DANVILLE -- After drawing attention from Division I powers up and down the East Coast, including flirtations with Penn State and Pittsburgh, Danville's record-setting quarterback Andrew Shoop will continue both his football and academic careers at one of the state's top colleges: Lafayette.

Shoop, who threw for more than 5,000 yards and nearly 50 touchdowns in two and a half seasons as Danville's starter, gave Leopard head coach Frank Tavani his verbal commitment during a visit Sunday, selecting Lafayette over long-time rival Lehigh.

"It is an awesome opportunity," said Shoop. "It's going to take a whole truckload of work, but the challenge is something I am really looking forward to. The coaches from Lafayette told me to make the right choice for the right reasons and I am doing that."

Shoop's status as a top-flight signal caller in Pennsylvania took off when he threw for more than 2,500 yards and 28 TDs as a junior. He followed that up with strong showings at several recruiting combines where he played with and against some of the nation's top recruits. That put him on the radar of a lot of D-I schools.

He spent time at Penn State and Pittsburgh, drew interest from other schools like Akron and even got an offer from Temple. And while he admits the interest the bigger programs showed in him was flattering, he knows he made the correct decision in the end.

"When you're a 17-year-old kid, who wouldn't be interested in playing in front of 110,000 people at Penn State," he said. "It was awesome being recruited by those schools. Throughout this process, I kept telling myself that everything happens for a reason and all of those reasons led me to Lafayette."

Lehigh and Lafayette, the two finalists, actually came in late. Shoop, who is undecided what his major will be, said when he learned schools like PSU and Pitt were going in a different direction, the two Patriot League rivals jumped in and made a hard push for the 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior's services.

While there may not be two more bitter rivals than Lehigh and Lafayette -- the two schools have met 144 times, more than any other rivalry in college history -- Shoop said neither coaching staff bad-mouthed the other during the process. Instead, they chose to highlight their own strengths, he said.

"Both coaching staffs know that if they are recruiting a player, they are more than likely going to get recruited by the other (school)," said Shoop, who said the majority of his tuition will be covered by merit-based and athletic scholarship. "They were the two best options for me, especially academically. They are similar in a lot of ways."

Shoop said he enjoyed his visit to Lehigh, located in Bethlehem, a lot and easily could have seen himself there. But when he visited Lafayette, located in nearby Easton, there was just a different feel.

"I felt more comfortable around the campus," he said. "My decision almost had nothing to do with football until I saw what Lafayette had to offer (with their football program)."

What that was turned out to be a huge push to upgrade the football facilities. Shoop said alumni have donated more than $40 million to renovate the stadium and locker rooms and it shows.

"It's a Division I facility, a Division I program from top to bottom," said Shoop.

Lafayette also offers Shoop a chance to play early. He said he plans on heading to the Lehigh Valley in the summer to get a head start on the playbook and conditioning with the team. Then when school begins in the fall, he will not have to learn everything about the area and campus as the other freshmen will.

Shoop hopes the early arrival gets him on the field sooner rather than later. While Lafayette had seven quarterbacks on the roster this past fall, Shoop said the coaches told him the situation is still open. One quarterback has transferred, another has been moved to receiver and although both Rob Curley (who will be a senior) and Marc Quilling (a rising junior) both started games last year, Shoop feels like he can possibly get on the field as soon as this fall.

"Their QBs split some time this year, so the situation is a little unsettled," he said. "The coaches told me it's going to be an open competition. I know it's going to take a ton of work on my part to get ready."