Freaking just commit already! God!

Next week, I'm going to say the school I'm going to, sign it and get it over with,' Pryor said after getting 23 points and eight rebounds to lead his team to a 76-72 overtime win over Strawberry Mansion in the Class AA title game." - Associated Press.

I'm not going to be pessimistic about this the way most everyone else is right now. You know what, sure, Ohio State has the best shot at him. Many are pointing out that he hasn't taken an official visit. But why does that mean he doesn't know what PSU has to offer? I'm quite sure he's been there plenty of times. He knows Tom Bradley, and has a really great relationship with him. We'll see, but regardless of what I'm hearing, I'm going to remain optimistic.

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The 2008 Penn State recruiting class: Always look on the bright side of life

Look, it’s not that bad. This is hardly a killer class, but what did you expect? There were three—3—classes in Scout.com’s top 25, and three—3—in Rivals.com’s top 25 for 2008, which signed fewer than 20 players. Ohio State, USC and Washington (Rivals.com only) and Pittsburgh (Scout.com only) all signed 19.

In the Scout.com rankings, PSU is an underachieving No. 41, but is that really lower than it should be? Outside of the top 25, No. 35 Tennessee and No. 30 North Carolina both signed 18. No. 43 Stanford is the only other top-50 class—excluding PSU—to sign 18 or fewer to its 2008 class. Just to put that into perspective, PSU signed 14 players. The next highest class, after PSU, to sign fewer than 18 is Texas Tech (15 signed), at No. 59.

And what about Rivals.com’s rankings? Not far off, as they ranked PSU No. 42, tied with Texas Tech. As for teams in the No. 26-50 range signing fewer than 20 players, Rivals.com has No. 29 Pitt, No. 32 Maryland, No. 34 UNC, No. 36 Tennessee, and No. 50 Stanford, which signed the lowest (17 signed) next to PSU and TTU.

I don’t want to hear it, that PSU is now on the same level as Texas Tech. That’s just not true. Had PSU been able to hand out more scholarships in 2008, you bet your ass that the class would have been better. What was PSU supposed to do, put all its efforts into signing four and five-star players and forget about the threes and twos? That’s just not good recruiting. Just to remind people, Jordan Norwood was a one-star, Deon Butler a two-star, Paul Pozluszny a three-star, Tony Hunt a three-star. For some weird reason, PSU is actually good at developing lower-ranked recruits into top-notch players. Too bad they can’t develop those blue-chippers more often.

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Is the whore getting uneasy?

I think Michigan fans are feeling a bit unsure of the "sure lock" Terrelle Pryor was, for either UM or Ohio State, a mere 48 hours ago. Although I'm trying to remain cautiously optimistic about this Pryor deal, it's still nice to know PSU is scaring the shit out of OSU and UM fans. (I know, Oregon has been a distant fourth, but c'mon, they're not even close) The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had the story about Pryor's lack of commitment on the most important signing day in sports. To say it plainly, everyone west of Pennsylvania is shitting bricks, whether they admit it or not. Not to say I'm picking on the chief whore, MGoBlog, but when you're the best at what you do, you usually have to take the brunt of things like this. Just to be fair though, the whores aren't the only ones freaking out. Apparently, the Buckeye nation--the whores' pimp for six out of the last seven years--is just as nervous.

I know none of this will matter if PSU doesn't land Pryor. But isn't it still fun to make them squirm?

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Kirk Herbstr-- I mean Mike Farrell is doing some fine reporting on Pryor

This is getting rediculous. You'd think Terrelle Pryor got his first scholarship offer last week. He's running around, as if he's had no time to decide where to play football. To top it off--not that I have any simpathy for sports journalists--he's dickteasing guys like Mike Farrell of Rivals.com. I'm sorry, but in the modern landscape we have here, if you're going to leak something to a reporter, don't fucking go back on it the next day. (coughcoughLesMilescough)

From Mike Farrell"

Terrelle Pryor just called me a few minutes ago and said he's now not signing tomorrow. He said he's 100-percent sure he's not signing. He said he's going to take an official visit to Penn State for sure, hopefully a weekend visit, and might visit Oregon. He said he is just not sure of his choice as of right now.

He has had numerous discussions with his father who really likes the way Penn State has recruited Terrelle. Penn State has been to Terrelle's father's house numerous times and had done a good job making him feel comfortable that PSU is the right place for his son.

So as of now it's OSU, Michigan, PSU and Oregon for his services with no signing date set. He could change his mind again when he wakes up, so I am simply reporting what he's telling me.

Trust me, he is not doing this for the attention, this kid sounds as torn up about a decision as any I've covered. And he is aware of the reputation that some folks are pinning on him and to that he told me he has to do what is right for him and can't worry about public opinion. He and his family come first and this is an important decision that he's not going to rush for anyone.

Good news for PSU fans here no doubt.

Mike Farrell

Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst
This post was edited on 2/5 10:15 PM by Sean Fitz/BWI

Scout.com has it's own "Christ man, we're all really getting sick of this bullshit you're pulling" story about Pryor.

By Bob Lichtenfels
Regional Recruiting Analyst
Posted Feb 6, 2008

Terrelle Pryor has maintained that he was uncertain about his future and whether or not he would sign a letter of intent on Wednesday. Scout.com has continued to report that and we have stuck by that. Here is the latest almost ten hours before his scheduled announcement time.

