Gaither DB Amani Oruwariye has orally committed to Penn State, Cowboys coach Jason Stokes said Thursday afternoon.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior is a three-star prospect ranked No. 61 at his position by Rivals and is 247Sports’ No. 34 safety recruit.
Oruwariye had initially committed to Vanderbilt but reopened his recruiting after Commodores coach James Franklin left for Penn State. Franklin’s Nittany Lions recruited Oruwariye hard and visited Gaither yesterday, Stokes said, but there was one hangup: Scholarship numbers.
Because of the NCAA sanctions stemming from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State was unsure of who could get scholarships and whether Oruwariye would have to grayshirt for a year before earning a scholarship. Those matters sorted themselves out Thursday afternoon.
“They assured him he can sign a letter of intent,” Stokes said.
So Oruwariye committed. He plans to sign in a ceremony at Gaither on Wednesday morning.
Oruwariye also had offers from Arizona, USF, Rutgers and Boston College, among others. He earned first-team all-county honors from the Tampa Bay Times after finishing the season with four interceptions, three blocked punts, nine passes defensed and two touchdown catches. He was the Times’ No. 9 overall recruit for the class of 2014.
Oruwariye is the second Hillsborough County defensive back to move on from a Vanderbilt commitment; Armwood’s Kyle Gibson officially committed to UCF earlier this week.