else goes wrong.”
It’s been that kind of season for Penn State, which started the year with such promise, knocking off ranked teams in Pittsburgh and Duke.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a magazine devoted to Penn State sports. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.