Advertisement
football Edit

Whigan Makes the Move

Penn State picks up its second junior college prospect in 2019

Lackawanna College offensive lineman Anthony Whigan officially ended his recruitment Tuesday, verbally committing to head coach James Franklin.

A native of Great Mills, Md., Whigan originally committed to Towson out of high school, but he ultimately ended up at Lackawanna due to academic issues. That proved to be a great move for the 6-foot-5, 295 pound offensive tackle, both on and off the field.

On the field, Whigan earned more than a dozen quality Division I scholarships. Both Louisville, and South Carolina earned official visits from Whigan this summer, while nearby Maryland also earned an unofficial visit. Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Pitt, TCU and West Virginia were a few other programs that made a serious push.

However, it's in the classroom that Whigan has made the biggest strides.

Advertisement
Whigan is the second offensive lineman to commit to Penn State this week.
Whigan is the second offensive lineman to commit to Penn State this week.

"Since Anthony has arrived on campus, he's taken advantage of our academic resources and has had so much success," said Lackawanna assistant coach Josh Pardini back in the spring. "He finished his freshman year with over a 3.2 GPA and is on track to graduate in December with an associate's degree in business studies. Even more impressive is that he did it in just three semesters."

Whigan's contact with Penn State picked up in March, when the staff verbally offered. Since he was a non-qualifier out of high school, Whigan wasn't able to visit Penn State until the end of his freshman year. He wasted little time in doing so, visiting Penn State on May 12, just a few days after he took his spring semester finals at Lackawanna. That's when Penn State officially became the team to beat and the Lions haven't looked back ever since.

Last season, Whigan not only started as a freshman at Lackawanna, which is rare, but he also played both right and left tackle for the Falcons. However, he's versatile enough to play inside if needed.

"His versatility is one of the main things that Penn State really likes about him," said Pardini. "He's played tackle for us, and I think that's where he'll probably start out at Penn State, but he's quick enough to pull and play inside if they need him there, so he really helps out from that perspective. He's a bright guy, too. He picks up on things quickly. He's very coachable."

Whigan is now the fourth offensive lineman to commit to Penn State in the Class of 2019. He's also the second offensive lineman to commit over the past week, joining OL Zachary Franks. Whigan is also the second prospect from Lackawanna to join the class, as safety prospect JaQuan Brisker verbally committed to Penn State back in the spring.

The Nittany Lions are also now ranked No. 9 overall in the Class of 2019 Team Rankings!

Join us inside The Lions Den to discuss much more on Whigan and the entire Class of 2019!

Advertisement