Matthew Waldron Chooses Penn State

U.S. Army All-American Bowl Placekicker Matthew Waldron of Oakfield-Alabama High School in Oakfield, N.Y., has finally made his school choice. He will attend Penn State as a preferred walk-on. GoBlueWolverine Magazine spoke Friday with Waldron about his decision.

Matthew Waldron of Oakfield-Alabama High School in Oakfield, N.Y., told GoBlueWolverine Magazine at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas that if he didn't receive a scholarship offer from a D-1 university that he would walk-on at Michigan. However, it seems things changed, and now the 6-foot-0, 181-pound Waldron will walk-on at Penn State. "I committed to Penn State today," he said. "They said I could compete for a scholarship and would get one as soon as January or next fall (2006). The chance to play for Joe Paterno, the legend, was a big part of my decision."

Waldron said the Nittany Lions only recently entered the picture. "They brought in a scholarship player (Kevin Kelly of Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, Pa.) so I didn't really think they were interested in me," he said. "Then they called a couple weeks ago to see if I was interested in walking on. Penn State and Michigan have always been my dream schools, but Penn State is closer to home and I'm real happy to have the chance to play there. But I'll be in the Big House this fall." Penn State visits Ann Arbor on Oct. 15.

Louisville, Michigan, Nichols State and Penn State were the finalists. At one time Florida appeared interested, but then signed kicker Jonathan Phillips of Wellington, Fla., High School, and that possibility ended. Waldron said afterwards that he was still highly interested in Michigan, but recently told GBW, "Michigan never sent me an application, so I didn't think they were interested any more."

Waldron reports a 3.6 grade-point-average and a score of 970 on the SAT. He said that while he is considering a major in education, "Being at a big school with a lot of options, I might want to do something to get a better degree," he said. He said he will most likely report to camp in August.