Blue White Illustrated Online

Over the past five recruiting seasons Penn State has experienced a great deal of recruiting success over the summer.

It’s not uncommon for Penn State to land between five to 10 verbal commitments from prospects during the months of June, July and August before the start of another football season.

Two perfect examples of this are Penn State’s Classes of 2004 and 2009.

Back in August of 2003, within a seven-day period between Aug. 2 and Aug. 10, Penn State received verbal commitments from All-American l i n e b a c k e r D a n C o n n o r f rom Wallingford, Pa., offensive lineman Gerald Cadogan from Portsmouth, Ohio, All-American linebacker Tyrell Sales from Butler, Pa., and defensive back Spencer Ridenhour from White Plains, N.Y. At the time many considered it to be the Nittany Lions’ best weekly recruiting haul over any summer during the Paterno Era.

It was really Penn State’s Class of 2004 that showed Joe Paterno and his assistant coaches were committed to landing early verbal commitments.

Even more impressive than that recruiting haul were the 12 verbal commitments Penn State received for its Class of 2004 during the month of July.

That list included: offensive lineman Wyatt Bowman, linebacker Dontay Brown, defensive back Tony Davis, running back Matt Hahn, offensive lineman Greg Harrison, tight end Jed Hill, offensive lineman Austin Hinton, running back Dan Lawlor, t i g h t end/defensive end Mike Lucian, offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, wide receiver Mark Rubin, offensive/defensive lineman A.Q. Shipley and offensive lineman Trent Varva.

All 12 of those players verbally committed to the Nittany Lions between July 4 and July 13. Penn State’s Class of 2004 ended up consisting of 25 members and 16 of the 25 ended up verbally committing to the Nittany Lions during the summer of 2003. Even though it wasn’t quite as dramatic, the months of June, July and August were quite productive for Penn State’s recruiting of its Class of 2010. During the months of June, July and August Penn State landed verbal commitments from All-American defensive end Kyle Baublitz, All- American quarterback Robert Bolden, All-American offensive lineman Miles Dieffenbach, defensive lineman Evan Hailes, tight end Kevin Haplea, defensive lineman DaQuan Jones, athlete Alex Kenney, and All-American linebacker/defensive end Dakota Royer.

With earlier verbal commitments from All-American linebacker Mike Hull (11/24/08), offensive lineman Luke Graham (3/4/09), All-American quarterback Paul Jones (1/7/09) and All- American running back Silas Redd (5/3/09), 12 of Penn State’s 19 Class of 2010 members were verbally committed to the Nittany Lions by the end of July.

So it is not really hard to understand why so many hardcore Penn State football recruiting fans are concerned that, going into the month of July, the Nittany Lions have just one verbal commitment in tight end Kyle Carter (6-4, 235) from William Penn High School in New Castle, Del. If we can really learn anything from history regarding Penn State football recruiting, the next two months should give every Nittany Lion football fan a fairly accurate look at how successful Penn State’s recruitment will be for its Class of 2011.

Personally, even though the Nittany Lions’ Class of 2011 is projected to have only 15 to 16 scholarships available, I would be tremendously disappointed if Penn State hasn’t secured four or five verbal commitments before the beginning of the 2010 season on Sept. 4 against Youngstown State. The following is a breakdown of who Penn State is hot on the trail of on defense in the Class of 2011 and how the Nittany Lions will go about filling out their class.

The following scholarship numbers are projections for the 2011 season.

Scholarship Defensive Tackles

(6): Devon Still (Sr./Sr.), Jordan Hill (Jr./Jr.), James Terry (Sr./Jr. ) , Brandon Ware (Sr./Jr.), DaQuan Jones (So./Fr.) and Evan Hailes (So./Fr.).

Despite the fact Penn State defensive line coach Larry Johnson has some positive things to say about Still, Hill, Terry and Ware in his interview you can read at bluewhiteonline.com, there appears to be a numbers problem at both defensive tackle positions going into the 2011 season.

Remember, you never recruit expecting players to become major contributors as freshmen. With Still graduating following the 2011 season, and the fact Hill, Terry and Ware will be seniors, eligibility-wise, in 2012, that leaves just two defensive tackles, Hailes and Jones, with more than two years of eligibility on Penn State’s roster. That is the sole reason why recruiting three defensive tackles in the Class of 2011 has to be Penn State’s No. 1 recruiting priority on defense. To date, the Nittany Lions have tendered written scholarship offers to five defensive tackles in the Class of 2011.

Those written scholarship offers have gone to Joel Hale (6-4, 290) from Greenwood, Ind., Marco Jones (6-3, 2 5 5 ) f rom Baltimore , M d . , A l l – American Darian Cooper (6-2, 290) from Hyattsville, Md., All-American Shaun Underwood (6-1, 315) from Fuquay-Varina, N.C. and All-American Marquise Wright (6-2, 270) from Paramus, N.J. Both Hale and Jones have already verbally committed to other schools: Hale announced for Ohio State and Jones verbally committed to Virginia.

