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North Allegheny's Joey Porter Jr. takes a break during a scrimmage at North Allegheny Senior High School in this July 18, 2018 file photo.
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Joey Porter Jr., North Allegheny defensive back, commits to Penn State

Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette

Joey Porter Jr., North Allegheny defensive back, commits to Penn State

Joey Porter Jr. had some far-away colleges on his final list. But when decision time came for Porter, he chose to stay close to home. Just not in the backyard.

Porter, a defensive back at North Allegheny High School, announced on Twitter on Tuesday morning that he has made a verbal commitment to Penn State. Pitt was one of his other top choices, but Porter also had LSU, Nebraska and Miami on his final list of schools.

Porter’s father, Joey Sr., is a former Steeler and now a Steelers assistant coach. The Pitt and Steelers football offices are in the same building on the South Side and they use the same practice facilities. Pitt was in the hunt for Porter, but he chose to become Penn State’s 16th recruit from the class of 2019, which Rivals rates as the 11th-best in the nation. He is the first WPIAL recruit for Penn State since Clairton’s Lamont Wade and Central Catholic’s C.J. Thorpe in the class of 2017.

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“I think those distance schools were in consideration because when he had some unofficial visits to those places, he really enjoyed them,” said North Allegheny coach Art Walker. “I think he needed to do those unofficials to see some places.

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“I know he was at Penn State a few times and really enjoyed his time there. Obviously, he’s been down at Pitt a lot of times. When it came down to it, he just thought his best fit was at Penn State.

Porter is a 6-foot-2, 187-pound senior who plays cornerback for North Allegheny. He also plays receiver but was recruited to play defense. Porter was recruited by many major colleges and Walker believes Porter’s abilities will translate well to the Big Ten Conference.

“It seems like Big Ten teams have those big wide receivers or those big, athletic H-back tight end types who split out,” said Walker. “I think [Porter] is a guy, because of his length and size, can match up with those guys. That’s what made him marketable. He can take away the longer type of receivers. He has long arms, great ball skills and he plays man-to-man very well.”

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FROM AUGUST: 100 YARDS WITH JOEY PORTER JR.

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

First Published: September 11, 2018, 12:31 p.m.
Updated: September 11, 2018, 12:31 p.m.

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North Allegheny's Joey Porter Jr. takes a break during a scrimmage at North Allegheny Senior High School in this July 18, 2018 file photo.  (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)
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