Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher named 2022-23 TribLive HSSN Boys Athlete of the Year

By: Chris Harlan
Sunday, July 2, 2023 | 3:22 AM

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Rodney Gallagher was so good at both basketball and football that the Laurel Highlands star considered for a while trying to play both in college.

However, his mindset changed a couple of years ago, and he remembers exactly when. While riding home from watching a Steelers game at Heinz Field, he and his father started talking about his future.

Did Gallagher want to try to remain a two-sport athlete or pick just one? His father said he’d support his decision either way.

“I just said, ‘If I put my mind to one thing, I wonder how good I could get?’” said Gallagher, who’s now in Morgantown, W.Va., preparing to play wide receiver for West Virginia this fall. “I ended up picking football. I feel my future was brighter in football and a better opportunity. I feel like it worked out in a great way.”

In WPIAL circles, he’ll always be remembered as one of the top multi-sport high school athletes in Western Pennsylvania. Gallagher earned Terrific 10 honors in basketball all four years and made the Terrific 25 for football his junior and senior seasons.

Now add another award: Gallagher is the 2022-23 TribLive HSSN Boys Athlete of the Year.

As a basketball player, the 6-foot point guard was a two-time WPIAL champion who graduated with 2,034 career points. In his senior season, Gallagher averaged 22.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

The Mustangs went 82-18 in his four seasons on the hardwood and won three section titles.

In football season, Gallagher started his senior season at wide receiver and caught four touchdowns before moving back to quarterback. There he passed for 1,272 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 690 yards and 11 more scores.

As a junior, Gallagher led the football team to its first WPIAL playoff win in school history. As a senior, he helped the Mustangs win another.

Gallagher spoke with TribLive HSSN’s Don Rebel about his years at Laurel Highlands, his place in history as the first PIAA athlete to sign an NIL deal and more on the Rebel Yell podcast.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Laurel Highlands