Two future Penn State players announce they'll transfer ahead of senior season
Two of Penn State’s future players, defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam and wide receiver Josiah Brown, announced Sunday that they’d transfer to different high schools ahead for their senior seasons.
Gilliam, who previously played at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Md., tweeted out Sunday afternoon that he’ll now move about 30 minutes west to play for Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg. The Cougars are the defending Maryland 4A state champions. They defeated C.H. Flowers last December in Annapolis, 32-7. Quince Orchard also happens to feature a few other Penn State targets, most notably 2024 defensive lineman Jaylen Harvey.
“Me and my family were looking to move and we’re familiar with the Gaithersburg area,” Gilliam told Blue White Illustrated when asked what led to the move. “That’s the area where I grew up in. I grew up in Montgomery Village, which is in Gaithersburg.
“So, we’re really familiar with the area and Quince Orchard just happens to be the high school that we happened to find a house in that district. We really had no intentions of moving for a school specifically. It was just us trying to find a new place for my family to live. For me though, it does help that QO is the powerhouse that it is.”
As for Brown, he’s leaving Holy Trinity to attend his hometown high school in Malverne, N.Y. The move is primarily centered around Brown being able to enroll at Penn State in January. If he stayed at Holy Trinity, he wouldn’t have been able to enroll until next summer.
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“He’s the highest profile kid on Long Island and it’s a big deal that he’s going back to his hometown,” Holy Trinity Athletic Director Chris Hardardt told Newsday. “Transfers happen all the time with students in the Catholic League. I feel very comfortable with the way our school and program treated JB. He was a well-liked student by every teacher and coach here. We know Penn State wants to get him on campus early and get him settled. And we were fully prepared to have that conversation to work out his schedule to allow him to graduate early.”
Brown holds a four-star rating by On3. He’s also a member of the On300 at No. 296 nationally. He’s the ninth-ranked athlete and the third-ranked player in New York. The On3 Industry Ranking, which combines On3, 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals, rates Brown a bit higher at No. 247 nationally and No. 1 overall in New York.
As for Gilliam, he holds an 88 overall rating by On3, making him a high three-star prospect. He’s the 14th-ranked player in Maryland for his class
Penn State holds 22 commitments in its Class of 2024. The Nittany Lions have dropped two spots to No. 10 in the Team Rankings in recent days. Both Florida State and Clemson moved up following multiple commitments for each school.
