PA athlete mentions early leaders

Steelton (Pa.) Highspire is home to a number of likely Division I prospects in the 2009 recruiting class. Athlete Andre Campbell is one of the players to keep an eye on, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder.

"Pittsburgh is showing a lot of love," he said. "Penn State has been to the school a couple times and Virginia keeps me updated. I've been hearing from Connecticut and Michigan lately too. Those are the schools I'm most interested in."

What is it about those colleges that stick out to Campbell?

"When I was in 10th grade I went to West Virginia for camp and love their coaching staff including Coach Rodriguez," he said. "Now that they are at Michigan and I still like them. I like how they relate to us on the field and they don't accept anything other than greatness.

"With Connecticut, I've worked with their backup quarterback and the coaches are cool. As for Virginia, a few of the players there are from my area. I like that Pittsburgh has a lot of star players from District 3. I like the atmosphere there and the fact you can run into the Steelers anytime. Finally, I like the student involvement at Penn State and the atmosphere is great."

A number of schools are showing interest. What does Campbell want in a college?

"I want something closer to the East Coast," he said. "I want my mom to be able to get to games. I'd like to have a school that is historically successful and then I want to get a coaching staff that isn't afraid to use younger players."

In the near future, Campbell plans to take a visit to Pittsburgh on April 5th. He's also looking at spring games to Connecticut and Michigan.

Campbell had a huge year for Highspire accounting for 2,200-yards of offense and 27 touchdowns on his way to first team all-conference and honorable mention all-state honors.

"At the beginning of the year I had a whole bunch of big games passing," he said. "Then the weather and wind picked up and I became a better runner. I grew up a lot as a leader.

"I think my athletic ability really stood out along with my knowledge of the game. I can't ever be too strong or too fast. I want to work on my footwork and agility still."