Highly-rated defensive end prospect, now former Penn State commit, Dominique Easley has changed his school of choice to the University of Florida. This is a definitely a blow to Penn State's recruiting class. However, with such a great group already committed to PSU, this isn't a class-killer.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out the Recruiting Board.
Penn State is already boasting one of the strongest recruiting classes in recent program history, by far the top crop in the Big Ten this year. But with the announcement of the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl rosters last week, the Nittany Lions will be the only program to send five committed recruits to play on a single roster, and is tied with Texas and USC for the overall lead of also five committed recruits.
Of course, the overall number of commitments to each team will change once the game reaches halftime, a traditional showcase when recruits make their commitments before the live national audience (Jan. 9, 2010 at 1 p.m. on NBC), but in terms of those going into the game with solid verbals to any school, Penn State one leading the pack.
Linebackers Khairi Fortt and Mike Hull, QB Paul Jones, RB Silas Redd, and FB Zach Zwinak will all play for the East squad. But that core group could expand by game's end. Running back Marcus Lattimore and DT Sharrif Floyd -- No. 2 and No. 1 respectively at their positions nationally -- are both seriously considering Penn State as one of their top schools. Should they both throw on a blue and white ball cap, it could be a late Christmas for Penn State recruiting.
Here are some former and current Nittany Lions who were invited to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl (since 2001): Levi Brown, Dan Connor, Jerome Hayes, Justin King, Derrick Williams, Maurice Evans, Jared Odrick, A.J. Wallace, Stefen Wisniewski, and Michael Mauti.
The five recruits going this year will be the most ever from any Penn State class.
Penn State's 2010 recruiting class took another shot in the arm, as if it needs any more. Burke(VA)Lake Braddock H.S. offensive tackle Khamrone Kolb (☆☆☆Scout; ☆☆☆Rivals) committed to Penn State this past weekend.
Kolb had scholarship offers from Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin. The most interesting of those is Virginia Tech. The Hokies' Bud Foster was in charge of Kolb's recruitment, but couldn't bring in the home-grown bacon. And remember, it was only a few weeks ago that Virginia Tech was heard bitching and moaning about how Penn State "cheats" to recruit Virginia players. What a bunch of wimps.
This week, Penn State solidified its position as the No. 2 recruiting class, by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out the Recruiting Board.
Penn State's 2010 recruiting class continues to emerge as one of the top in the nation, as Stamford(CT)Stamford H.S. linebacker Khairi Fortt (☆☆☆☆Scout; ☆☆☆☆Rivals) followed through today on his anticipated commitment to play for the Nittany Lions.
With Fortt's commitment, Penn State has jumped to No. 2 nationally in Scout.com's team recruiting class rankings. The Rivals.com rankings have not been updated with Penn State's new addition, so expect a jump there by the end of the day. Penn State is currently No. 6 nationally.
Fortt was being heavily courted earlier this year by some pretty elite programs, including Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee and USC. But the past few weeks, it came down to Georgia and Penn State. Before news broke that Fortt would come to Happy Valley, an interesting storyline (H/T: BSD) was developing down south. You see, Georgia was ahead of Penn State in Fortt's mind for a while, and everything looked to be good for the Bulldogs. That is, until this happened... "Fortt made his official visit to Georgia [on Sept. 12, and] said his mind changed when, on two different occasions, the players who were put in charge of showing him around abandoned him. On one instance, Fortt was left to wander the campus by himself early in the morning.
Dear Georgia,
"Two guys left me," Fortt said. "I was left at a dorm party with people I didn't know. Once I was just walking alone in the streets. Georgia is a school in the south, in a top conference, the SEC, the weather is warm, I have a lot of family there and the academics are good. It was all how I connected with the players."
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Penn State
Penn State's class is getting full now, with only a select few spots left for 2010. Who's next? This could be Penn State's highest-ranked recruiting class in decades, even higher than the famed bust of 2000.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out the Recruiting Board.
Funny how wins equals good recruits. The top-rated prospect out of the great state of New York, defensive lineman Dominique Easley ( ☆☆☆☆Scout; ☆☆☆☆Rivals) out of Staten Island/Curtis, gave his verbal commitment to play football for the Nittany Lions.
Easley is definitely the kind of player Penn State likes; he's a hard worker with very little ego. “I don’t think throughout this whole process it ever affected who he is. It would be easy to get a big head but he never got that way. I think he worked harder the more attention he was getting. That really defined who Dominique is. Instead of getting complacent with all the attention he went out and worked harder.” - Pete Gambarella, Curtis Head Coach.
And let's not overlook the impact of another, current Nittany Lion's role in this one. "Over the weekend he had an opportunity to meet with former St. Joseph by-the-Sea player Ollie Ogbu, a third-year starter at defensive tackle."
