10 recruits in the class of 2024 from the WPIAL signed their Letters of Intent with Power Five programs across the country this month, and while the total number may be down, there’s certainly talent in the area.
During the first National Signing Day earlier this month, the following WPIAL players signed with Power Five programs:
- Belle Vernon ATH Quinton Martin: Penn State
- Central Catholic ATH Cole Sullivan: Michigan
- Central Catholic LB Anthony Speca: Penn State
- Aliquippa LB Cam Lindsey: Pitt
- Pine-Richland OL Ryan Cory: Wisconsin
- Bishop Canevin DB Jason Cross: West Virginia
- Penn Hills QB Julian Duggar: Pitt
- Central Catholic WR Peter Gonzalez: Penn State
- Central Catholic DL Ty Yuhas: Pitt
- South Park OL Zach Ludwig: Michigan
The WPIAL’s class of 2025 is off to a fast start as three players have already verbally committed to Power Five programs: Aliquippa four-star running back Tiqwai Hayes/Penn State, North Catholic four-star tight end Brady O’Hara/Penn State and Central Catholic cornerback Xxavier Thomas/Penn State.
The top uncommitted recruit from the area, and possibly the top WPIAL recruit in 2025, is someone who wasn’t even viewed as a major recruit a year ago, but that has certainly changed in a big way.
Latrobe linebacker Alex Tatsch (a four-star recruit in the class of 2025) is not only a top local recruit, he’s one of the top linebackers in the entire country. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is rated by Rivals as a Top 200 national recruit, and he’s hearing from some of the top programs in the country.
Tatsch currently holds offers from Pitt, Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, USC, Stanford, Kentucky, South Carolina, Maryland, Duke, Cincinnati and Boston College.
Pittsburgh Sports Now caught up with Tatsch this morning and we spoke about his meteoric rise, and while he’s grateful for it, he admitted the last year has been crazy.
“I want to first say that I’m extremely blessed to be in this position,” said Tatsch. “I think I received a little bit of attention from my sophomore season, but I obviously took a big jump this year. My explosiveness and the off-season training work that I put in. Plus, I grew a little bit more, gained some weight, which along with my explosiveness, really helped boost me to become a better player and a bigger national recruit.
“All of this has been crazy but a good crazy. It’s hard to describe what all of this has been like.”
The craziness and once-in-a-lifetime moments for Tatsch will continue into the New Year as his recruiting class is now on the clock. The question now is where Tatsch stands in his recruitment, and whether or not he has a timeline for making a decision.
“I’ve told everyone that I’d be committing at least before the summer,” said Tatsch. “I definitely will commit to a school before my senior season starts, so I have all of that off of my chest and let everything get back to normal. That way, I won’t have as many people contacting me, and I can just get back to playing football.
“My decision could come a lot earlier than that. One school in particular, I’m pretty close to maybe two. A lot of schools want me to come visit, but obviously I can’t and won’t be visiting every school that’s offered me. I’ll probably go visit a couple of schools in January.”
The highly sought-after linebacker isn’t entirely sure of the schools he’ll make visits to, but Penn State will definitely be on the list. James Franklin’s Nittany Lions are clearly one of the top schools on Tatsch’s list.
“Penn State obviously has a new defensive coordinator now, so I just talked to him the other day,” Tatsch said. “So, I have to build a relationship with him, but I really like coach (Terry) Smith. Also, the main guy who helps with their linebackers is Dan Conner. He’s on their staff as an analyst but he does a lot with them, and I really like him. I relate really well with him, and he’s a cool dude. They’re shown me a lot of love and I feel as though I’ve built a genuine bond with them.”
While Penn State looks to be in a good position with Tatsch, he isn’t closing down his recruitment just yet. He said that the other schools currently showing him the most attention are Pitt, West Virginia, Stanford, Wisconsin and USC.
