ALTOONA, Pa. -- There had been growing hope the past couple of weeks that Penn State might be able to flip prized in-state prospect Rodney Gallagher, but those hopes ended over the weekend.
A wide receiver and the No. 3 prospect in Pennsylvania, Gallagher committed to West Virginia in May after being heavily recruited by Penn State. But the 5-foot-10, 160-pounder from Laurel Highlands High School in Uniontown surprised some people when he decided to visit Penn State for its regular-season finale against Michigan State.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown had been on the hot seat after going 5-7, so it made sense that recruits would be concerned.
However, WVU announced a week and a half ago that Brown will be returning next season. So, on Sunday, Gallagher sent out this tweet firming up his plans to become a Mountaineer.
I appreciate you guys coming through for my bday🙏🏼I’m staying a Mountaineer and locked in with the program. Will be signing on December 21st🏔💛💙 @NealBrown_WVU @CoachWright37 @Tony_TDUB @WVUfootball Love Mountaineer Nation!!! pic.twitter.com/xMvWxs837j
— Rodney Gallagher 3rd (LLC💕) (@Rodney_G3) December 11, 2022
Penn State had already lost out on Gallagher once, so it's not a huge surprise that he decided to spurn the Lions again. Still, there's no telling how things will go for Brown with the Mountaineers in the coming year or two, and if they struggle, it wouldn't be a surprise if Gallagher winds up being a player of interest in the transfer portal at some point down the road.
RB LEE TWEETS AND DELETES
Twitter giveth, and Twitter taketh away.
When Parker Washington announced Friday that he is declaring for the NFL draft, it set off an interesting little tweet exchange.
One reporter tweeted about how the Lions now will be looking for a punt returner next season, since Washington handled those duties.
In response to that tweet, running back Keyvone Lee tweeted an emoji of a person raising his hand. It was a sign of him saying he'd like to be the next punt returner.
It was interesting because there has been speculation about whether or not Lee will return to Penn State, given that he was surpassed this season by freshmen Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Lee's tweet made it seem like he would be returning to the Lions, and drew some responses to that regard on Twitter.
But ... the tweet has since been deleted. So now, who knows really?
College kids probably tweet and delete things all the time, so it may be wise not to read too much into any of it. Then again, the forum has become the preferred method for athletes to announce their future intentions, so if they do tweet anything along those regards, it's not unreasonable for people to come to conclusions.
BEST IN THE COUNTRY
Long snapper Chris Stoll received the Patrick Mannelly Award, given to the nation's top long snapper. He was honored at a ceremony Saturday night in Lake Bluff, Ill.
The award has been given out since 2019, and is named after after Patrick Mannelly, a former Duke long snapper who played 16 seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1998-2013.
Stoll, a redshirt senior, has been a model of consistency for Penn State. His snaps are pretty much always on the money, and the Lions have never had to be concerned with bad snaps that killed plays.
Here's the announcement of the award Saturday:
🎥 The Announcement. https://t.co/45cY7Cfbig pic.twitter.com/jSIHBSdqqK
— Penn State FB Communications (@PennStFBComms) December 11, 2022
