STATE COLLEGE
On a recent Monday afternoon, chatter echoed off the walls of the North Gym lobby as dozens of players joked around during a pregame meal. But State College assistant football coach Mark Baney didn’t mind the noise. When asked about Keaton Ellis — a Little Lion turned Nittany Lion come Wednesday — his voice bellowed with pride.
“My first impression of him was, oh man, this is Tony Johnson,” said Baney, who coached the former Penn State wideout, his record-setting brother, Larry, and former Denver Broncos pass-catcher Jordan Norwood. “That was my first instinct. He’s got what those kids had.