UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's soccer head coach Jeff Cook announced the addition of two signees to complete the 2021 signing class. Both recruits, true freshman Mani Diop and graduate transfer Christopher Palacios, will join the Nittany Lions for the fall 2021 season.
"We are very excited to welcome Chris and Mani to our Nittany Lion men's soccer family," said head coach Jeff Cook. "They will be wonderful additions to our program. I look forward to adding their energy, soccer talent, and high character to our program."
Mansour "Mani" Diop comes to Happy Valley as a product of the Philadelphia Union Academy. The 6-foot-5 defender is originally from Kaolack, Senegal and moved to the United States at age 14. He first played high school soccer at Pennington School in New Jersey from 2017-19 where he earned first team all-state honors. Diop then joined the Union Academy and played games for the Philadelphia Union 2 team in 2020 and 2021, along with fellow incoming recruit Sean Bettenhausen.
Diop graduated from YSC Academy in June and intends to major in business at Penn State.
DIOP ON WHY PENN STATE
"I chose Penn State because of the great level of academics and the opportunities that come with it."
COACH COOK ON DIOP
"Mani is a very determined central defender with a bright future. We have been consistently impressed with how quickly he has adapted to a new position over the last year and became a dominant presence with his team at the Philadelphia Union. Mani is very competitive, extremely coachable, and possesses all the necessary qualities to make an impact with our program very early in his career."
Christopher Palacios joins the Nittany Lions as a graduate transfer from Dartmouth College. Palacious, a 6-foot-7 goalkeeper, was a four-year team member at Dartmouth. The Washington, D.C. native led the Big Green to an Ivy League Championship in 2017 and the No. 15 overall seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. He was a second team All-Ivy League honoree that season with an impressive 0.56 goals-against average.
Palacios graduated from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia in 2017. He helped the Generals to the 2016 Virginia 6A title. Palacios recently completed a degree in economics and a minor in environmental science from Dartmouth. He intends to get a Masters in BioRenewable Systems while at Penn State.
PALACIOS ON WHY PENN STATE
"I chose Penn State because it is an environment where I know I can develop and excel athletically, while also pursuing my academic interests."
COACH COOK ON PALACIOS
"Chris will be a great addition to our extremely deep and talented goalkeeper group. After an excellent career at Dartmouth, he will join us this fall as a graduate transfer. Chris's goalkeeping ability, maturity and experience at the Division I level will benefit our program on and off the field. Chris has the potential to be a very effective goalkeeper in the Big Ten Conference and we are delighted he has decided to join us at Penn State."
Diop and Palacios join midfielders Sean Bettenhausen and Ben Liscum, who both signed in the early signing period in November 2020, in the 2021 signing class. Read up on the two initial signees here.
