Four-star wide receiver Lex Cyrus commits to South Carolina over Penn State
Penn State has had no shortage of success in and around the Harrisburg region in recent years, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday when Susquehanna Twp. wide receiver Lex Cyrus announced that he was committing to South Carolina.
Like so many other Central Pennsylvania prospects over the years, Cyrus was a regular visitor to State College the past two years, totaling five unofficial visits before he took his official visit the weekend of May 31 to June 2.
Even after he took his official visit to South Carolina, June 7-9, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound speedster returned to Happy Valley with his teammates for a 7-on-7 tournament on June 21. That gave Penn State another opportunity to show him why State College was best for him. Ultimately, he still decided that playing in the SEC was best.
“It definitely was a hard decision. [Penn State] is a great school and it’s great to be close to home, just an hour away, but ultimately, when I weighed out all my options, South Carolina felt like the right place to be.”
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When asked what may have separated the Gamecocks from the Nittany Lions, Cyrus added, “Really, I would say probably Coach [Mike] Furrey. He was definitely a major impact on this decision. Talking to him and the conversations I’ve had with him, he showed me that he’s probably the best coach that can develop me as a man and football player the next three to four years.”
Losing out on Cyrus, who’s ranked fifth overall in Pennsylvania and No. 109 nationally by On3, hurts for a few reasons. Not only did he grow up within 100 miles of State College, but he also made major strides as a junior this past season. Ask anyone who’s evaluated Cyrus in recent years and they’d tell you that there’s still plenty to come.
“I think the past year is a great example of a student-athlete seeing where he needed to develop and really working on it,” Susquehanna Twp. head coach Joe Headen told Blue White Illustrated when asked about Cyrus’ growth over the past year. “Now, he’s seeing those results come together. Is he where he needs to be still? No, but he’s seeing the results and seeing himself get better. The impression was he’s a track guy who plays football, but Lex would always tell you he’s a football guy first.”
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Headen went on to add, “This spring, he’ll have a full track practice and still will find time after to get one of us to throw him balls on the jugs machine. So, his drive to continue developing has played a massive role. Also, the feedback he got from [Penn State’s] coaches last year was big. After he camped, they made it clear to him that he needed to work on catching the ball better, becoming a better route runner, all of those things. I think also playing in some of those national 7-on-7 tournaments has been big, too. It’s given him a chance to see where he stacks up against the best players in the country.”
Cyrus has proven to be one of the region’s fastest prospects. He wasn’t able to repeat as the PIAA AAA 100-meter champion in May, despite the fact that he broke the state record with a 10.41-second sprint during his heat. His 10.53-second sprint in the final gave him a third-place finish.
On the gridiron, Cyrus had no shortage of offers, totaling more than two dozen the past few years. Schools like Miami, Notre Dame and Oregon all showed interest in recent months, but it was the offer from South Carolina back in January that ultimately proved to be Penn State’s top competitor.
