Under Center, Over Age

 We have all heard of non-traditional students who enroll in college in their 20s, 30s, and up.  Non-traditional students that are athletes at their university are not very common.  Dave Shinskie, a 2003 graduate of nearby Mountain Carmel Area High School (MCA), is just that.  The 25-year old is currently a freshman at Boston College, enrolled in the Lynch School of Education, and he is also the starting quarterback for the Eagles of Boston College.

            During his senior season as the quarterback for the Mount Carmel Red Tornadoes Shinskie was voted a first-teamer for the Associated Press All-State squad.  His 2,524 passing yards and 26 touchdowns on 160 completions helped him earn AP All-State accolades as a senior.  Other honors that Shinskie garnered during his tenure as a Red Tornado were two-time District IV first team quarterback, AP Small School Player of the Year, and two-time All-Anthracite selection.

            When his football career at MCA was complete, Shinskie had piled up 6,334 passing yards and 400 completions to go along with his 41 wins and just six losses.  Two of those 41 wins were in Pennsylvania State Championships, as was one of his six losses.

            Football was not the only sport Shinskie played in high school.  He was a standout on the baseball diamond as a pitcher, and also played basketball for MCA.  The 6'4", 215 pound right-hander possessed a fastball that ranged from 91-94 miles per hour, and was attracting interest from a number of Division I schools for baseball and football.

            According to Rivals.com, as a three-star football recruit and the number 37 quarterback overall in the 2003 class, Shinskie had been heavily recruited by Big Ten programs. Iowa, Indiana, Temple, and Delaware were among the schools that offered him an athletic scholarship.  Other schools, such as Michigan State and Pittsburgh also had interest in him.  He wanted to play both baseball and football in college which coaches usually do not allow, but Delaware agreed to allow the coveted Shinskie to play both sports.  He took them up on their offer.

            The Major League Baseball draft took place early in June of 2003, right around the time of graduation at Mt. Carmel and just a few months before his college football career was to begin at the University of Delaware.  However, Shinskie was selected in the fourth round of the 2003 MLB draft and he inked a deal that would make him a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization.

            As a tri-athlete, the Kulpmont native felt that he was better at baseball than he was at football.  "I was kind of torn between both of them.  I thought I could make a career out of baseball, which is why I made the decision I did," stated Shinskie in an interview last weekend.

            While in the minors, Shinskie started out as a member of the Twins organization, but finished as a pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.  A few highlights from the six seasons he pitched in the minors include the following: third in the Appalachian Rookie League in wins in 2004, 6-7 record and 11 saves in 48 relief appearances in Class A in 2006, 7-4 record with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.36 in 37 outings in Class A in 2007, 1-0 record with one save and a 3.44 ERA in 12 appearances in 2009.  In late May of this year, Shinskie was cut by the Toronto Blue Jays and was out of work with no other teams interested at the time.

            "I was thinking that I was going to be picked up pretty easily, but I didn't.  I was weighing my options while hanging out and working out in my hometown and waiting for another baseball team to call me," he said.

            Shinskie had kept in touch with his football coach from high school, Mike Brennan, who informed him that there were college football teams that were interested in him possibly playing on their squad.  He visited Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and Boston College, before choosing Boston College.  Many football analysts believed the reason for recruiting the all-state signal caller was the fact that BC had no experienced quarterbacks.  Dominique Davis was the only quarterback on the Eagles' roster with any experience following last season, having thrown for 741 yards and six touchdowns last year.  However, Davis transferred from BC in early June after being suspended.  This is just one of the many factors that made BC the right place for Shinskie.