Penn State makes the cut with four-star LB Tony Rojas
Penn State was one of four schools to make the cut with top linebacker prospect Tony Rojas Friday.
A four-star prospect according to both On3 and the On3 Consensus, Rojas has long been considered one of Penn State’s top overall defensive targets. The Fairfax, Va., native has also visited regularly, taking five trips to Penn State since July 2021. He was most recently on campus last weekend for the Blue-White Game.
But as he announced Friday evening, the competition is also strong, as Clemson, Georgia and Miami are the other three schools still in the mix. Although those programs haven’t hosted him as much as Penn State, all three have gotten Rojas on campus in recent months. Clemson has actually hosted him twice, once in March and April. Miami hosted him April 12, while Georgia got him on campus two days later, April 14.
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Below are Rojas’ comments on each of his four schools.
Georgia: “They just produce an insane amount of linebackers to the NFL as you saw in the draft. The people and how intelligent the coaches are there standout as well.”
Clemson: “Clemson is just a complete organization that has the full package when it comes down to the DC and LB coach that is known as the Bill Belichick of college football, and how their facilities are always upgrading.”
Miami: “It has always been a dream to live in the city and the environment with the people is awesome.”
Penn State: “[It’s] a family-orientated school that doesn’t stop bugging you and the intensity of the games and practices are almost unmatched. The relationship I have with the coaches is just great from a player-coach perspective.”
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In Rojas’ most recent interview with Blue White Illustrated, he admitted that Clemson was emerging as Penn State’s top competitor. With that said, the Nittany Lions were still the team to beat.
“Yeah, I think it did,” Rojas said, when asked if the Clemson offer had a big impact on him. “It’s one of the biggest [schools], and when I went down there, the coaches, the facility and just the people [left a good impression]. It made a big change on my position with all of this.”
Rojas then went on to add, “Penn State is still [at] the top for me. They text my parents and my family the most. They check in to see how they are and are family-oriented.”
However, at the time of that interview, Georgia had not offered Rojas. Kirby Smart and his staff extended their offer to Rojas during his visit, making this recruitment all the more intriguing.
After a very busy start to the year – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech have also hosted him since January – Rojas will now switch his focus to official visits. All four of his top schools are expected to host him at some point in June.
Rojas is currently the sixth-ranked linebacker in the nation according to our scouts at On3, sitting at No. 125 nationally. He’s the second-ranked player in Virginia.
