Penn State is where Jaquan Brisker always wanted to be.

But during his junior year of high school, as others in his recruiting class were making their commitments, it became evident that Brisker’s path to Happy Valley would require a detour.

This summer, after overcoming injuries as a high schooler and improving his academic portfolio during his two years at Lackawanna College, Brisker’s detour ended. The three-star safety finally reached a personal milestone with his arrival in University Park.

“If my grades were good my junior year of high school, I would have committed to Penn State,” Brisker said. “I walked into [Lackawanna] with a Penn State T-shirt and I haven’t stopped wearing it since.... I’ve always been all about Penn State.”

The Nittany Lions’ coaching staff showed interest in Brisker after watching the first game of his junior season – which he called his breakout year – at Gateway High School. But his grades weren’t where they needed to be in order for top programs to extend offers. Brisker said he could have grayshirted at Toledo, but he believed he was destined to play at a big school.

With his academics in need of improvement and a spot on Penn State’s roster still the goal, Brisker traveled across the state from his home just outside of Pittsburgh to Lackawanna College in Scranton.

“When you go from being the best player on your team to having to go to a [junior college], that’s not a move guys want to do,” Brisker said. “But then I had a great talk with [Lackawanna head coach Mark Duda] about this, and what Lack could do for me and how much they could help me. I knew I had to mature.”

For many players who elect to take the juco route, it’s not a football decision. Brisker’s enrollment at Lackawanna was no different. He had to learn how to be a better student and, perhaps more important, understand what it meant to operate in a structured environment.

In high school, he said he was seldom held accountable for decisions he made. On one occasion, Brisker had to sit out a crucial playoff game during his senior year because he hadn’t been showing up to class.

Watching his team lose from the bench lit a fire under him, and the staff at Lackawanna was able to transform that anger into positive energy.

“Program-wide we let our kids know as soon as they get through the door that they tried it their way in high school and it got them to our place, so try it our way because it works,” Lackawanna offensive coordinator Josh Pardini said. “Academics are actually a bigger focus here than football.”

Pardini said it didn’t take Brisker long to mature in the classroom, especially after learning how serious the staff is about players’ grades. At Lackawanna, missing a class means missing a game, and Brisker wasn’t about to let that become a trend for him and potentially ruin his second chance.

“Athletically, there’s really nobody who compares to Jaquan Brisker,” Pardini said. “He just needed some guidance, he needed somebody to put his arm around him, which our staff did, and show him the right way to do things.”

In addition to his desire to reach new levels on the field, Brisker was motivated by his family. He talked with his uncle and cousin prior to signing with Lackawanna, and their words stayed with him as a driving force. So, too, did the memory of his brother, Tale’, who in February 2015 was shot and killed in Texas. Brisker prays to him before games and points to the sky after interceptions.

“I remember talking to my family about betting on myself and using Lackawanna as a second chance,” Brisker said. “I knew I had to come here and get A’s and B’s. ... It got me focused on what really mattered. It gave me the chance to get good grades and be focused.”

As Brisker was beginning to thrive in the classroom, his play on the field was continuing to turn heads. During his first year at Lackawanna, he played safety and intercepted four passes, returning two for scores.

He said he constantly asked his coaches when they thought Penn State might offer him. He had developed a close relationship with Nittany Lion cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, who served as Brisker’s lead recruiter. As the former head coach at Gateway, Smith also coached Tale’ Brisker, serving as an important familial connection for Jaquan.

“I love [Smith],” Brisker said. “He’s been great to my family and he’s been great to me and I haven’t even played for him yet. I just know he cares about me and cares about helping me. It’s not just about football. He wants to help me become a better man and keep growing as a person.”

Penn State extended its offer to Brisker between his first and second years at Lackawanna. He committed just five days after his first visit to University Park, leaving offers from Alabama, Mississippi State and Pitt on the table.

With his goal accomplished, the 6- foot-1, 210-pound safety used his final year at Lackawanna to further showcase his playmaking ability. The Falcons used more 3-3-5 stacks during Brisker’s sophomore season, so he got a chance to play in the box and led his team in tackles, sacks and tackles for loss. Although Penn State’s coaching staff has confirmed their intentions to have him play safety, Pardini said Brisker’s versatility is just another piece of his game that makes him special.

“This will be my 11th fall [at Lackawanna] coming up, and I have never seen a player like Jaquan Brisker,” Pardini said. “He calls out things before they happen, he’s got unbelievable ball skills, he’s a sure tackler, he can play man coverage with just about anybody. He could play any position on the field. ... There’s nothing the kid can’t do.”

Brisker led the Falcons to the first 11-0 record in the program’s history and sealed his team’s El Toro Bowl victory with a late strip sack – a prime example of what Pardini calls an innate ability Brisker has to come up with crucial plays at crucial times. He transformed himself as a student while playing at a high enough level to impress college coaches with his readiness for the Football Bowl Subdivision. James Franklin has said he envisions Brisker competing for playing time in the secondary in his first season at Penn State.

His time at Lackawanna also taught him the importance of opportunity.

“I didn’t want to let my family down again. I didn’t want to let my brother down,” Brisker said. “I had to take advantage of this extra opportunity, because not everyone gets a second chance.”