Norwin grad Gianni Rizzo, other former Westmoreland County standouts make transfer plans

Youngstown State will play Duquesne next football season, but Gianni Rizzo will change his uniform and allegiance long before kickoff.

Rizzo, a redshirt freshman linebacker out of Norwin, announced recently he is leaving Youngstown State and will transfer to Duquesne.

A want to see the field more and a belief that he deserved to do so prompted his move.

“Last spring, I was on the field playing defense for this new staff, and this fall I’m now bigger, faster and stronger,” Rizzo said. “But I saw a decline in my playing time. The whole staff change just didn’t sit well with me.”

Rizzo is not alone. His longtime friend, Trent Holler, the former standout lineman at Latrobe, also is on the move, while two other local players also are floating through the transfer portal looking for a landing spot.

Jeannette alum Gio Vonne Sanders is done at St. Francis (Pa.), while Mike Evans (Franklin Regional) is exiting Robert Morris.

Holler is parting ways with East Carolina and will transfer to Marshall. The 6-foot-2, 311-pound center played in six games this season after seeing time in nine games in 2020. He used 2019 as a redshirt year.

Holler left before the Pirates play in the Military Bowl on Dec. 27.

“I’ve met some great people down here and had great coaches in my three years at ECU,” Holler said. “But I’m excited for a new opportunity at Marshall. Excited to get going and help them win some championships.”

Sanders, a redshirt junior defensive back with two years of eligibility left, tied for second on the team this season with 63 tackles, 2.5 for loss. He had a two-interception game as a redshirt sophomore.

Just two days after announcing his intentions to play elsewhere, Sanders (5-11, 185) picked up FCS offers from Duquesne and Sacred Heart, fellow Northeast Conference foes of the Red Flash.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Evans, meantime, is another mid-year transfer. The wide receiver saw limited playing time at Robert Morris.

“I am looking for somewhere that fits me better,” Evans said. “I want to do big things with football, and I’m super excited to be back to having different options to choose from moving forward.”

Since his announcement, Division I Stetson made him an offer, while Glenville State, West Liberty and Kentucky Christian also have expressed interest.

Rizzo played in six games and made five tackles as a freshman at YSU, which endured a coaching change after Bo Pellini left to become the defensive coordinator at LSU.

Doug Phillips took over the Penguins.

Rizzo moved to a nickel position and lost weight to fit the new spot, playing at 6-2, 205 pounds. Injuries forced him to move back to linebacker.

“I left Norwin and was headed to Youngstown for Bo Pellini’s staff,” Rizzo said. “When Bo left, they all left and that’s always hard.”

Rizzo will have three years of eligibility left.

This season, he played in five games and had two tackles.

Duquesne was interested him when he was coming out of high school.

“The Duquesne staff is great. They are all the same guys who recruited me out of high school,” Rizzo said. “They instantly said they would give me a full scholarship and welcomed me with open arms.”

A self-motivated player most of his career, Rizzo thinks he has a lot to offer a college defense.

“I know what kind of player I am and I know what I’ve shown to my coaches at Youngstown,” he said. “I just want my talent to be appreciated. I easily showed the coaches at YSU that I was more than capable of being able to help the team. They didn’t see that.”

Holler plans to play center at Marshall, a school that did not recruit him when he was coming out of high school.

“It actually helped out that I played a bunch against Marshall when we beat them at the beginning of the season,” Holler said. “So they already knew who I was.”

Rizzo was one of three Norwin products on the YSU roster, joining Anthony Dellefemine and Jayvon Thrift, both transfers themselves.

Dellefemine came from Robert Morris, while Thrift started his college career at West Virginia.