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Gaithersburg's Sean Stanley speaks about committing to Penn State University.
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By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Sean Stanley is one of the nation’s premier college football recruits. He’s signed to one of the nation’s most prestigious football schools – Penn State.

But when it came to announcing his decision, Stanley showed just how small-town he really is.

He sat in Gaithersburg’s chorus room next to his mother and father at a folding table. In attendance were a handful of Gaithersburg students and athletes, and a few media members, including the Blue and Gold school newspaper and yearbook.

“For me, I would have just rather signed it at home,” Stanley said, letting his smile sneak out as the audience broke into laughter.

Stanley verbally committed to Penn State in late May 2008, well before many of his peers and especially early for an athlete that ended up being offered scholarships by more than 30 schools.

The defensive end wanted to end the recruiting process about as early as possible specifically to avoid all the headaches that comes with recruiting attention.

“Our of all my visits, it was my favorite school and somewhere where I could spend four or five years. It just seemed like the right place,” Stanley said. “Just the way it’s a family atmosphere, there’s a lot of tradition and just good academics.”

Stanley couldn’t dodge attention when he was on the field. Despite facing double teams routinely, Stanley notched 78 tackles, including 24 for a loss, 12 sacks and five forced fumbles this past season.

But more impressive in his Coach Kreg Kephart’s eyes was Stanley’s reserved character.

“We’re very fortunate to have a young man such as Sean in our building,” Kephart said in a speech to the gathered crowd. “He wasn’t one of those guys that wanted to put on a big show. I’m sure he’s not real comfortable sitting here right now.”


QUINCE ORCHARD’S BIG DAY

There may not be another Montgomery County public school signing day like the one that took place at Quince Orchard Wednesday for quite some time.

The Cougars saw three players sign scholarship letters to top-notch football programs.

Defensive tackle Terrence Stephens signed on for Stanford, defensive linemen Jason Ankrah will head to Nebraska, cornerback Travis Hawkins is Maryland-bound and tight end Cody Magill will play at Delaware.

Check DigitalSports.com tomorrow for an insider look into what National Signing Day is like for an athlete straight from Stephens himself!


BIG-TIME SIGNEES ELSEWHERE

There were plenty of Montgomery County football player signees around the county.

The list includes Clarksburg’s Avery Graham (Maryland), Seneca Valley’s Xavier Hughes (Ohio), Wootton’s Stephane N’goumou (Iowa) and Amir Afkhami (Bucknell), Northwest’s Marcus Whitfield (Maryland), Whitman’s Anthony Young-Wiseman (Duke), Paint Branch’s Omar Fahnbulleh (Wagner) and Sherwood’s Thomas Huff (Delaware).

If you would like to add your signing day pictures to this story, please email Montgomery County Content Editor Ryan Mink at rmink@digitalsports.com