Football Signs Diggs, Martin to National Letters of Intent

[IAA Fan]

First-year YSU Head Coach Doug Phillips announced on Wednesday that the Penguins have signed Dawan Martin and Deamontae Diggs to National Letters of Intent.

Both players will be eligible to play for the Penguins this fall. Martin is from nearby Youngstown East High School. He was a senior for the Golden Bears in 2018 and played with current Penguin defensive lineman Chris Fitzgerald. Diggs was a standout two-sport athlete at McKeesport High School. He played basketball and football during his scholastic career with the Tigers.

Dawan Martin | DL | 6-5 | 250 | Youngstown, Ohio | East HS

Two-star rated player by 247sports.com…played in the OHSFCA North-South Football Classic…was a second-team Division IV All-Northeast Inland District on the defensive line…also earned second-team All-American Conference Red Tier honors…helped lead East to the Class 4 Quarterfinals where the Golden Bears dropped a hard-fought 34-30 contest to Girard and current YSU quarterback Mark Waid...East finished the season with an 8-4 mark…coach was Bryan Marrow.

Deamontae Diggs | TE/H-Back | 6-6 | 225 | McKeesport, Pa. | McKeesport Area HS

Two-sport standout at McKeesport…as a senior, was named Big East Conference as a defensive lineman…the Tigers reached the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals and finished the season 9-4…as a junior, had 14 catches for 424 yards and seven touchdowns…was a second-team Big East pick as a junior…also kicked two extra points…in 2018, the Tigers finished with a 9-3 record and reached the WPIAL quarterfinals, falling to eventual district and state champion Penn Hills…coach was Matt Miller…as a basketball player, averaged a team-best 20.3 points and 12 rebounds per game as a junior…McKeesport reached the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs last year.

[IAA Fan]

Wow. Not very often we see a top-scorer on a 5A prep basketball team. Even if it is for FB. 6-6 225 sounds like a nice pick-up if he has hands to go with that height.

[Wick250]

Logically, any basketball player that can average 20+ points must have good hands.  We shall see.  I really like the idea of recruiting multi-sport athletes.

[IAA Fan]

... I really like the idea of recruiting multi-sport athletes.

Coach used to talk about it back when he was doing the radio shows.. Makes sense, like you said basketball and hands (and used to be the ability to jump). Track guys: sprinters, jumpers, weight throwers. Wrestlers for upper body strength with linemen.

[go guins]

Logically, any basketball player that can average 20+ points must have good hands.  We shall see.  I really like the idea of recruiting multi-sport athletes.

agree on both points.

[go guins]

One time I'd like to see us go outside the box and take somebody like Diggs and turn him into Ted "The Stork" Hendricks.  This kid is LONG agile and seems to have a feel for the field.  We throw to the TE maybe 3-4 times a game on a good day.  I want this kid making the other team react 50 times a game.  With Reed gone we have pass rush problems.  Put this kid and LB and blitz him and the O will need to make adjustments every play.

[HappyPenguin]

One time I'd like to see us go outside the box and take somebody like Diggs and turn him into Ted "The Stork" Hendricks.  This kid is LONG agile and seems to have a feel for the field.  We throw to the TE maybe 3-4 times a game on a good day.  I want this kid making the other team react 50 times a game.  With Reed gone we have pass rush problems.  Put this kid and LB and blitz him and the O will need to make adjustments every play.

This is a very creative idea. I'd like to see that also. TE we always have talent and they never get used enough to be a factor so penciling a kid in at TE before you even see him seems like a wasted opportunity.

We need some outside the box thinking...come up with a plan to get the best athletes on the field until you have a couple years of "˙our guys" recruited for the system you hope to someday run.

[go guins]

One time I'd like to see us go outside the box and take somebody like Diggs and turn him into Ted "The Stork" Hendricks.  This kid is LONG agile and seems to have a feel for the field.  We throw to the TE maybe 3-4 times a game on a good day.  I want this kid making the other team react 50 times a game.  With Reed gone we have pass rush problems.  Put this kid and LB and blitz him and the O will need to make adjustments every play.

This is a very creative idea. I'd like to see that also. TE we always have talent and they never get used enough to be a factor so penciling a kid in at TE before you even see him seems like a wasted opportunity.

We need some outside the box thinking...come up with a plan to get the best athletes on the field until you have a couple years of "˙our guys" recruited for the system you hope to someday run.

The fact is, position by position, NDSU has out maned us for years (and everybody else as well)  If we don't develop some strategic approach to being competitive we will continue to lose year after year. You think the guy that started the wish bone, or the west coast offense, or the spread offense, or the hurry up offense, did it because they were wining head up, man to man as it was?  You've got to go outside the box.  I feel the same way about the Athletic Department and their do nothing approach to marketing sports.