Jan. 12, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State football program welcomed four early enrollees - tight end Danny Dalton (Marshfield, Mass.), offensive tackle Alex Gellerstedt (Dublin, Ohio), guard/center Connor McGovern (Larksville, Pa.) and quarterback Jake Zembiec (Rochester, N.Y.) - to campus when the spring semester started on Monday.
Biographies for the four early enrollees are below:
Danny Dalton, TE/H, 6-4, 237, Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield
High School: A three-year letterman for head coach Lou Silva at Marshfield High School...Was a team captain his senior season...Selected for Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl...Named Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior...Selected first team All-State in 2014 and 2015...Was a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic choice as a junior and senior...Collected Atlantic Coast League All-Star honors as a junior and senior...Claimed ESPNBoston.com All-Star honors in 2014 and 2015...Was ESPNBoston.com's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior...Had 49 catches for 702 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior to lead the Rams to the ACL title and D2 South Sectional Championship with an 11-1 record...As a junior, had 51 catches for 766 yards and nine scores as Marshfield finished 12-1 mark en route to the D2 Massachusetts State Championship...Set school season records for receptions (51), receiving yards (766), receiving touchdowns (11)...Broke school career records for receptions (135), receiving yards (2,002) and receiving touchdowns (23)...Recorded three interceptions, including returning one for a touchdown, 57 tackles, 4.0 sacks and six pass deflections as a linebacker in 2015...Rated as the top overall player in the state of Massachusetts by all four major recruiting services: 247Sports.com, ESPN, Rivals.com and Scout.com...Is a four-star recruit and the eighth-ranked tight end according to 247Sports.com...Rated as the No. 14 tight end by ESPN...Ranked 21st overall and fourth among East tight ends by Scout.com...Ranked as the No. 30 tight end by Rivals.com...Also played lacrosse for three years, basketball for two and track for one year...Was an ACL All-Star in lacrosse as a sophomore and a junior.
Personal: Full name is Daniel Padraic Dalton...Son of Marybeth and Tom Dalton...Has an older sister, Meghan, and a younger brother, Bobby...Hobbies include reading...Born September 3, 1997.
Alex Gellerstedt, OT, 6-7, 274, Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman
High School: Two-year letterman for head coach Mark Crabtree at Dublin Coffman High School...Served as team captain as senior...Helped lead the Rocks to the Ohio Capital Conference title in 2014...Earned All-Ohio Division I first team honors from the Associated Press as a senior...Also earned Ohio-South All-Region and Columbus Dispatch All-City honors in 2015...Started his high school career as a defensive lineman...Consensus three-star tackle...Ranked No. 34 prospect in Ohio and No. 73 offensive tackle by 247Sports.com...Ranked as the 43rd-best offensive tackle in the country and 17th-ranked recruit in Ohio by ESPN...Rated as the 46th-ranked player in Ohio by Rivals.com...Ranked by Scout.com as 58th-best offensive tackle prospect, 16th offensive tackle in the Midwest and third-ranked offensive tackle in Ohio...Also played power forward for the Dublin Coffman basketball team as a sophomore and junior.
Personal: Full name is Alexander Konrad Gellerstedt...Son of Stephanie and Steve Gellerstedt...Has one brother, Jack...Hobbies include fishing and playing basketball...Born February 14, 1998 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Connor McGovern, OG/C, 6-5, 312, Larksville, Pa./Lake-Lehman
High School: Four-year letterman for head coach Jerry Gilsky at Lake-Lehman High School...Was a two-time team captain...Selected to the 2016 Army All-American Game...Earned Wyoming Valley Football Conference first team All-League honors in 2013, 2014 and 2015...Selected as the Wyoming Valley Football Conference Most Valuable Player as a senior...Earned first team All-State honors as a senior...Played in the 2015 UNICO All-Star Game...Named to the 2015 WNEP Dream Team...Selected as team MVP in 2015...Helped the Black Knights to the Wyoming Valley Football Conference title in 2015 with a 10-2 record...Was also a member of the squad that won the Wyoming Valley Football Conference title and the District 2 Championship in 2013 with a 9-3 mark...Ranked as a four-start recruit by all four major recruiting services: 247Sports.com, ESPN, Rivals.com and Scout.com...Ranked as the No. 3 center in the country and No. 7 overall prospect in Pennsylvania by 247Sports.com...Rated as the fourth-best center in the country and the eight-best overall player in Pennsylvania by ESPN...Ranked as the top offensive guard in Pennsylvania and the No. 2 guard in the East by Scout.com...Rated No. 2 among centers in the country and No. 6 among overall prospects in Pennsylvania by Rivals.com...Also earned two letters each in basketball and track and field...Was an all-conference selection in basketball as a junior...Was District 2 shot put champion in 2015...Set school strength records in bench press, squat, deadlift and power clean.
Personal: Full name is Connor James McGovern...Son of Maureen and Jim McGovern...Has two brothers, AJ and Tyler...Mother, Maureen, played basketball at King's College...Father, Jim, played football at Colgate...Hobbies include weightlifting and Xbox...Born November 3, 1997.
Jake Zembiec, QB, 6-3, 202, Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute
High School: A four-time letterwinner for head coach Chris Battaglia at the Aquinas Institute...Two-time team captain...Led the Little Irish to New York State Class AA State Championships as a sophomore and a senior with perfect 13-0 records in each season...Chosen for the 2016 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl...Was a 2015 Elite 11 Finalist...Selected for Offense-Defense All-American Bowl...Will play quarterback for USA Football U-19 National team on Jan 31 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas...Selected as the 2015 New York State Gatorade Player of the Year...Named 2015 American Family Insurance ALL-USA New York Football Offensive Player of the Year, as selected by USA Today...Two time New York State Player of the Year (2013, 2015) as selected by the New York State Sports Writers Association...Named All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year in 2013 and 2015...Set the Section V record for season passing yards (3,030), passing touchdowns (37), as well as career passing yards (6,375) and passing touchdowns (76)...Threw four touchdown passes and was 18-for-23 for 462 yards in a 44-19 win over Saratoga Springs in the 2015 State Championship game...Two-time All-Greater Rochester selection...Connected on 184 of 269 attempts (68.4 percent) for 3,030 yards and 37 touchdowns as a senior...Was 132-of-223 for 1,932 yards and 26 touchdowns as a sophomore...Was 91-for-136 for 1,427 yards and 15 touchdowns in six postseason games as a senior...Missed junior season due to a wrist injury...Tabbed a four-star recruit, No. 10 quarterback in the country and No. 1 player in New York State by Rivals.com...Rated as a four-star recruit by ESPN...Ranked as the 18th-best quarterback recruit in the country and the No. 2 overall player out of New York by ESPN...Rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com and Scout.com.
Personal: Full name is Jake Thomas Zembiec...Son of Maureen and Thomas Zembiec...Has a younger sister, Abigail...Did volunteer work at the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester...Born September 10, 1997 in Rochester, New York.
Penn State season ticket renewals and Nittany Lion Club membership renewals also are underway for the 2016 campaign. The ticket invoice and Nittany Lion Club renewal deadline is Feb. 1, 2016. There will not be any increase in the price of Penn State football season tickets or Nittany Lion Club donation levels for next season. For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing new 2016 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 10 a.m-6 p.m.