Hempfield 2026 DT Brock Heisler Commits to Harvard

The bond between WPIAL football players and Ivy League schools has grown over the past few years and there’s a new name that can be added to that growing list.

Hempfield 2026 defensive tackle Brock Heisler received offers from a wide range of football programs such as West Virginia, William & Mary, Sacramento State, Air Force, Villanova, Navy, James Madison, UConn, Ohio U., Miami Ohio, Kent State, Temple, Akron, Buffalo, Cornell, etc. But in the end, it was an offer that he received back in December of 2024 that stood out the most.

Heisler made the decision to commit to attend and play football at Harvard.

100% committed @HarvardFootball pic.twitter.com/c7kUcBEluM

— Brock Heisler 2026 (@Brock_Heisler) June 19, 2025

Heisler made an official visit to West Virginia last weekend and was scheduled to travel to Delaware today but last night, the talented defensive lineman closed down his recruitment and is headed to the Ivy League.

“The main thing for me was just the fit with Harvard,” Heisler tells PSN. “I visited there twice, I loved the area, I loved Cambridge. Obviously, the academics speak for themselves. But I liked the balance of academics and brand of football they play. When I went on the visits, I went in thinking that they’d kind of be like rich kids or like stingy Ivy League kids but everyone I met there, especially the players were great. They reminded of Western Pennsylvania kids, blue-collar kids. I had a great time and felt like I really fit in with them. The coaches were also great and honestly, it just felt like home.”

Speaking of home, Heisler’s family obviously had a role in his decision. In fact, this was the first time the Heisler’s have sent one of their children to an Ivy League school for athletics.

“My family was familiar with the Ivy League, as my sister, Peyton, is a sophomore softball at the University of Pennsylvania. And the connections that my sister has already made at Penn is pretty crazy. Similar to me, Peyton had an offer from Maryland and a couple of other bigger schools but liked Penn. They (parents) realize and talked with me about the benefits and prestige that attending an Ivy League school brings you. They made me well aware of that but in the end, they were going to be supportive of me no matter who I would have chosen. But I think they did a great job of helping me understand how great of an opportunity the Ivy League is.”

Considering he was a player that had the ability to play at a Power 4 and various other solid levels of football, I was curious as to how the coaches at Harvard recruited Heisler from a football perspective.

“The Harvard staff was super confident in what they have going on up there,” said Heisler. “They have great resources and great facilities, and they dominate the Ivy League for the most part. They understood that they weren’t West Virginia but they also knew what else they had on the table. They were confident and have gotten big-time players in the past, that had big offers. This wasn’t anything too new to them.”

Heisler tells PSN that he’s getting recruited to Harvard to play defensive tackle and is very much looking forward to it. Now with the biggest decision of his life out of the way, he’s able to truly enjoy his last year of high school at Hempfield before attending one of the top universities in the country.

“This is a huge weight off of my shoulders,” said Heisler. “After my official visit to Harvard in April, I feel like I knew that was the spot for me, but I wanted to wait until I took my West Virginia official visit just so I was sure it was the right place.”

“After my WVU visit it made me think a little bit but in the end, I was confident about Harvard and stuck with it. Going into my senior year, I wanted to make sure this was something I didn’t have to worry about at all. It’s going to be nice to go through the season and now through the summer not to have this to worry about. It’s behind me, a lot less stressful and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Last recruiting class, the following players from the WPIAL signed with Ivy League programs: Central Catholic OL Sam Brackney/Brown, North Allegheny OL Jack Yatchenko/Princeton, North Catholic TE Joe Safar/Cornell, Upper St. Clair DL Michael Albert/Princeton, Upper St. Clair OL Nate Stohl/Princeton and West Allegheny S Brock Cornell/Penn. Earlier this week, Aliquippa quarterback Marques Council committed to Yale.