It was an opportunity that was worth the wait and one Austin Taps couldn’t pass up.
The Archbishop Stepinac senior defensive end committed to William & Mary in mid-December, but had his heart set somewhere else. Being accepted and offered by the University of Pennsylvania, however, was not a sure thing. Taps needed to raise his SAT score and then be one of a possible three players from the lower band of applicants, based on a sliding scale system of GPA and SAT scores, to be selected.
“They had to wait for their admissions process to catch up with them,” Taps said.
When Taps was asked to go on an official visit two weekends ago he believed the rest would fall into place. He got a lengthy acceptance letter Thursday, decommited from William & Mary and will be headed to UPenn next season. Taps said when William & Mary, where his brother Tim goes, offered it gave him a week to accept or it would be taken away.
“It was really something I couldn’t let slip through my fingers,” he said of UPenn.
Aside from getting a chance to get an Ivy League education, it was a pair of defensive line coaches that helped Taps feel like UPenn was the right fit. Stepinac assistant Steve Moroney played his college ball there and expressed to him what it was like there. During the official visit Taps grew to love what Quakers defensive line coach Jim Schaefer was telling him. He said he has no bias to playing freshman. UPenn went 5-5 and 4-3 in the Ivy League last season.
“He said, ‘If you are good, you play,’” Taps said. “I really liked that.”
He certainly proved himself during his career at Stepinac. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Taps help the Crusaders to an undefeated CHSFL Class AA title in 2010 and last fall powered the team to a 9-3 mark and their first-ever berth in the CHSFL AAA title game. Taps, who also played tight end, tallied 22 catches for 358 yards and four touchdowns and made 52 tackles. He was chosen as the CHSFL’s Vincent O’Connor Award winner as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year last season.
“Austin is an exceptional student with great personal integrity in addition to being a tremendous athlete,” Stepinac coach Mike O’Donnell said. “The fact that two schools of the caliber of Penn and William & Mary each sought him is a testimony to his character.”
While it took some time, Taps is now exactly where he wants to be.
“I couldn’t have been happier with the University of Pennsylvania,” Taps said. “It’s really been my dream school.”