The No. 1 player works out in a garage
It was almost surreal. Maybe I've been spoiled, or maybe high school athletics has reached such a level that I just didn't expect to see what I was seeing.
Whatever it was, I found myself thinking the following (picture the thought bubble above my gorgeous headshot) ... "I can't believe the nation's top player and one of the best high school athletes in the last 20 years works out here."
So what the heck am I talking about here? I'm yapping about a recent trip I took to Jeannette, Pa., which is just outside of Pittsburgh. I was there to check out the nation's No. 1 high school football player, quarterback Terrelle Pryor. A 6-6, 225-pounder, Terrelle Pryor is also a top-30 basketball recruit.
He was set to participate in a 7-on-7 passing tournament at Gateway High School, which is akin to Superman trying to fly with Kryptonite in his suit (more on that later). I decided to meet up with him the night before during a workout.
Based on the directions I received, I assumed I wasn't headed to some posh high school gym. Coming off a visit to the high school of Jimmy Clausen, last year's No. 1, I guess I was a bit spoiled.
Clausen, who played at Oaks Christian High School in California, had all the advantages of playing for a new private school (money was not an issue). The facilities at Oaks Christian were better than some small colleges I've seen. In fact, of the numerous high schools I visited last year, every one of them at least had its own weight room.
As I let NeverLost guide me through the streets of Jeannette, I thought Hertz had rented me a car with a broken unit. I wasn't approaching anything resembling a school and was clearly in a residential area. Driving down a numbered street (Ninth, 10th or something like that) I suddenly came upon a gaggle of high school kids in workout gear hanging around what looked like a two-car garage. This had to be the place.
As I parked on the street, I got a better view of the weight room where the Jeannette High School football team trains. It was indeed a two-car garage with four benches, about two racks of old free weights and what looked like a few dumbbells.
The garage is owned by Jeannette strength coach Roy Hall, one of the funniest guys I've run into in my years covering top prospects. Hall provides the space because Jeannette High School doesn't have a weight room. Hall also provides the discipline with a yard stick, something every kid in that garage fears with a passion. Call it yardstickaphobia. If someone's slacking off or goofing around ... whack!
The facilities may not be the best, but the attitude is positive.
I saw Terrelle Pryor as I got out of my rental because he was easy to spot. He stood head and shoulders above his teammates. After watching Terrelle Pryor do his reps, that's when the thought hit me (thought bubble).
"I can't believe the nation's top player and one of the best high school athletes in the last 20 years works out here."
This is what makes following high school football prospects and recruiting so exciting to me. It doesn't matter what state, what city or what high school, the best of the best can come from anywhere. They can come from a school without a weight room where kids are sweating in a garage avoiding the whack of a yardstick.
A prospect can come from a school that looks like a small college with amazing facilities and a stereo system that pumps music to the practice field (that's right, the practice field).
Hanging out in Hall's garage made it clear why Terrelle Pryor is as raw as he is as a prospect. It's also why his ceiling is so high. In the 7-on-7 tournament the next day, Terrelle Pryor was limited a bit because the quarterback is not allowed to break down a defense and run. His legs are a huge part of Terrelle Pryor's game.
When Terrelle Pryor gets out of the pocket and becomes a running threat, linebackers and defensive backs take notice and can't help but creep closer to the line of scrimmage.
This allows the talented dual-threat quarterback to either tuck and run and make defenders look silly, or throw the ball over their suddenly out-of-position heads.
When forced to sit in the pocket and simply throw, Terrelle Pryor is still pretty good. But watch out for him in a real game of tackle football. Once he gets into a college workout program -- possibly at Ohio State, Penn State, Florida, West Virginia or wherever -- he'll improve immensely.
If you're ever in the Pittsburgh area and bored, swing over to Jeannette, Pa., and drive around a bit. Just think, the garage you just passed could be the one where the next Vince Young lifts weights.
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