While Steel Valley senior Donald Barksdale has his eyes set on adding one more WPIAL title to his name before graduating, he is also making moves towards his future by trimming his college list to five schools on Friday.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound athlete announced a top five of Memphis, Bowling Green, Youngstown State, Howard and Morgan State via Instagram. He eliminated offers such as Albany, Robert Morris, Duquesne, Bryant and Merrimack.
Bowling Green was Barksdale’s first Division I offer back in February of this year. Most recently, he picked up an offer from Youngstown State and an intriguing one from American Athletic Conference member Memphis in October.
His recruiting process heated up following an outstanding junior campaign in which he starred at running back for the Ironmen, rushing for 2,061 yards and 37 touchdowns on 267 carries. At defensive back, he logged 53 tackles and four interceptions.
Barksdale concluded his final high school regular season as the third-leading rusher in the WPIAL with 1,761 yards. In a first-round playoff matchup against Washington, Barksdale ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came on runs of 76 and 19 yards. He now has 27 total touchdowns on the year.
An instrumental piece of Steel Valley, Barksdale is looking to lead the Ironmen to its second title in three years after winning in 2022. Last season, Steel Valley came up just shy in the WPIAL finals against Beaver Falls.
For more on all of the WPIAL football offers and commitments, check out the WPIAL Football Recruiting Board below:
WPIAL Football Recruiting Board – Western PA Football Recruiting
