Rodney Gallagher knows how blessed he is to be such a gifted athlete at such a young age, and to be in a position that very few high school stars find themselves in nowadays.
Gallagher, a recruit for the class of 2023, has scholarship offers in football from Penn State and Pitt. He’s rated as a four-star recruit as an athlete by 247Sports.
He also has scholarship offers in basketball from Penn State and Pitt.
The 6-foot, 160-pound sophomore from Laurel Highlands High School in Uniontown, Pa., excels in both sports, playing point guard on the basketball court and cornerback, wide receiver and some quarterback on the gridiron.
In this video, Gallagher talks about balancing both sports now and his goals for college. Yes, he would like to try and play both football and basketball in college, and he has discussed that with coaches.
“I definitely talked to Penn State and Pitt about it already,” Gallagher said. “They definitely want me to try it out. They know it’s gonna be hard, and I also know it’s gonna be hard. All of them do the summer workouts and those type of stuff and worry about the grades. But I think it’s something I want to try out, and they said they’ll always be there for me if one of the sports doesn’t work out.”
Gallagher describes himself as a hard worker who’s “always there for whoever needs me.” He’s also the “life of the party” kind of guy.
“I’m just a chill person to be around and someone that wants to outwork everybody,” he said.
Here are some questions from the video:
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Q: Do you prefer having the ball in your hands or playing defense in football.
A: “I love having the ball in my hands and try to make plays. But on the defensive side, I love to tackle people, too. I’ve been playing football for so long, so I really like both sides of the ball.
Q: Which sport is he better at right now?
A: “It’s definitely hard to say. Even with my family members we talk about this and have debates about this. It literally splits because a lot of people say I’m very gifted. Because my family was gifted with basketball and football. So it’s just really both ways right now. I really don’t have which one I think is best.
“My family was, a certain side of the family was football and the other side was basketball, so it’s like kind of split.”
Q: What sport does he have the most fun playing right now?
A: “I’m not gonna lie, I think it’s football. Football you have so much fun, you’re playing under the lights, you’re playing in front of a lot of people. … Being under the lights and all the hype, it’s very fun with all the people outside.
“Basketball, I think is more serious and you have to do it every second. Being in one gym, it’s very clogged up, and it’s just the decision making.”
Check out the video for all of Gallagher’s responses, including how he balances the time playing two sports at a high level and his goals for the rest of his high school career.
