Penn State officially signs Lackawanna safety Tyrece Mills

Penn State hopes for more good news later today from 2022 offensive lineman Vega Ioane, but the first of two National Signing Day signings is now official, as junior college safety Tyrece Mills has signed his letter of intent. Penn State announced him at 10:37 a.m. eastern time.

A native of Philadelphia, Mills was the only committed player not to sign with Penn State back in December. Due to the “initial counters” rule that was put in place a few years back, James Franklin and his staff had to confirm Mills’ academic standing at the end of Lackawanna College’s fall semester before officially adding him. If they signed him and he was ruled ineligible, his scholarship would’ve counted against Penn State’s football program in 2022. Lackawanna was still taking finals on Dec. 15, so they took the safe route, asking him to hold off until now.

With Mills now on board, Penn State has added another quality safety prospect that could have an early impact. On3 ranks him as the No. 1 safety at the junior college level, and No. 11 nationally.

Link: Where does Penn State stand with OL Vega Ioane hours before his decision?

As Nittany Lion fans know by now, Lackawanna safeties have had plenty of success at Penn State. Pittsburgh native Jaquan Brisker started the trend back in 2019. It worked out well, as he’s now expected to a top-50 draft pick, with some projecting him to go in the first round. Brisker was followed by Jy’Ayir Brown in 2020. The Trenton, N.J. native led the NCAA in interceptions this past season with six. He was one of Penn State’s best players down the stretch, and will now return for one more season.

Penn State expects Mills to be the next in that line of successful incoming safeties.

“He’s an extremely aggressive kid. He’s like Brisker in that regard,” said Lackawanna College head coach Mark Duda. “We always say that we should have a siren on his helmet to warn his teammates, because when he comes up there, he hits the opponent and his own guys, too. He’s just that kind of kid. He wants to blow things up. He also has that ability to find a guy and make a great tackle.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mills and his teammates didn’t have a true season in 2020. Lackawanna attempted to play in the spring of 2021, but they were only able to participate in two games before shutting it down. With that said, Mills played well in both, totaling 14 tackles, two interceptions and forcing a fumble. That film, along with practice film and Penn State’s trust in the Lackawanna program, gave Franklin and his staff the confidence to offer Mills at the end of March 2021.

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It also helped that he played at Northeast High School, where he was previously coached by graduate assistant Deion Barnes. Mills actually earned a late offer from Akron out of high school, but was forced to go the junior college route because of academics

This past fall, which will go down as his freshman season, ended up being Mills’ only true season at Lackawanna. He totaled 35 tackles, participating in six of Lackawanna’s seven games. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, one sack and one forced fumble. Mills will now have four years to play three at the Division I level.

In addition to Penn State, Mills, earned offers from Maryland and Ole Miss. South Carolina was also showing interest around the same time that he committed.

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“That’s why Penn State gets on these guys as soon as they can,” Duda said. “They get these head starts before other schools get around to it, and it’s been working for them. Penn State has been, in my opinion, bright enough and smart enough to get on these guys before everyone else does. Remember, a few other guys that Penn State took from us had to camp first. That’s not the case with Tyrece, so I think that says a lot. That shows how confident we all are in his potential. I think Brisker was one of the few guys who didn’t have to camp, and look how that’s worked out for them.”

Mills was one of two Lackawanna players to sign with Penn State in the Class of 2022, joining offensive lineman J.B. Nelson. Nelson signed in December and is already enrolled. He was the top-ranked junior college player in the country according to On3.

Penn State fans should now turn their attention to another offensive lineman in Ioane. The Washington native flew out to State College this past weekend for an official visit, and will select between Penn State, Minnesota and Washington. BWI’s Ryan Snyder logged a pick for the Nittany Lions Tuesday night.

Ioane is expected to make his decision known around 11:45 a.m. ET.