Video Breakdown: Penn State gets sleeper in AJ Belgrave-Shorter
Penn State football is on a roll this spring, picking up yet another commitment on Monday evening. This time three-star corner from Mandarin high school in Florida, Antoine “AJ” Belgrave-Shorter, committed to the Nittany Lions. He did so nine days after teammate and top-100 player in the On300, Jon Mitchell, chose the Lions.
Film analyst Thomas Frank Carr and recruiting insider Ryan Snyder break down Belgrave-Shorter’s history and timeline to Penn State. They’ll discuss how Mitchell’s recruitment impacted his teammate and how quickly things picked up for Belgrave-Shorter this winter.
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Penn State gets a sleeper in Belgrave-Shorter
Despite his three-star rating in the On3 ranking system and his lack of a grade by two of the major recruiting services, both Snyder and T-Frank think Belgrave-Shorter is a high-quality addition to this class. More importantly, so does Penn State.
“They have him right up there with Mitchell. With Mitchell as a top 100 prospect number 60-something in the nation, I believe. You know, if you look at Belgrave Shorter, he’s a high three-star right now. Yeah. But as we get testing numbers and other things like that, this as the opportunity to change too if you watch this film a little bit more,” Snyder says.
Terry Smith now has a complete set at corner
T-Frank has a strong familiarity with Belgrave-Shorter’s game after scouting his teammate for his film breakdown earlier this month. He came away impressed by both players.
“John Mitchell has a reputation people don’t throw at John Mitchell all that much. So Belgrave Shorter got a lot of work this past season, and it may be the bias of how many times he got targeted but he might have better ball skills than John Mitchell. I think he’s really good at the catch point,” he said.
“So I think this is a great fit for Penn State. I think this is a great fit for Belgrave Shorter, and he is absolutely a sleeper in this class for me.”
Penn State now has three cornerbacks in the Class of 2024, with a three-star player from Philadelphia, Kenny Woseley kicking things off for the secondary with his commitment on March 3. With the Mandarin teammates on board, cornerbacks coach Terry Smith has two outside corners to pair with Woseley, making a quality, balanced trio.