Scout.com has learned through multiple sources as of midnight Terrelle Pryor will not sign a national letter of intent. Pryor will address the media, but not to announce what school he is attending.
Per our source, Pryor and Jeannette head coach Ray Reitz will answer five questions from ESPN. The questions have been in the possession of Reitz for almost a week.

The pair will answer those five questions on camera and we are uncertain if they will field any other media questions.

The questions will be answered on ESPNU at 12:05 pm as part of their signing day coverage. With Pryor you never know what will happen, he could wake up Wednesday morning and change his mind, but this demonstrates to us that he is clearly undecided and needs more time.

A recent visit by Penn State coaches has put the Nittany Lions right back in the race. Remember, Pryor has visited Penn State more than any other school. We also expect he could take an unofficial to Ohio State so his confidant Charlie Batch can get a feel for the staff and see the facilities. Chip Kelly has been recruiting Pryor for a number of weeks and has Oregon in position to earn a visit.

Pryor also likes the Michigan offense, but talk has sputtered with the Wolverines as of late. We have learned that several family members would like to see him at Ann Arbor. Penn State assistant coach Tom Bradley has been recruiting Pryor since the beginning and the two have a very good relationship.

As we have stated previously, this looked like a done deal that Pryor was going to Ohio State and he still may, but things have gotten a lot more interesting over the past few days.

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Wake up, people

This is getting out of hand. I understand that Terrelle Pryor is one of the most hyped recruits to come out of Pennsylvania in a long time, but will it be the absolute end of the world if Penn State doesn’t land him? Why would he want to come to Penn State anyway? We have three quarterbacks in line already—two starters in Clark and Devlin, and a solid career backup in Cianciolo. When was the last time Paterno started a TRUE freshman quarterback? That’s what I thought.

Some fans got excited about Joe, Jay, Tom and Mike going to visit Pryor this week. I didn’t. Now, reports are coming out that he wasn’t all that thrilled with Penn State or the thousands of cows that come with it. The biggest problem for Penn State isn’t really that Pryor may not come to Happy Valley, but that he’d end up in Ann Arbor or Columbus. (My guess is that he becomes a whore and gets the nod right away.)

You have to be a realist during recruiting season. You can’t hedge an entire season (or the next four years) on landing one recruit. Penn State has gotten its program back to the point where one single recruit won’t make a difference the way it did in 2005. Even then, it took two guys—Williams and King—to inject the kind of firepower that propelled the Nittany Lions to 11 wins and a BCS berth. If fans get caught up with the idea that this entire recruiting season was a waste, just because Penn State didn’t land Pryor, they will miss out on the bigger picture.

When was the last time Penn State gave out so few scholarships? It’s been a long time. (2003, I believe) So what can you expect in a class that size? It won’t be a top-25 group, and chances are that it won’t have all of the recruits desired. According to Rivals.com, Penn State’s average star ranking is 3.07, better than five top-25 classes ranked on that site. Scout.com has Penn State’s average star ranking at 3.47, better than 13 top-25 classes ranked on that site. Sure, it’s not exactly the class of 2005 or 2006 but it’s not as bad as everyone’s making it out to be.

I’ve used him before as an example, but take a look at Deon Butler. He came to Penn State as a preferred walk-on defensive back. You would be a liar by saying you knew he would be one of Penn State’s best wide receivers ever. How about Tony Hunt? Taking second fiddle to Austin Scott in the class of 2003, then emerging as the most reliable Nittany Lion in more than a decade is no small feat. But where was he rated coming out of high school? He was a three-star prospect by many.

So don’t get stressed out over the Pryor situation. If Penn State doesn’t get him, then Penn State doesn’t get him. We can only hope he shocks everyone as travels out west to Oregon. I wonder how things would have turned out if Joe Paterno rolled into Jeanette behind the wheel of a Z06?

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Breaking News: Paterno to visit Terrelle Pryor

If you've ever worked for a newspaper or in another professional media setting, you'll get those stories once in a while that causes you to throw everything else aside. This is one of those stories. (I had planned some very nice fluff about a few former Penn State players, now on AAFL rosters.)
I'll have my own take on this later. But for now, The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting:

Paterno to visit nation’s top recruit Pryor
By Jeff McLane
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The closer is coming.

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is expected to travel to Jeannette, Pa. tomorrow to visit Terrelle Pryor, the nation's No. 1 overall high school recruit, according to a team source.

The 81-year-old icon will be joined by defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, who has recruited Pryor since he was in the ninth grade. A 6-foot-6, 235-pound quarterback, Pryor has pared his choices down to four schools: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon.

Pryor has taken official visits to only Ohio State and Michigan, although he has been to Penn State for a number of unofficial visits.

Still, the recruiting Web sites that track Pryor's every move have predicted the Parade national player of the year will choose between either the Buckeyes or the Wolverines. The Nittany Lions, though, still have their ace in the hole - Paterno.

The coach rarely visits recruits at this stage in his storied career. Whether he is too late, remains to be seen.

Pryor, who also plays basketball, will be in the Philadelphia area on Friday as Jeannette High plays Chester at Villanova at 7:30 p.m.

With speculation over his choice reaching a fever pitch, Pryor will announce his decision on national signing day next Wednesday.
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Contact staff writer Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745 or jmclane@phillynews.com.

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