ROANOKE, Va. – The early signing period for Division I football athletes included a big one at the home of the Patriots.
Four-star wideout Carmelo Taylor put his signature on the dotted line to attend Penn State. The speedster brings a pair of state track championships to the football field where he was a bonafide big play threat for coach Alan Fiddler’s team.
He can’t wait to join his new ‘family’ in State College, Pennsylvania.
”It was like a family. You know how when you first meet someone and you think, “Wow I can get used to them and they feel like family?” Coach Franklin and coached Stubb [Taylor Stubblefield-Penn State WR coach] and everybody up there in PA made me feel like I was at home when I came up, and I really did truly enjoyed that experience and that’s what made me pick Penn State,” Taylor said.
“The thing that Carmelo gives you is next-level elite speed, but he has really good ball skills and he’s a physical player. A lot of times guys with that elite speed don’t have the ball skills that he has and that’s what separated him,” Patrick Henry Coach Alan Fiddler said.
The Patriots are coming off a 9-3 season that included a Class 5 playoff victory over Briar Woods. Penn State finished 10-2 and he’s headed to the Rose Bowl to battle Utah.
“Coach Franklin came in for a visit, the receivers coach has been here several times --so they have been on top of it and there’s a reason that they’re signing a lot of really good players,” Fiddler added.