Easley had scholarship offers from at least 15 BCS conference programs, including Florida, Michigan, Pitt and Georgia.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out the Recruiting Board.
Penn State pulled in a big time recruit today, Warren Mott(MI)Warren defensive end C.J. Olaniyan (☆☆☆☆Scout;☆☆☆Rivals) committed to Penn State, and added much needed depth at the defensive end position.
Olaniyan had offers from 16 other BCS programs when he committed to Penn State, including eight Big Ten schools, Notre Dame, Miami(FL), Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out our Recruiting Board.
Penn State today secured recruit No. 16 for its 2010 class, the nation's top-rated fullback, Zach Zwinak (☆☆☆☆Scout;☆☆☆☆Rivals). The Frederick(MD)Linganore senior is one of the most highly sought after prospects in his class, and should bring a power to the position that Penn State hasn't had since probably Sean McHugh.
Zwinak had Penn State and Virginia Tech in his top two, but had offers from 15 other BCS programs. Among the schools he passed up were California, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out our Recruiting Board.
The good recruiting news continues to pour into Happy Valley this week, with verbal committments from TE Kevin Haplea (☆☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆ Rivals ) and LB/DE Dakota Royer (☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals). They were two big, although expected, pickups for Penn State's 2010 recruiting class, which is already nearly full.
Royer made his decision today. He passed up offers from nearly 20 BCS-level programs, including Pitt, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Oregon and most of the Big Ten and Big East schools. Royer also played receiver in high school, but should end up at linebacker or end at Penn State.
Haplea verbaled on July 27. Like Royer, Haplea had tons of offers from big schools, including Pitt, Rutgers, Tennessee, West Virginia, Florida State, Miami, and a bunch of other schools east of the Mississippi. In addition to playing tight end, Haplea played very well on defense in high school. So, the option to move positions is there.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out our Recruiting Board.
The past 10 or so days have been very interesting for me, to say the least. But things are settling down, and I can get back into the swing of things here at ZN. To kick off what should be a blitz of posts the next 48 hours, I'll wrap up the news that you've already heard, but I wasn't able to cover here.
The Big Ten Media Days...
• Hail to the Orange gives us classic Joe Paterno at the Big Ten Media Days, complete with tablecloth doodles. It's a must-see over at HTTO.
• Black Shoe Diaries informs us that "James Laurinaitis was retroactively awarded 32 solo tackles by the statisticians in Columbus, bringing his total to 4,835 for the 2008 season," following the selection of Terrelle Pryor as the Media's Offensive POY.
• Lake the Posts gives a big ol' tip of the hat to Joe Paterno, for his performance at the Big Ten Media Days.
• ESPN's Adam Rittenberg wraps everything up.
In other news...
• The Nittany Line discusses the week in Penn State arrests. On the stand: Ako Poti and Glenn Carson.
• Penn State was named No. 1 Party School this week.
• Nittany White Out (as the name would suggest) was all over the full-stadium WhiteOut for Iowa this season.
• Happy Hour Valley throws down a little "goo punch" for TE Kevin Haplea, who committed to Penn State this week.
I've got plenty more stuff to post between today and tomorrow, so stay tuned. First Look: Michigan Wolverines, poll results, recruiting updates (Dakota Royer came aboard today!), and some other stuff is all on the way!
It's Christmas in July for Penn State recruiting, as the Lions picked up yet another fantastic commit in State College WR Alex Kenney (☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals).
Kenney is listed by many as an athlete/wide receiver, so versatility is off the charts. He had 16 offers from Boston College, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pitt (ha! lost another to PSU), South Carolina, Stanford and Wake Forest, among a few other BCS schools. So, while not getting offers from juggernauts like USC or Oklahoma, Kenney was still a top BCS-caliber prospect.
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out our Recruiting Board.
And to think, we're not even halfway through July.
Today, St. Mary's quarterback Robert Bolden (☆☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals) gave his verbal commitment to play for Penn State in 2010; he had 19 scholarship offers from across the nation. Earlier this week, Levi Norwood (Jordan's brother/☆ Scout; NR Rivals) said he would join the Lions next season.
But that's not even the tip of the iceberg, folks. It could get better, much better before the end of the month.
Manheim Central (PA) receiver Dakota Royer (☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals), State College athlete Alex Kenney (☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals), North Hunterdon (NJ) tight end Kevin Haplea (☆☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆ Rivals), and Stamford (CT) linebacker Khairi Fortt (☆☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals) are all expected to commit to Penn State before July is out.
Just in case you wanted a little icing on your recruiting cake, today Scout.com vaulted Penn State's 2010 Recruiting Class to No. 5 in the nation. Penn State's two five-star commits (according to Scout's ratings) is tied for the national high, with Texas (No. 1), Alabama (No. 2) and Ohio State (No. 16). Rivals has not yet released its 2010 Team Recruiting Rankings; if they did, I can't find it anywhere.
