By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — One committed during his freshman year. The other gave his verbal agreement as a junior.
Both made it official on Wednesday.
In separate ceremonies, Seven McGee (East) and Tyler Szalkowski (Aquinas) inked National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at the Division I level.
“It’s a lot of emotions,” said McGee who will play football at the University of Oregon. “A lot of people said I was idiotic for committing so early, so young. I battled through. It was a lot of pain and suffering. The outcome is smiles and joy.”
Seven McGee makes it official and signs his NLI to attend University of Oregon. pic.twitter.com/UogXAjA3c9— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 16, 2020
Szalkowski will attend and play football for the University of Albany.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” said Szalkowski when asked about making his decision during the current pandemic. “There have been times when I got to a point where (I was asking) ‘Why am I doing this anymore?’
“I kinda wanted to find the light at the end of the tunnel, so I felt that committing a little earlier than a lot of guys and committing or signing in the early period to get it out of the way. I know I have something waiting for me after we get through this time and the cray world that we live in.”
Tyler Szalkowski signs his NLI to attend the University of Albany. pic.twitter.com/EuH6gGpo2I— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 16, 2020
Listed as a 4-Star recruit by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports, McGee mentioned former Oregon players De’Anthony Thomas, Marcus Mariota and Lamichael James as his motivation for attending the Pac-12 school.
Seven McGee explains his decision to attend the University of Oregon. pic.twitter.com/Oau3vnEDn8— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 16, 2020
“Oregon has definitely been my dream school since I was young,” said McGee who also received offer from Arizona State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Florida Atlantic, Florida, Utah and USC. “There have been a lot of great players there. When I was nine, 10 years old I always wanted to play for the Ducks.”
Szalkowski committed in June to Albany. The Aquinas quarterback also had an offer from Lafayette.
“I compared everything,” said Szalkowski who led the Li’l Irish to the 2018 Section V and New York State Class AA titles. “I checked all the boxes. Their offense is very good. The school is amazing. They have a lot of stuff that I can do after I graduate, post-grad stuff like that. Football-wise they’re one of the best in CAA (Colonial Athletic Association), and I’m excited.”
Tyler Szalkowski discusses the decision to continue his career at the University of Albany. pic.twitter.com/zln8kyhQIt— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 16, 2020
The two had different emotional states heading into the day.
“I couldn’t go to sleep,” McGee said. “I actually slept two hours. I was up talking to other commits. It was hard to go to sleep. We all were full with emotion.”
And Szalkowski.
“I probably woke up in the best mood I’ve ever woken up in. It’s hard to explain. I kinda went through my whole day going to school and acting like that with a big smile on my face. It was amazing. Different kind of feeling when you know that you have a chance to play at another level.”
McGee and Szalkowski were part of four local student-athletes signing to play football at the Division I level.
Congratulations Andrew Bonanni signing to study and play football at Colgate! @PFBPanthers @ColgateFB pic.twitter.com/B55WlATsQz— Pittsford Athletics (@PCSDAthletics) December 16, 2020
Rowan McGwin (Irondequoit) will continue his career at Buffalo. Pittsford’s Andrew Bonnani will attend Colgate and play for the Raiders. Fairport’s Jaelin Moss will sign his letter to play at Syracuse during the later signing period.
Congrats!!! https://t.co/wygPAu1xuF— Irondequoit Eagles (@WIEagles) December 17, 2020
Additionally, Victor’s Rushawn Baker announced his commitment to attend and play at Bucknell.
Speed ☑️ Power ☑️ Vision ☑️
RB Rushawn Baker (@rushawnbaker23) is the #NextToBeHerd!#NSD21 | #rayBucknell pic.twitter.com/aWxZbAl9yW— Bucknell Football (@Bucknell_FB) December 16, 2020
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