Shadowing a Star
The Pressure of Being a Top Recruit
By Anthony Jaskulski

Gazing upon an ESPN crew, four radio broadcasting networks, several television stations and dozens of scouts in the stands, Terrelle Pryor had just one thing to say after dismantling his Yough opponent, earlier this year: "What else is new, it's just another day for me."

The two- sport star has not only become the face of High School sports nationally, but also the prime suspect in the world of basketball and mainly football recruiting, with schools such as Texas, Penn State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida and many more spending waking hours and countless amounts of time on trying to lure the prodigy to their programs.

With 2,789 yards rushing and 3,113 through the air, the senior quarterback for Jeannette high school has been ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 recruit in the country, as well as No. 3 in the nation on ESPN.com.

But it gets much deeper than that.

Doing a Google search on Pryor, you will more than likely stumble across almost ten pages of information on the 19- year old anomaly. You may even come across his very own website designed and produced by his near thousand-fan base.

Most of those "fans" are just hoping that their two cents of wisdom will get Pryor to their alma mater or "that perfect school" in their eyes.

"I can't go one day without at least ten people telling me where I should go, and mainly because it's their school and they think it would be best for me," says Pryor. "Everybody thinks they can convince me to go here or to go there, but nobody understands that the only person that has that much of an influence on me is my father."

Ohio State and Penn State are just two of the many schools fan forum's that are littered with Pryor status reports, updates and interest levels, that are updated hourly.

With all the crowd telling him what to do, and even more posing as his closest friend just to get "a piece of the action," Pryor has become more of a mode of transportation than a person, with everybody just trying to hitch a ride. This, noticed immensely by Terrelle's head coach Ray Reitz.

"There are so many around the area that will pose as his friend and claim they were there for him all along. The truth is, if he was just another player out there like everybody else, nobody would tell him this and tell him that, and try their hardest to be his friend. Everybody wants to go for the ride with Terrelle, and however wrong it seems, I guess that is just how it goes when you are as good as he is. You start finding out who your true friends are anyway."

The pressure and spotlight has risen like a third degree fire for Terrelle's senior year.

Even a slight confrontation at Kennywood Park several weeks ago, resulted in Pryor making front-page news for a verbal argument with a friend and security guard.

"We must all remember that this is an 18-year-old kid who made a mistake," said Reitz. "But because of how high profile he is, it is a big deal. If you check the police blotter all over the country, a whole lot of young adults do these sort of things, but because he is Terrelle Pryor, it is a much bigger deal."

Pryor almost faced charges principally for labeling a security guard a "rent- a- cop," where most kids his age, would have been released from the incident with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Recruiting can be a grimace world for an athlete. Despite all the unwanted attention, it leaves somebody wondering who will stick by me through glory and rock bottom, and why how many more questions will I have to answer before the day ends?

When it comes to answering those questions, nobody knows it better than Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy.

The true freshman went from fame to famine during his high school career at Bishop McDevitt. After rushing for a combined total of 6,288 yards in three seasons, McCoy nearly saw his future wiped away by a compound ankle fracture suffered late in his senior year.

"I started getting national attention from colleges and had coaches knocking on the door during my sophomore year," said McCoy. "After my injury, colleges started to look deeper, like at my grades and what not and started to second guess a little, which is why I went to prep school to get back on the right track. Try to erase any doubt from everyone interested."

McCoy's triumphant comeback took place at Milford Military Academy (NY), where he recuperated on the field and in the classroom, which later enticed Pittsburgh in giving him a full scholarship.

Despite his intense road traveled back to the gridiron, McCoy realizes the many people who left his side in a desperate time of need, even including a lost of schools such as Penn State, that deny having any interest in the running back.

"People are entitled to their own opinions," said McCoy about many losing faith during his perils on and off the field. "I learned through all of it, who was really there for me and who was really my friends. People left my side and jumped back on, but in the long run I found out who really cared. Pitt was one of them and I couldn't be happier here."

In the world of recruiting in sports, the highs can come just as quick as the deepest lows imaginable.

Whether it's a two- sport star athlete that shows no signs of slowing down, forcing his name on "must- have" lists, or a kid's shattered dream of stardom and epic fight back to the top, all of the finest athletes have their recruiting stories, but like a tree, every branch leads to one big root.

That root, undeniably is pressure.