SUCCASUNNA, N.J. (AP) - Angelo Mangiro is the third in a line of brothers who played for Roxbury High School, following in the footsteps of other brothers Vinnie and Santino.
Mangiro’s brothers never gained the attention that Angelo has received as being one of the top two-way linemen in New Jersey high school football.
The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Mangiro, who has said he will attend Penn State next fall, helped Roxbury capture the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV state championship a year ago. He is relieved that his college choice has been made and he can concentrate on his senior year of football.
“Maybe there’s a little more pressure on me now to perform because of” the verbal commitment, said Mangiro, who is on The Associated Press East Region 25 list of top recruits. “But I have to be more careful now in the things I do, what I do in the classroom and who I hang out with. I think I have a lot more to lose now than the average high school student.”
Mangiro will head to Happy Valley and play offensive guard for the Nittany Lions, No. 19 in the Top 25 preseason poll. But Mangiro knows he could play either way on the collegiate level.
“Some of the schools were recruiting me just to play offense, but they liked the fact that I can play both offense and defense,” Mangiro said.
Roxbury head coach Cosmo Lorusso knows that Mangiro is a special kid, both on and off the field.
“With a lot of these recruiting pressures, they don’t let the kid enjoy the football part,” Lorusso said. “I don’t think any of it affected Angelo at all. He’s the most levelheaded kid you’ll find. He puts the team above everyone else and cares more about his teammates. He also has no qualms about working with the scout team or carrying the bags to practice. He has never lost perspective of it all. He’s a target now and teams are going to try to measure themselves by how they do against him, but he’s so mature that I know he can handle it all.”
Mangiro has a 3.5 grade point average.
He narrowed his choices down to Rutgers, Pitt and Ohio State before choosing Penn State.
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