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Monday, July 15, 2024 | 8:30 PM
Thomas Jefferson lineman Shep Turk committed to Pitt in May.
The start of high school football practices throughout the state begin in less than a month, and Thomas Jefferson two-way lineman Shep Turk has a singular focus when it comes to being ready to start his senior season.
Conditioning and agility training, weight room work, and play study are what is on his mind.
What’s not on his mind is having to go through the recruiting process. He took care of that in May.
Pitt is it. The 6-foot-5, 285-pounder made a verbal commitment to the Panthers on May 13.
“I’m staying home #H2P,” led off his announcement on X (formerly Twitter).
“It is a blessing to not have to worry about that decision any longer,” Turk said. “It always was a goal of mine to be committed before my senior year and even for the summer. I don’t have to have that in the back of my head, and I can just concentrate on getting ready for the season with my teammates and be able to enjoy the season and go after a championship with them.”
Turk told the Trib at the time of his verbal commitment that Pitt satisfied several things he was looking for in a college football program: a place where he felt he could shine and thrive, a place where he could play smash-mouth football, and a place where he could win a championship.
Turk selected the Panthers among scholarship offers from Bowling Green, Buffalo, Temple, Navy, Boston College, Kent State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Lehigh and Maine.
He adds to the select list of Thomas Jefferson players to join Pitt’s football program, including Devin Danielson, Lucas Nix and Dom DeCicco.
“Shep always is looking for a way to be better in all aspects of his game, and he just brings a solid work ethic to everything he does,” said TJ coach Bill Cherpak, himself a former offensive lineman at Pitt.
“You can see the benefits of what he does with his leverage, strength and all the other things that go with being a multi-sport athlete and just an elite athlete overall. He has such a focus to be the best for this season and also be ready for when the time comes to get to Pitt.”
Turk said the summer has been very beneficial with continued work on and off the field.
“I ended last year knowing what I needed to improve on with technique, strength, quickness, all of that, and I have been doing a little bit of everything,” he said. “It’s just been a lot of work, but you have to do that. Every offseason seems to go by so fast, and you have to make sure you take advantage of every opportunity.”
Thomas Jefferson, always in the WPIAL-title conversation, went 9-3 overall in 2023, was runner-up to McKeesport in the Class 4A Big Seven Conference, and made it to the WPIAL quarterfinals before falling to Montour.
While Thomas Jefferson gears up for an attempt to win an 11th WPIAL title this fall, Turk enters with personal gold on his resume.
The multi-sport standout captured the 285-pound WPIAL wresting championship in March at Canon-McMillan. He finished the season 34-9 with 26 wins by fall and will enter his senior season with a 68-31 career record.
As a senior Division I recruit, Turk said he understands the responsibility he continues to have as a team leader. He said he was once a young pup looking up to and absorbing advice from older, seasoned teammates. Now, he appreciates giving back.
“I looked up to a lot of guys, just from being in middle school, and saw what they did, the seniors at the time, to lead and how successful they were,” he said.
Turk said he and his teammates are fired up and ready to go and meet the winning expectations placed on TJ every year.
“We’re getting closer to camp, and there is so much excitement,” he said.
“We have a ton of confidence in what we can accomplish. We have high goals, as we always do. This is my senior year, and it’s an honor to be able to go out with my senior teammates and everyone else and work to get the job done. We’re a pretty close-knit senior group. For me, there’s no more high school football after this season. This is it.”
Shep Turk
Thomas Jefferson
Senior
OL/DL
Stars: 3 stars by Rivals.com
Division I offers: Bowling Green, Buffalo, Temple, Navy, Boston College, Kent State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Lehigh and Maine.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.
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