On successive days last week, two top WPIAL football linemen made college choices.

With their decisions, the two players from north suburban high schools broke two things ... family ties and the hearts of many Pitt fans.

Last Tuesday, Fox Chapel's Miles Dieffenbach made a verbal commitment to Penn State while on a visit to the university with his parents.

One day later, North Allegheny's Tom Ricketts also committed to Penn State.

It was almost eerie how two players who will be seniors in the fall, who play at schools only 17 miles apart, who both have futures on the offensive line, who both are good students, who both have strong ties to Pitt, decided they would be happier at Penn State.

Both Dieffenbach and Ricketts said Pitt was their second choice, although both had numerous other scholarship offers from Division I colleges. High school players can make a commitment to a college at any time, but can't sign a binding letter of intent until February of their senior years.

The decisions of Dieffenbach and Ricketts set off a groundswell of negative comments on Pitt Internet message boards. Posters criticized the fathers of both players because they chose Penn State instead of Pitt.

Dieffenbach's father, George, has been Pitt's womens tennis coach for 27 years. The Panthers felt good about landing Dieffenbach -- and until recently Pitt was his No. 1 choice. Penn State didn't offer a scholarship until May, mainly because the Nittany Lions hadn't seen much film on Dieffenbach. Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley saw Dieffenbach work out at Fox Chapel this spring, and that's when the school offered.

"I never really got a feel for Penn State before," Dieffenbach said. "When they offered, I said, 'This is a pretty big offer. I think I need to check the place out.' When I saw it the last two times [on visits], I saw the campus and the facilities. Everything was there. It had everything I was looking for."

Dieffenbach, who has a 3.5 grade-point average, is 6 feet 5, 285 pounds and is ranked the No. 3 center in the country by scout.com. He played tackle as a junior and center as a sophomore. He will play guard this year. At Penn State, he will play either guard or center.

Ricketts' ties to Pitt might have been even stronger than Dieffenbach's. Ricketts is the son of Tom Ricketts II, a former standout lineman at Pitt in the 1980s and a former first-round draft choice of the Steelers. The elder Ricketts and his wife have season tickets to Pitt games. Sandy (Albright) Ricketts was a top swimmer at Pitt. Ricketts' great grandfather was Charles "Doc" Hartwig, who was a first-team All-American at Pitt in the 1930s.

But what Ricketts' and Dieffenbach's decisions show are two kids who made their college decisions on their own, based on what they perceived to be best for them. And both players said their parents backed their decisions, no matter where they chose.

"Really, it's just about the best fit for me -- as a student and player," said the younger Ricketts. "Maybe as Tom Ricketts' son, it might have been best for me at Pitt. But as Thomas Ricketts III, Penn State is where I need to be."

Ricketts' father said he was "excited" about his son's decision. The elder Ricketts knows he will take heat from some Pitt fans and also his friends, but believes it will mostly be in fun.

"Of coure, I would've loved to see him go to Pitt," said Ricketts, the father. "But, of course, I knew the situation he would've been going into. He would've been kind of walking in my shoes or my shadow, I guess. He would've had to deal with that. There are so many opportunities out there for him. He made his own decision."

The funny thing is when Ricketts signed with Pitt as a senior at Franklin Regional in 1983, his final two choices were Pitt and Penn State.

"I don't know if my dad ever thought his son would be in this situation," the younger Ricketts said with a laugh. "But he's happy for me and he doesn't hold anything against Pitt or Penn State. He just looks at me.

"Penn State has always been my secret favorite. Growing up, Pitt was a favorite, too. But looking at everything and all the opportunities, I just felt Penn State was where I needed to be."

Ricketts, who has a 3.3 grade-point average, is 6 feet 6, 265 pounds and has added about 15 pounds since last season. He played guard for North Allegheny last year, but will move to tackle this season. He was recruited by Penn State to play either guard or tackle. Florida State, Stanford and Maryland were a few of the other schools on his final list.

Ricketts and Dieffenbach are two of five WPIAL players from the class of 2010 who have made verbal commitments to Penn State. The others are Canon-McMillan linebacker Mike Hull, Sto-Rox quarterback Paul Jones and Penn-Trafford offensive lineman Luke Graham. All five were recruited by Penn State's Bradley.