Like I said: Booyah!
For more on Penn State recruiting, check out our Recruiting Board.
Johnson City offensive guard Daquan Jones (☆☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆ Rivals) joined Evan Hailes this weekend, committing to play for the Nittany Lions in 2010. Jones became the tenth recruit to solidly verbal to Penn State. He was recruited by many major Mid-Atlantic and Northeast programs, including Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, Boston College, Maryland and NC State. Jones is yet another Larry Johnson special.
Off topic
Red Meat Monday will be up later today. That could be all until tomorrow, as I'll spend most of my blogging time updating the recruiting board and other housekeeping items.
Chesapeake's Oscar Smith HS defensive lineman Evan Hailes (☆☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals) announced yesterday that he will play football for Penn State. He had scholarship offers from a bunch of schools from the ACC, SEC and even the Pac 10. Most notably, LSU was very actively recruiting him, along with Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Michigan. This is another great pickup for the defensive front, as the 2010 crop of Lions is shaping up to be another '06-type class. Hopefully they can stay out of trouble a bit better.
Central York defensive lineman Kyle Baublitz (☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals) announced yesterday that he will play football for Penn State. He had scholarship offers from nearly every major program east of the Mississippi, including Pitt (Ha!), West Virginia, Rutgers, Florida State, Boston College, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. This is another Larry Johnson, Sr. Special. Baublitz is also listed as a tight end prospect.
Baublitz (how perfect is that name for a front-seven defender?) said last week he was still up in the air about where he was going to play, but now he said that it was Happy Valley all along. "I kind of had the decision that I was going to decide for Penn State, I was just going to make it on my mom's birthday."
Awe, what a nice kid... Full Story HERE.
Penn State got two great football commitments this week. The first was longtime Pitt fan Miles Dieffenbach (☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Scout; ☆ ☆ ☆ Rivals), who contacted PSU on Tuesday. The second was western PA prospect Tom Ricketts (☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Scout; NR Rivals). The best part of all this for Penn State fans? Pitt fans are fuming.
Remember all that talk about Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt building a wall around western Pennsylvania, not allowing any recruits to escape? My, how four years can change a landscape.
Instead of trying to analyze the finer aspects of recent Penn State recruiting (not yet, at least) , I think a quick study on how we got here is in order. It's really an interesting timeline, considering where Penn State and Pitt were respectively in the summer of 2005, as Wannstedt took over, claiming western PA was his domain.
Pittsburgh was coming off (as undeserved as it was) a Fiesta Bowl berth, and a conference title. The Panthers hadn't had a losing season since 1999, making a name for itself as a very good passing team under Walt Harris. While it wasn't piling up wins like Oklahoma or Miami, Pitt football gained a decent level of respectability during the first half of this decade.
Penn State wasn't quite so prosperous. Beginning with the new millennium (and a 12-0 loss to Pitt), the Lions went on to a dreadful 28-33 record from 2000-2004. Calls for Joe Paterno to retire, claims that Penn State would never regain its elite status, and low recruiting confidence were rampant. Going into 2005, all anyone wanted was a record better than .500.
Then something happened. Pitt grew tired of "only" winning eight or nine games each year, and probably saw an opportunity to solidify itself as the premier Pennsylvania football program. Meanwhile, Penn State grew up, realizing that resting on your laurels, as the program did in the late 1990s, wouldn't win games or recruits.
The Panthers became greedy, while the Lions were humbled.
The hiring of Wannstedt was probably the worst head coaching move during the 2004-05 offseason. Numbers don't lie. Once Wannstedt came aboard, Pitt never won more than six games until 2008, and lost to teams like Ohio University, Navy and Bowling Green. Toss in an 0-4 record against Rutgers, and a downright pathetic 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the 2009 Sun Bowl, and the Wannstedt era could be viewed as beyond disappointing.
That same offseason, Joe Paterno told reporters that if he didn't start winning some games, he needed to get his ass out of Dodge. Luckily for Paterno, with a little help from a fantastic recruiting class, the Lions came within one second of playing for the national championship, finishing 2005 with an 11-1 record, a Big Ten championship, and an Orange Bowl win. The spark returned to Happy Valley, primarily because of the lessons learned from 2000-04.
The last four years, Penn State and Pitt both sharply reversed course, for good and bad. No one could have guessed these two programs would be in the positions they are today, eerily reminiscent of past decades when Pitt was the perennial "little brother."
Could Pitt turn things around? Sure. They made great strides last season. But if 2009 is a reversion to anything like Wannstedt's first three years on the job, it could be a hot time for "The 'Stache" on Heinz Field.