The defensive tackle Penn State presently seems to have the best chance of landing is Wright. He is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 4 overall defensive tackle prospect in the country. At this point in the recruiting process Wright, who recently received a w r i t t e n s c h o l a r s h i p o f f e r f rom Southern Cal, indicated to BWI that Penn State, Maryland and Pitt are at the top of his list.

“Everything is still staying about the same,” Wright told Sean Fitz of BWI. “I still like Penn State a lot. I also like Maryland a lot and I’m starting to like Pitt more, too. I have no clue what I want to do now.”

Wright is expected to make his college decision in early September. The Nittany Lions also appear to be among the top three choices for both Cooper and Underwood. Cooper, who is projected by many to be one of the top two defensive tackle prospects in the greater Washington, D.C. area for the Class of 2011, is rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and the 31st-best defensive tackle prospect in the country.

To date, Cooper lists 16 written scholarship offers including Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, UCLA, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin besides Penn State. Cooper is being recruited for the Nittany Lions by Larry Johnson.

Underwood is rated by several recruiting services as the No. 1 defensive tackle prospect in North Carolina for the Class of 2011. He recently indicated to Rivals.com that North Carolina, Penn State and Wake Forest are his three favorites.

“Coach Johnson, the D-line coach, he came down (during the spring evaluation period),” Underwood told Fitz in late May.

“He was talking to me about the kind of defensive front they have and he also told me that I was No. 1 on their recruiting board as far as players in my Class of 2011 (at his nose tackle position).”

Underwood is expected to visit Penn State in July.

Top Defensive Tackle Prospect: Marquise Wright.
Scholarships Available: 2 or 3.

Scholarship Defensive Ends

(8): Jack Crawford (Sr./Sr.), Kevion Latham (Sr./Sr.), Eric Latimore (Sr./Sr.), Pete Massaro (Jr./Sr.), Sean Stanley (Jr./Jr.), Kyle Baublitz (So./Fr.), Brad Bars (So./Fr.) and C.J. Olaniyan (So./Fr.)

Despite the fact there will be eight defensive ends on Penn State’s roster for the 2011 season, recruiting at least two defensive ends should be Penn State’s No. 2 priority on defense for the Class of 2011.

That’s because Crawford, Latham and Latimore will all graduate following the 2011 season. To date, the Nittany Lions have sent written scholarship offers to six defensive ends in the Class of 2011. Those offers have been extended to All-American Deion Barnes from P h i l a d e l p h i a , R o b B u r n s f rom Ashburn, Va., defensive lineman Deon Green from Orlando, Fla., Shawn Oakman from Lansdowne, Pa., tight end/defensive end Ishaq Williams from Brooklyn, N.Y., and defensive e n d / m i d d l e l i n e b a c k e r A n d r e Sturdivant from Cleveland, Ohio. Right now, Penn State appears to be in excellent shape with Bar nes, Oakman and Green. Barnes has visite d S o u t h C a r o l i n a , M a r y l a n d , Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers so far.

He is being recruited by Penn State assistant coach Ron Vanderlinden. Rivals.com ranks Barnes as the sixth-best weakside defensive end in the country. Oakman, who is listed at 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, lists Penn State as his leader.

He is expected to announce before the 2010 season. Rivals.com lists him as the 20th-best overall strongside defensive end in the count r y a n d t h e 2 4 4 t h – b e s t o v e r a l l prospect in the Class of 2011. The fact that Green lists Penn State as his favorite is probably so far the biggest surprise of Penn State’s recruitment of the Class of 2011. Green now lists 24 scholarship offers. That list includes Illinois, Mississippi, Northwestern, Purdue, Virginia, Wake Forest and South Carolina besides Penn State.

“(Penn State’s offer is) huge on my part,” Green told Fitz. “As I said, I have that Top 10 list with me and my family and Penn State is almost at the top if not at the top.” Penn State and South Carolina are considered to be the favorites for Green.

Green moved to Orlando, Fla., from Greenville, S.C. before ninth grade. Another interesting defensive lineman/ linebacker Penn State is recruiting is Sturdivant. Sturdivant is from Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio, which has been a feeder program to Ohio State over the last decade.

Sturdivant lists offers from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Toledo besides Penn State. Williams is listed as the fourth-best weakside defensive end in the country and the 32nd-best overall prospect in the country by Rivals.com. Penn State is recruiting Williams as both a tight end and a defensive end. Nittany Lion assistant coach Kermit Buggs is in charge of Williams’ recruitment.

 Top Defensive End Prospect: Deion Barnes.
Scholarships Available: 2 or 3.

Scholarship Linebackers

(8): Nate Stupar (Sr./Sr.), Michael Mauti (Sr./Jr.), Gerald Hodges (Jr./Jr.), Mike Yancich (Sr./Jr.), Glenn Carson (So./So.), Mike Hull (So./So.), Khairi Fortt (So./So.) and Dakota Royer (So./Fr.)

With the fact Stupar will be a senior in 2011 and that Hodges, Mauti and Yancich will have one year of eligibility following the 2011 season, it’s surprising that Penn State has tendered just three written scholarship offers to linebackers.

The three are Sturdivant, Mike Caputo from Imperial, Pa., and Conner Crowell form Waldorf, Md. At 6-1, 195 pounds, