Rivals250 OL and Penn State commit Drew Shelton won't return to IMG Academy
One of Penn State’s top committed players has decided to return home.
Offensive lineman Drew Shelton, from Downingtown, Pa., decided back in December that he wanted to transfer to powerhouse high school program IMG Academy down in Florida. He spent five months there, training with the likes of former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Tra Thomas, who coached the offensive line. However, after giving it some thought, he decided to return home recently and will finish out his high school career at Downingtown West.
“In recent months, there’s been a couple buddies of mine, a couple teammates of mine who have committed suicide, unfortunately,” Shelton said. “So, my family and I thought it would be best for me to come home and play this last semester here, be around the team, be around the guys. I really just want to be there for everyone as much as I can.”
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Sadly, three Downingtown West students have taken their own lives since April, including Costantino Villari, a junior who played football. He passed away shortly after Shelton had returned home from IMG Academy, as classes there ended around mid-May.
“I just felt like it was hard for me to return to IMG, have one foot there, and then one foot back at home,” Shelton said. “Wherever I’m at, I want to put my all into everything I do, and after all this, I want to give it everything I have for my guys at home. It was going to be hard for me to be away.”
IMG Academy did recently name a new head coach, former NFL linebacker Pepper Johnson. He said it had nothing to do with that change.
“I like Coach Pep a lot, and I have a bunch of friends down there," he said. "I’m going to miss working with Coach Thomas. I just have to be home for my guys.”
Penn State fans were watching Shelton closely in June, as he wound up taking an official visit to Florida, as well as two unofficial visits to Rutgers, despite committing to the Nittany Lions back in September.
Even with those visits, James Franklin and his staff were able to get Shelton on campus three times during the visit period, including the final two weekends. After using his official visit, June 18-20, Shelton returned to spend time with the majority of the committed players June 25-26. Both trips led to him shutting down his recruitment back on June 30.
“My official visit put one foot in the door,” Shelton said, referring to shutting down his recruitment. “Hanging with [Nick Dawkins] and Landon [Tengwall] and all those guys, just being around them, I felt like part of the group already. I felt like one of the guys and the staff made it clear that I was a priority, so all of that had a big impact. Then, when I got to come back, hang out with all the guys, I clicked with all of them. That’s what put me overboard and made it what it was.”
Shelton, who just came up with this decision to not return to IMG Academy over the past week, said that offensive line coach Phil Trautwein was supportive of his decision either way.
“Coach Traut saw why I wanted to be home and he supported me through all of that,” he said. “He never pushed me either way. It was kind of like my decision to go down there in the first place. They always wanted what’s best for me.”
The top-ranked player in Penn State’s Class of 2022, Shelton is now back to training with his teammates at Downingtown West, as well as working with a local personal trainer. He and his teammates will start the 2021 regular season Aug. 27 at home against Garnet Valley. Shelton is also set to enroll early at Penn State come January.
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