Mike Vukovcan College football coaches from around the country were back on the road recruiting on Thursday as in-person recruiting started back up.
Considering the talent on the roster, Hopewell High School will be getting visited numerous times over the next few years and yesterday, those visits started.
Back in September, former Penn State head coach James Franklin and assistant head coach Terry Smith traveled to Hopewell in order to extend an offer to talented 2028 quarterback James Armstrong.
Franklin is no longer with Penn State, so the current staff wanted to make sure Armstrong knew that he was still a priority to them.
New head coach Matt Campbell and Smith visited Hopewell in order to give that news to Armstrong, but he wasn’t the only Viking they were checking in on.
The Nittany Lions coaches started their talk with Hopewell HC Matt Mottes by asking about talented sophomore running back Nasir Wade.
In his first season playing the running back position, Wade carried the ball 108 times for 1,372 yards, along with 21 catches for 336 yards and 14 offensive touchdowns.
To be honest with you, I’m not sure there’s a more talented 1-2 punch in the entire WPIAL in terms of quarterback and running back than Armstrong and Wade, who totaled 4,300+ combined yards and 47 touchdowns.
From his very first game at Hopewell last season, it was easy to see Wade’s unique talent and game-changing ability. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he has the ability to get to the endzone every time he touches the ball.
What makes him different from A LOT of high school players is his straight-line speed along with his ability to stop, make a jump cut from right to left and turn the jets. It’s stuff you see from players at the Power 4 level of football.
Wade currently holds multiple D-1 offers but is still waiting for that first Power 4 offer. Considering he’s only a sophomore and it was his first season playing running back, it’s not a surprise Wade’s offer list isn’t long.
However, that will be changing over the coming months as school start to seriously recruit the Class of 2028. In fact, since the end of the season, schools such as Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Kent State have started to show interest in Wade. Virginia wanted him to come down for a game day visit at the end of the season, but transportation was an issue.
When you possess the athletic ability Wade does, schools will become aware of him and a year from now, the conversation surrounding his recruitment will be entirely different.
In terms of Armstrong, it’s the same thing but likely at a much higher level considering the position he plays, his size and his god given talent.
The visit he received on Thursday from Penn State will likely be the first of many he’ll be getting over the coming months. Now that he’s entering his junior season, more and more schools will begin to offer and try and get him on visits this spring.
At this point of his recruitment, Armstrong’s Power 4 offer list includes Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia and North Carolina. I would expect James Franklin and Virginia Tech to officially enter his recruitment in the near future.
These next couple of seasons will be very exciting for Hopewell football due to the winning and the attention the high school will receive. It’s been a long time since the school has been able to have two Power 4 caliber football players within the school, but they can now with Armstrong and Wade.
