Mike Yancich is used to being surrounded by talented linebackers.

He was one of three from Trinity High School who signed binding national letters of intent with Division I-A schools yesterday.

Yancich will play his college football at Penn State, while teammates Andrew Sweat and Brandon Weaver are headed to Ohio State and Ohio University.

"We've been playing against each other or together since fourth grade," Yancich said. "Not too many guys have the opportunity to play with two guys like that. Playing with them made me a better player."

Now, Yancich is hoping to become part of the long linebacker legacy at Penn State.

He was one of 14 players signed by the Nittany Lions yesterday.

Penn State is still in the running for quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top unsigned recruit from Jeannette High School. He is the only quarterback in state history to throw for 4,000 yards and run for 4,000 yards in his career.

Yancich, one of three highly regarded linebackers in Penn State's class, joins Michael Zordich from Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, and Michael Mauti from Mandeville High School in Louisiana.

Rivals.com and Scout.com ranked all three as four-star recruits, and the trio was coveted by some of Division I-A's top programs. Yancich chose the Nittany Lions over Michigan, Connecticut, Pitt and West Virginia.

"If you're a running back, you go to Southern Cal," he said. "If you're a linebacker, you go to Penn State. It's really the only place to go."

Yancich, 6 feet 2 and 219 pounds, was a first-team Class AAA all-state selection as a linebacker this past season for the Hillers, who finished 7-4 and were beaten in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

He had 118 tackles, 21 tackles for losses, 17 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries. He also gained 1,616 yards and scored 21 touchdowns as a running back.

Yancich, who had 30 sacks in his career at Trinity, will turn his full-time attention to defense at Penn State.

"Mike has incredible athletic ability," Trinity coach Ed Dalton said. "He's a real physical specimen, a devoted weightlifter. He's around 220 pounds and there's not an ounce of fat on him. He's got great strength and speed. You won't find a more athletic kid anywhere than Mike."

Zordich and Mauti, who enrolled at Penn State in January, along with running back Brandon Beachum from Cardinal Mooney, are the sons of former Penn State players.

Michael Zordich was an All-American safety for the Lions in the early to mid-1980s before a 12-year career in the NFL. Rich Mauti was a receiver for the Lions in the mid-70s who also played in the NFL. Another son, Patrick, is currently playing receiver at Penn State.

Yancich made a verbal commitment to the Lions in June. His decision came a little more than a month after he was named the top linebacker at the school's Nike football camp.

"My parents and I walked in and sat down and talked to coach [Joe] Paterno," Yancich said. "He told me he wanted me to come play for him. It gave me the goose bumps then and it does now. I called him a couple days later and told him I was coming.

"During our conversation, he told me, 'I know there's probably one question on your mind -- how long am I going to be here?' He said, 'I plan to go as long as I can.' "

Yancich wasn't the only WPIAL player signed by Paterno and Penn State.

The Lions, who will have nine seniors on the offensive line in 2008, also landed tackle Mike Farrell (6-6, 272) from Shady Side Academy. A first-team Class AA all-state selection, he picked Penn State over Miami (Ohio).

Meanwhile, newly signed safety D'Anton Lynn's father, Anthony, is the running backs coach for the Cleveland Browns. And tight end Mark Wedderburn's brother, Floyd, was an offensive lineman at Penn State in the late 1990s and later played in the NFL.

The Lions did lose running back Michael Shaw to Michigan yesterday. Shaw, from Trotwood, Ohio, had given a verbal commitment to Penn State in the summer and was rated the seventh-best running back in the country by Rivals.com.