Ottawa’s Alex Mateas commits to Penn State

Penn State loses wideout, gains offensive tackle

‘READ ARTICLE’ to watch Alex’s HILITE VIDEO

It’s late May. The Major League Baseball season is in full swing. The seemingly never-ending NBA and NHL seasons are finally getting to the good stuff. And the local high school postseason, as always, is providing lots of captivating stories.

With all that cooking, you’d think that Penn State football would be far on the back burner for most York County sports fans. After all, the Blue-White Game is a month in the rear-view mirror and the Sept. 4 opener against mighty Youngstown State is a mere rumor right now.

But you’d be wrong. PSU football is a year-round passion in these parts, and there’s rarely a shortage of Nittany news. And, believe it or not, the most recent PSU headline has nothing to do with the much-hyped Big Ten expansion. No, the latest news out of Happy Valley concerns player movement. On Tuesday, the Lions lost a wideout and gained an offensive tackle.

A.J. Price a lanky (meaning skinny) 6-foot, 4-inch wideout who never caught a pass for the Lions, has been granted his release, according to the FightOnState website. It’s uncertain what Price’s future plans are, but with PSU well stocked at receiver, the sophomore from Reston, Va., should not be a serious loss.

While Price is leaving Happy Valley, FightOnState also reports that Alex Mateas is coming. Who, in the name Joe Paterno, is Alex Mateas? Well, that’s a question lots of folks in Nittany Nation are asking right now. He’s a bit of a mystery man.

Mateas is a 6-4, 310-pound offensive tackle from that football hotbed of Ottawa, Ontario, in Canada. He played club football for the Ottawa Sooners.

Mateas reportedly is scooping up the scholarship that came open when wideout recruit Levi Norwood was given a release from his letter of intent earlier this month. Norwood is the younger brother of former PSU wideout Jordan Norwood.

Mateas, who is expected to arrive at PSU this summer, supposedly chose the Lions over UConn. That would make sense. UConn, coached by Susquehannock grad Randy Edsall, already has one former Ottawa Sooner on his roster — sophomore tight end John Delahunt, who made five starts for the Huskies in 2009.

A highlight clip of Mateas is posted on the Internet, and he seems to have decent feet and athletic ability. And he certainly has the size. Whether that translates into being a solid major college offensive linemen remains to be seen. But offensive line, especially tackle, is a definite area of need for the Lions.

Still, no matter how things shake out in the future, Mateas’ arrival, and Price’s departure, have certainly given the PSU football junkies a much-needed late-May fix.

Steve Heiser is sports editor of The York Dis patch. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 854-1575, ext. 455.

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

Leave a Reply