BROOKLINE — As a small crowd congregated outside the Kraft Fieldhouse and Fusco Arena Friday, Liam Andrews felt a unique excitement. Maybe even some nerves.
The Dexter Southfield football star was set to make his highly-anticipated college commitment. When the doors opened, a swath of his fellow teammates and friends approached, waiting with bated breath.
After narrowing his long list of options to three schools, the four-star lineman chose Penn State.
“It feels incredible,” Andrews said. “Like I mentioned about 50 times, this is a dream come true for me. Ever since I started playing football, it’s been my dream to play at the highest of levels. So, I’m shooting for the NFL, but the first stop is college ball. So, it’s a dream come true for me.”
The commitment ends a long recruiting process that dates to Andrews’ sophomore year. Shortly after his transfer from Bishop Fenwick, Casey Day and his coaches at Dexter Southfield recognized they had a special talent. So did a few college scouts, as he soon began receiving offers.
According to 247Sports, which tracks college recruits across the country, 22 colleges and universities extended offers to Andrews.
“He’s on that short list,” said Day. “My first two years here, we had a kid, Abner Logan, who played in some NFL camps, played at Maryland. Obviously, Liam’s got a ways to go before he can hang his hat on stuff like that, but he’s at the top of the list with some of those guys.”
Ultimately, Andrews trimmed his options to South Carolina, Wisconsin and Penn State. When he selected the hat bearing the Nittany Lions logo, the crowd burst into applause.
“The (people) are all real,” Andrews said. “During this recruiting gig, a lot of coaches will act one way on a visit, another way on the phone. It’s inconsistent. Coach (James) Franklin, Coach (Deion) Barnes, Coach (Chuck) Losey, literally everybody on the staff is the same, everytime you talk to them. So, just the consistency of the people, and how thoughtful and caring the people are (made the difference). They care more about you as a human being than a football player. That’s really important to me, because that is who you are at the end of the day.”
So what can Penn State fans truly expect when Andrews arrives at State College?
“They’re obviously going to be getting a kid who is very talented athletically,” Day said. “But something that separates Liam I think from the pack is the motor he plays with. The level of violence, and power he plays with. It’s something that our coaching staff talks about. I mean, I don’t want to call him a football savant, but as far as line play is concerned, he’s about as intelligent of a player that we’ve ever had in this program.”