Will Gipson figured he would be working toward an NFL career. Instead, he found himself working somewhere else.
Boscov’s.
For three months in late 2021, Gipson, a former Aliquippa star who began his college career at Pitt, worked a 9-to-5 as a cashier at Boscov’s department store in Beaver Valley Mall. It came during a time when Gipson thought he might be done with football.
“Customers would come up to me and say, ‘You’re big. You must play football or basketball.’ I would say, ‘I used to.’ That’s a sad feeling,” Gipson said.
Gipson never saw the field at Pitt as he worked through challenges with his physical and mental health.
“I left Pitt in the middle of 2021 and didn’t do anything until August 2022,” he said. “I sat out a full year. I thought I lost my love for football. You’ve got a battle in your head, and that’s the biggest battle to overcome. Having people like my parents tell me that I can actually do it, that support and that drive, that got me back on track.”
So, Gipson, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound wide receiver, strapped on the pads again this fall at a junior college in California. It was such a success that he is now getting a second chance to play FBS football. And it will come in, of all places, Las Cruces, N.M.
Gipson’s winding college journey will take him to New Mexico State later this year. He will enroll in June and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Gipson also considered UTEP. He played at Fullerton College, located just north of Anaheim, Calif., this past fall and will earn his associate’s degree this spring.
“A lot of times people chase logos and whatnot, but I like this program because it’s being built from the ground up,” Gipson said of New Mexico State, which went 7-6 and won the Quick Lane Bowl this season. “The coaching staff is great. [Wide receivers] coach Tony Sanchez is a great dude and so is [head] coach [Jerry] Kill. It felt like a big family.”
New Mexico and Aliquippa are located 1,775 miles apart, but this won’t be the first time a Quips star will play for the Aggies. Aliquippa grad and WPIAL coaching great Don Yannessa played football at New Mexico State and is in the school’s athletic hall of fame. Additionally, former Aliquippa basketball standout Herb Pope played for the Aggies his freshman season before finishing his career at Seton Hall.
“What does a Pittsburgh kid know about New Mexico? It’s funny how paths cross,” said Gipson, ranked by Rivals as the No. 17 player in the state in the 2019 class.
After helping Aliquippa win a PIAA title his senior year, Gipson just could never gain his footing at Pitt. He missed his freshman season after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee during fall camp. He then didn’t play during the 2020 COVID-19 season.
“Coming back from the injury was the hardest thing,” he said. “I just wasn’t happy that I couldn’t play football. I still tried, but once that battle ensued in my head, I tried to focus on myself, and my grades slipped. It was a learning experience for sure. But I met a lot of great people along the journey. If I got to do it again with the knowledge I have now, I’d probably be in the NFL.”
One of the people Gipson met was Tre Tipton, another former Pitt wide receiver who has become a big mental health advocate after struggling with anxiety and depression.
“He’s what I call ‘the father of the team.’ He does such a great job,” Gipson said.
When Gipson cleared his head and regained his love for football, he decided to take a chance on Fullerton College. The gamble paid off. In his lone season playing at Fullerton, Gipson was second on the team with 34 catches for 403 yards and five touchdowns while helping the Hornets go 10-2.
The next stop in what Gipson called an emotional journey will continue later this year at New Mexico State.
“Some people take a lot of things for granted,” he said. “You never really know what you have until you lose it. It’s made me appreciate things more. When God gives you a second chance, you take full advantage. I want to keep this story going.”
Making the NFL would be great, but Gipson said it’s not his top priority.
Said Gipson, “I just want to live a happy life with no regrets.”
Kennedy, Coe to play for rival schools
A pair of former WPIAL standouts have landed at Power Five programs after hitting the transfer portal, and they will be playing for rival schools. Robert Kennedy, a defensive back from Jeannette, is headed to N.C. State, while Ryan Coe, a kicker from South Fayette, is bound for North Carolina. It will be the fourth college stop for Kennedy, who previously played at Lackawanna College, East Carolina and Old Dominion. Meanwhile, Coe is headed for his third college after previously playing at Delaware and Cincinnati, where he went 19 of 23 on field-goal attempts in 2022.
Nebraska recruiting locally
Matt Rhule was recently named Nebraska’s new head coach. Rhule hired a WPIAL great to join his staff, and it might lead to more local players picking up Nebraska offers. Adam DiMichele, a former three-sport star at Sto-Rox, will serve as an offensive analyst under Rhule, who also had DiMichele on his staff when he was the head coach at Temple. It didn’t take long for this staff to offer a WPIAL player. Central Catholic junior linebacker Anthony Speca was offered a few weeks ago. Also receiving an offer was Taz Williams, a sophomore wide receiver from Red Oak, Texas, whose father, also named Taz, played basketball at old Wilkinsburg High and Point Park.
Baseball commitments
Bethel Park’s John Chalus (Mercyhurst); Montour’s Adam Weber (Grove City).
Basketball commitments
Blackhawk’s Quinn Borroni (Mercyhurst); Hempfield’s Brooke McCoy (Grove City); Trinity’s Eden Williamson (New York University).
Cross-country commitments
Central Catholic’s JP Byrnes (Bucknell); Derry’s Charles Banks (Pitt Johnstown).
Football commitments
Apollo-Ridge’s Nick Curci (Duquesne); Beaver Falls’ Connor Paolucci (Thiel); Canon-McMillan’s Kent McMahon (Saint Francis); Central Catholic’s Gabe Primrose (Case Western Reserve); Gateway’s Dallas Harper (Youngstown State); Mt. Lebanon’s Johnny McGhee (Saint Francis); North Catholic’s JJ Iaquinta (Lock Haven); Penn-Trafford’s Josh Huffman (Carnegie Mellon); Penn-Trafford’s Daniel Tarabrella (Duquesne); Pine-Richland’s Jake Beam (Sacred Heart); West Mifflin’s Braeden Crousey (Washington & Jefferson).
Golf commitment
South Fayette’s Marissa Malosh (Delaware).
Track and field commitments
Laurel Highlands’ Mia Pierce (Duquesne); Norwin’s Ashley Laukus (Shippensburg).
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.