Tyrece Mills opens up about Penn State commitment
Penn State added another junior college prospect Wednesday in Lackawanna safety Tyrece Mills.
Checking in at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, Mills earned an offer from Penn State at the end of March but was expected to check out campus at some point in June before making any major moves with his commitment. That all went out the window publicly this afternoon, but in reality, he had been thinking about this move for a little while now.
"Yeah, I've been on it for a couple of weeks,” Mills said. “My high school coach, Coach [Deion] Barnes, he's there now. He coaches at Penn State now, so I know they're going to take care of their own there. I know it's real genuine. Knowing somebody personally up there on the staff just makes that a lot easier. Plus, everything just matches up with them.
“My family can drive to the games when they want. The last two safeties from Lackawanna went there, and one of them is now starting, so you know they're gonna show love to the Lackawanna safeties. I got my coach there, like I said, so why not Penn State? Also, not to mention, this is Penn State, ya feel me? It's one of the best teams in college football. So, it's not a hard decision. If they want me, I gotta go there."
Coming out of Northeast High School in Philadelphia, Mills had two verbal scholarship offers from Akron and Morgan State, with bigger schools like Syracuse and Temple showing interest. However, academics ultimately forced him to end up at Lackawanna, and despite the fact that he was able to play just two games this spring, the decision has already paid off.
“Lackawanna made me into a dog,” Mills said. “They just show you the path and the give you a reason to be motivated and hungry. They got so many guys that get to play big-time college football every year, so when I got here, I just bought in.”
In two games, Mills totaled 14 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions and one forced fumble. Despite the small sample size, Penn State bought in immediately, and they’ve been very aggressive in their recruitment of Mills.
“They've been great with me from day one,” he said. “Ever since they offered me, they've been contacting me on the regular. I've been on the phone with Coach [James] Franklin a bunch of times and also Coach [Anthony] Poindexter. I talked to Coach Terry [Smith], a lot. He probably called me the most, although Deion talked to me a lot, too. Those calls are more personal than recruiting to me.”
Although Penn State remains his only offer at the moment, Mills said that Nebraska and South Carolina were both showing serious interest in offering a scholarship over the past month or so. That won’t matter now, however, as Mills is all in on joining the Nittany Lions.
“I feel like I can bring everything you need to. I played basically every position but defensive line. I can do whatever they need," he said. "I can catch those interceptions, I can force a fumble, I can play in the box because I'm physical enough to get after it with the big guys, so I can bring a lot. If you need me in the run game, I can stop the run. I can blitz off the edge. I think I've done a lot and that will really help me out. I'm versatile.”
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