Larger text
Smaller text
North Allegheny receiver Garrity follows father’s path to Penn State
• West Allegheny’s Lach comes through in quarterfinal win over EF
• Peters Township’s Perich shuts out Latrobe in quarterfinals
• Hempfield headed to semifinals after topping Shaler
• Canon-McMillan wrestling coach stepping down
By Scott Brown
Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 5:42 p.m.
Updated: Friday, February 1, 2013
North Allegheny wide receiver Gregg Garrity will again follow his father when he joins Penn State's football team as an invited “run-on,” coach Bill O'Brien's term for a walk-on.
Garrity became the first player in school history to record a 1,000-yard receiving season, and he helped North Allegheny win the Quad-A state championship in 2012.
If he comes close to duplicating the success his father, Gregg, had at Penn State in the early 1980s, Garrity will prove to be quite a catch.
The elder Garrity made a diving touchdown catch in the 1983 Sugar Bowl, sealing the victory that gave former coach Joe Paterno his first national championship. The father, who started his Penn State career as a walk-on, later played seven seasons in the NFL.
The younger Garrity led the WPIAL in receiving this season with 67 catches for 1,240 yards, but Division I schools shied away from him because of his lack of size.
He is the second WPIAL product to commit to Penn State as a preferred run-on, joining former Pine-Richland quarterback Austin Whipple, who enrolled for the spring semester earlier this month.
Penn State is still recruiting a handful of WPIAL players as invited run-ons, including tight end Kevin Edwards, who was Garrity's teammate at North Allegheny.
Franklin-Regional linebacker Carter Henderson, who set a school record with 145 tackles last season, is leaning toward going to Penn State as a preferred run-on.
Penn State has 17 players in its 2013 recruiting class — five enrolled early — though none from the WPIAL.
Most Popular Stories
- Penguins notebook: Morrow leaves practice with injury
- Steelers notebook: Less talk, more work is Tomlin’s theme
- Kovacevic: Why did Pens even get Iginla?
- Pirates notebook: Penguins jerseys in fashion for road trip
- Senators notebook: Pens' Crosby has defensive shadows
- Coach Tomlin, Steelers facing plenty of questions as OTAs start
- NFL notebook: San Francisco lands 50th Super Bowl
- Finley’s Fighters chooses Geibel student’s logo
- Cops seeking Harrison bank robber
- Apple CEO Tim Cook defends company’s tax strategy before Senate subcommittee
- Retired UPMC surgeon sues surgical device maker over patents
You must be signed in to add comments
To comment, click the Sign in or sign up at the very top of this page.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.
