Two teams for Tyrell Sales

While he's not shutting any doors yet, defensive end/linebacker Tyrell Sales may have two very solid favorites. That means a lot when you consider that he plans on making an early decision.

"I would say Pitt and Penn State are definitely his top two," said Thomas Sales, Tyrell's father. "He's only visited three schools so far -- those two and West Virginia -- but those two have really left a great impression on him. Those places have really stuck out to him more than other schools."

Sales got exciting news last week when Florida State entered the picture and offered a scholarship. The 'Noles join Maryland, Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, Indiana and West Virginia as teams that have offered. You might be surprised to hear who hasn't offered.

"He hasn't received offers from UVA or Virginia Tech yet," his father said. "We don't know why, since all these other schools have, especially a place like Florida State. But they haven't.

"Indiana and Florida State offered last week, but he we looked at the situation realistically. There's really not an opportunity to get down to Florida State unless it's an official visit, and I don't think he's going to wait that long."

Sales lists Ohio State, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and Virginia Tech after his two leaders. Schools won't have too long to wait on offering the talented defender.

"He's said on numerous occassions that he wants to make his decision before his senior season starts, or at least within the first two or so weeks of it. He wants to get it out of the way, so he's not going to be taking too many official visits.

"That just means the summer camps and visits he's already taken will mean that much more. And the only camps I know he's going to for sure are Penn State and Pitt. He had talked about going to the Ohio State senior Day, but that's coming up soon and we haven't talked much about it. He's going to finish making his plans soon."

There is no dead season for Sales, who stars in three sports. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound linebacker from Butler, Pa. also stars on the basketball court (19.5 points-per-game) and at track (second or third on team in throwing events). He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds and carries a strong 3.7 GPA.

"I don't expect him to try to play anything other than football in college," said his father. "Realistically his future is probably brightest in football, and those things could really take away from his performance on the field. He's definitely not going to play anything else as a freshman, but probably not beyond that either."