YSU football gets recruit from Warren Harding

After a three-year, 225-mile detour, Pat White discovered his college future was fewer than 20 miles away.

A former Warren Harding High basketball standout, White took a year off after graduating in 2006, then found himself at Alfred (N.Y.) State, a junior college located about two hours southeast of Buffalo.

He originally went there to play basketball, then ultimately quit the team and found himself staying on an extra semester. So, the 6-foot-6, 215-pounder joined the football team last fall.

“I’d been playing football my whole life, so I decided to see what happened,” said White, who didn’t play much in high school, admitting, “my heart wasn’t in it.”

The decision paid off immediately. Playing wide receiver for the Pioneers, he caught 23 passes for 599 yards (26 yards per catch) and six touchdowns. He was named the conference’s offensive player of the week on Nov. 16 after catching four passes for 88 yards and a TD in the Pioneers’ 21-15 win over Erie C.C.

Afterward, he sent his film around the country and caught the eye of several schools, including Youngstown State. The Penguins wanted him to play tight end and wide receiver — the only school that wanted him to play both — and he ultimately chose them over full ride offers from Syracuse, Akron, Arkansas State, Delaware State and Robert Morris.