Family means a lot to Aaron “Oobi” Strader, and the Pine-Richland sophomore quarterback was surrounded by lots of it while celebrating Thanksgiving at his home.
Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles … this was a busy house last Thursday. But before Strader feasted on mac and cheese and ham — a few of his Thanksgiving favorites — he happily took a phone call from a Miami (Ohio) assistant coach, who relayed some good news to him on the holiday.
“[Coach Robert Blanton] talked to me a little bit about how he likes my film and was saying how I’m a lot like my brother in that I’m very smart with what I see on the field,” Strader recalled. “And then he told me they were offering me a scholarship.”
Receiving a scholarship offer on Thanksgiving is memorable and Strader said he is thankful for that, but what made the Miami (Ohio) offer so special is that Strader’s brother, Raion, is a sophomore safety for the RedHawks and one of the team’s top players. Oobi has been to quite a few Miami games and has attended camps at the school.
Although Oobi has had a good relationship with coaches and has known some of them since his brother was being recruited to play there out of Penn Hills High School, he said the offer coming when it did still came as a surprise.
“I was very surprised because it was on Thanksgiving day,” he said. “It was a great day.”
And while Strader was unable to relay the news to Raion in person because the latter was at school and had practice that day, Strader’s dad, Aaron, did his best to spread the word.
“I told my dad first and he was very ecstatic. My grandma kept asking me why he was yelling,” Oobi said, laughing.
It was the second FBS offer for Strader (5 feet 10, 160 pounds), who was offered by another MAC school, Central Michigan, earlier in the month. Strader had a strong sophomore season highlighted by him helping Pine-Richland win the WPIAL Class 5A championship. Strader was 94 of 173 for 1,755 yards, 20 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He also rushed for 385 yards on 99 carries and scored 4 touchdowns.
Big brother was there at Acrisure Stadium when Oobi passed for 152 yards and two touchdowns to lead Pine-Richland to a 20-9 win against Peters Township in the WPIAL championship. And now little brother will be on hand at Ford Field in Detroit when Raion and Miami (Ohio) face Ohio in Saturday’s MAC Championship. Miami (Ohio) is the defending champion. Raion has collected 50 tackles, two interceptions and a team-best 16 pass breakups.
Being that he’s only a sophomore, Oobi’s recruitment is far from over, but he said there’s a lot to like about Miami (Ohio), a program that to him feels like family.
“I like the community and I like the fans,” he said. “Everybody is together.”
Barksdale to decide Wednesday
Steel Valley football standout Donald Barksdale will make his college decision on Wednesday. Barksdale, a senior running back-defensive back, said he will decide between Bowling Green, Buffalo and Memphis. Barksdale ran for more than 2,000 yards each of his final two seasons, including 2,239 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior. He finished his career with 5,267 yards and 86 touchdowns.
Taylor reopens recruitment
Aliquippa junior Daiveon Taylor verbally committed to West Virginia in April, but Taylor reopened his recruitment over the weekend following the firing of West Virginia coach Neal Brown. Pitt, Penn State and Syracuse are among the schools to offer Taylor, who collected 75 tackles and four sacks in his first season at Aliquippa after playing at Bishop Canevin his freshman season.
Baseball commitments
Allderdice’s Landon Blank (Juniata); Bishop Canevin’s Tyler Maddix (Washington & Jefferson); Canon-McMillan’s Ben Peterson (Saint Joseph’s); Neshannock’s Jake Rynd (Youngstown State); Norwin’s Nathan Silberman (Seton Hill); Seneca Valley’s Aedan Fowler (Gannon).
Basketball commitment
Chartiers Valley’s Emma Reynolds (Wheeling).
Football commitments
Plum’s Darian Nelson (Saint Francis); Shenango’s Sam Patton (Grove City).
Wrestling commitments
Burrell’s Luke Boylan (Seton Hill); Butler’s Santino Sloboda (Pitt).
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.