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Penn Hills Daequan Hardy hoists the trophy after beating Manheim Central, 36-31, during the PIAA Class 5A football championship on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, in Hershey.
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Penn Hills High School's Daequan Hardy commits to Penn State

Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette

Penn Hills High School's Daequan Hardy commits to Penn State

Penn Hills High School football player Daequan Hardy made an official visit to Penn State two weekends ago, and Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said Hardy came home a “little bummed” because the Nittany Lions didn’t offer a scholarship.

On Tuesday, Hardy was extremely excited about Penn State.

Penn State offered a scholarship and Hardy accepted. He announced his decision on Twitter Tuesday night and will sign with the Nittany Lions Wednesday.

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Hardy excelled at receiver, defensive back and returning kicks this past season for a Penn Hills team that won WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championships. He was the Post-Gazette’s co-Player of the Year along with Aliquippa’s M.J. Devonshire. But the only scholarship offers Hardy had were from Mid-American Conference schools. He visited Toledo and Buffalo and canceled a trip to Akron.

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Hardy is 5 feet 10, 165 pounds.

“Obviously, Penn State has recruited some special athletes the past couple years,” said LeDonne. “It’s not going to be easy for him. He has to mature and develop. But I think he can play there. The question is how soon?

“There’s no hiding that Daequan is one of the smaller guys, especially for Big Ten football. But the questions Penn State had, they must have worked out.”

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Hardy was a member of the Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 and a first-team all-state selection. He caught 37 passes for 817 yards, rushed for 373 yards, scored 25 touchdowns and had 10 interceptions and 44 tackles on defense.

“Penn State was recruiting him just as an athlete,” said LeDonne. “When coach [James] Franklin was in to visit last week, I think he was under the impression that Daequan wanted to play receiver. But he’ll play where he feels comfortable. I think he always thought of himself as a defensive back. But for anybody, the idea of scoring TDs and being targeted is intriguing.”

While one Post-Gazette co-Player of the Year has announced his college choice, the other will do the same Wednesday morning. Devonshire will announce his school at 9 a.m. at Aliquippa High School. Some close to Devonshire had thought for weeks that Pitt was the definite favorite, but Devonshire visited Kentucky two weekends ago and is now considering the Wildcats.

Elsewhere in recruiting, Penn Hills receiver-defensive back Corey Thomas announced Tuesday night that he will attend the University of Akron.

M.J. Devonshire and Daequan Hardy
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Penn Hills running back Tank Smith committed to Saint Francis. He had committed to Howard last summer, but opened up his recruitment when the Howard coaching staff left.

Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.

First Published: February 6, 2019, 2:09 a.m.

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