Several Offers For A.Q.

Pennsylvania's A.Q. Shipley talks about his scholarship offers, junior days he's attended and where he'll be in the spring.

“I have offers from Pittsburgh, Penn State, Michigan State, Syracuse, West Virginia and North Carolina,” said defensive tackle A.Q. Shipley.

“Ohio State gave me a verbal scholarship offer but I haven’t received anything in writing from them.”

Shipley, a 6-foot-4, 270-pounder, from Moon (Pa.) Area will be a four-year starter in 2003 and he will also be one of the nations most sought after defensive tackles.

Does Shipley have a leader for his services at this point in his recruitment?

“No leader. My favorites are Pittsburgh, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia, Iowa and Syracuse.

“I’ve been to Penn State and Pittsburgh for junior days and I’m going to Ohio State in about two weeks.

“I’m going to Virginia at the end of April and I’ll also visit North Carolina and North Carolina State in a month or so.

“I’ll also be going to the Nike Camp at Virginia Tech in May. I’ve already been to Penn State Nike Camp), so I want to check out something different.

“No camps this summer, I’m going to take about three weeks and visit some schools.”

Just how good of a prospect is A.Q. Shipley?

Former Michigan State assistant coach and current Carolina Panthers defensive line coach, Sal Sunseri, told us that Shipley was the best interior line prospect at the Michigan State camp as a freshman.

“A.Q. Shipley at 14 years old was better and tougher than 90% of the linemen we had in camp,” Sunseri said. “He (Shipley) beat offensive lineman, three years older than him everyday in camp. We knew by the time he was a senior, A.Q. would be a top prospect. He’ll have his pick of schools.”