What about Penn State; is a down season inevitable? That depends on what is considered "down." Of course, 2009 won't be an accurate gauge of where the program is right now. A high school team could win three or four games against this schedule. But is a season with as few as nine or ten wins possible? I think so. It just doesn't seem logical to forecast anything but continued success for Penn State the next few years.
Then again, isn't that what we all said about Pitt not long ago?
For more on the Dieffenbach and Ricketts commitments, and Pitt's sufferings, click here, here, here (love the South Park ref) or here.
Lots'a stuff going on in Penn State recruiting the past week. I figured a good old catch-up session would be in order, particularly with yesterday's news that Penn State offered another quarterback for next year's class. Top that off with the commitment from a great offensive line prospect, and you've got yourself a good week. Also, I found a fun new recruiting toy!
• First off, the big news from yesterday. Penn State offered Tennessee quarterback Barry Brunetti (☆☆☆ Scout; ☆☆☆☆ Rivals), possibly to sure up any remaining uncertainty about Paul Jones. I don't think Penn State has to worry about Jones backing out (again), but this is a great move to put another highly-regarded quarterback on the board.
I'll update the 2010 Recruiting Board this weekend.
• Earlier this week, Penn State landed another verbal commitment. On Monday, Pennsylvania offensive lineman Luke Graham (☆☆☆ Scout; NR Rivals) joined the 2010 recruiting class. He's a big kid, at 6'5", with a lot of potential. This one came to Happy Valley courtesy of Tom Bradley.
• Finally (drum roll...) the fun you've all been waiting for. The not-as-impressive-as-I-made-it-sound college football recruiting gadget everyone should take at least five minutes to play with! I'm sure some of you already knew about this (I probably did too, but completely forgot if I did), but that doesn't make it any less neat. You can click on the little man in the Gulf of Mexico to change conferences. Isn't this frickin' cool?!
View Big Ten Recruiting, 2010 in a larger map
It was a very big last few days for Penn State football recruiting, as the Nittany Lions secured not one, but two highly-sought after recruits from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Maryland WR Adrian Coxson and Connecticut RB Silas Redd committed to play at Penn State, the news breaking Thursday and Sunday, respectively. Let's take a quick look into these two players, and what they mean for Penn State's 2010 recruiting class.
Adrian Coxson, Wide Receiver
Baltimore, MD
Rivals.com: ☆☆☆☆, Scout.com: ☆☆☆☆
Coxson is a 6'2" lightening bolt, who could end up filling in very nicely when Penn State loses the likes of Graham Zug, Brett Brackett and James McDonald over the next few seasons. But more than his physical attributes, I was very impressed by his interview with BWI posted this morning.
That's the kind of kid that builds great programs. And the emphasis on the "better man" quote was mine. After all that's gone on at Penn State the last few years, hearing Coxson say that is a breath of fresh air. This was a huge pickup for Penn State."It's just the way [Penn State] carry themselves with football and their very good academics... I think that I can become a better person and a better man up there, and I think that I can improve my game, be a playmaker or a game-changer."
Silas Redd, Running Back
Stamford, CT
Rivals.com: ☆☆☆☆, Scout.com: ☆☆☆☆
Redd ran for more than 1,300 yards last season, on 120 carries. That's better than 10 yards per carry. Penn State has had great success the last few years with producing high-quality running backs, and Redd should step right in without missing a beat. He has a similar build to Stephfon Green, at about 5'10", 190 lbs, but is more of a power-run back, ala Brandon Beachum. But that's not at all to say Redd is slow (neither is Beachum). It's just that anyone is slow compared to Green.
With all four of Penn State's commits rated so highly by the recruiting scouts, this class is shaping up to be a dynamite crop of young Nittany Lions.
*Have something to say about this post? Let your voice be heard, in the ZN Message Forum!
◊ The rumor has been circulating for less than a week, but was confirmed yesterday at PennLive.com. Highly-rated 2010 quarterback prospect and Penn State commit Paul Jones has opened up his recruitment. That's not to say he's de-committing from Penn State. He's just looking around to be sure he's "not missing anything."
"I just want to be certain that I'm not missing out on anything, that I made the right choice," Jones said. "I was really nervous about telling Coach Bradley (of my decision)."The only bad sign is this quote from Jones' head coach, Jason Ruscitto:
"Jones' opening of his options has forced the Lions to open up their recruitment of a quarterback for the class of 2010. Daryll Clark's back-up, Pat Devlin, recently transferred to the University of Delaware. And 2009 marks Clark's last season of NCAA eligibility.Again, this could just be a passing thing, and Jones will follow through with his commitment. But there is a chance PSU might not land him in the end. Looks like the quarterback search is back on, for now...
"They (Penn State) had to open up their options," Ruscitto said, "Because Paul might not be there."
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