updated 9:21 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2008

JEANNETTE, Pa. - Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, George Blanda and Jim Kelly earned Pittsburgh and its environs the nickname of the Cradle of Quarterbacks.

Next up? It may very well be Terrelle Pryor, whose high school career dwarfed those of all the stars that preceded him in one of the nation’s most competitive and closely watched football regions.

Pryor, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound bundle of talent, is the latest in a lengthy line of exceptional players from western Pennsylvania that also includes Tony Dorsett, LaVar Arrington and Bill Fralic.

“Not in my lifetime have I seen a player like Terrelle, and I’ve watched football for 40 years,” said Ray Reitz, his coach at Jeannette High School. “When you’re great, you’re great. He could compete at any level.”

Reitz, who saw Dorsett in high school, isn’t alone in tossing out such praise for the only player in Pennsylvania high school history to rush for more than 4,000 yards and throw for more than 4,000 in a career. He finished with 4,250 yards rushing and 4,249 passing.

Pryor has already won several national player of the year awards. He was the MVP of the nationally televised U.S. Army All-American Bowl game in San Antonio earlier this month. He is also the No. 1-rated player by nearly every major recruiting service.

Pryor is special for another reason, too: Only two weeks from NCAA Division I-A national letter of intent day, Pryor is uncommitted — making him the object of one of the most intense coast-to-coast recruiting competitions in recent years.

The reasons why are obvious.

Pryor’s size, speed, arm strength, acceleration and athleticism are uncommon for a quarterback so young. Watching him play high school football was much like watching LeBron James play Ohio high school basketball: He was so much better than those around him, it was like a man playing among boys.

This past season, Pryor had 3,788 yards of total offense, rushing for 1,899 yards and passing for 1,889 on a 16-0 team that scored a state-record 860 points, or 105 more than the previous record. Pryor ran for 33 touchdowns and threw for 23, averaging a touchdown every four times he touched the ball.

No wonder why college coach after college coach has told Pryor the same thing: Go to that coach’s school, and it automatically becomes a national title contender. He is looking at Michigan, Ohio State, LSU and Oregon, but schools frequently fall on and off the list.

“He’s a program changer. If you get him, you’re going to get a lot of other great athletes to follow,” Reitz said.

How good an athlete is Pryor? Despite having no preseason practice, he had 24 points, 11 rebounds, six dunks, four blocked shots and five steals in his first basketball game this season, only four days after his final football game.

While Pryor competed in the second smallest of Pennsylvania’s four classes, he has played basketball against players from those schools and dominated. Few recruiters who have watched him doubt he would have done the same thing in football.

Two major recruiting sites, Superprep.com and Rivals.com, list him No. 1 nationally and compare him to former Texas quarterback Vince Young for his ability to make as many plays with his legs as with his arm.

Signing Day Recap of biggest day of year for recruiting Alabama, LSU, Ohio St. land top classes  |  Top 25 Rivals.com: School, position rankings ACC | Big East | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-10 | SEC Rivals.com: In-depth breakdown of top 5 players Rivals.com: Top 100 players  |  Top 250 Top QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL | DE | LB | CB | S |ATH|K SEC reprimands Kiffin for saying Meyer cheats Once again, it's easy to see why SEC rules ND thrilled to land LB Te'o  |  Special Irish section Rivals.com: Heads West Virginia, tails Rutgers ... Rivals.com: Surprises  |  Impact freshman Opinions: Best recruiter? Carroll  |  Nope, Meyer Why can't these 10 schools recruit better? Scouting services often miss best recruits Top prospects for class of 2010   Discuss: Sound off at Newsvine.com

At a recent pep rally honoring Jeannette for being ranked No. 5 nationally by Maxpreps.com, Pryor was clearly tiring of the recruiting pressure.

Assistant coaches from Penn State and Ohio State were in the room, well aware that Pryor was traveling to Michigan for an official visit two days later. Before then, he had another basketball game to play and hundreds of text messages to plow through.

Despite the ban on coaches sending text messages, dozens of messages from recruiting services, fans, friends and outsiders who somehow obtain his number pile up on Pryor’s cell phone if he leaves it off for more than a few hours.

“It’s not overwhelming,” Pryor said of the intense recruiting. “I was forewarned about it, but I wasn’t prepared for it — I haven’t been through it before, so I couldn’t be prepared.”

Juggling an all-state basketball career — he is closing in on 2,000 points for his career — and recruiting trips is also proving difficult.

“It is tiring,” Pryor said. “I’m just trying to get it over with and move on. Of course, you’re looking at all the top colleges in the country, so it’s going to be hard.”

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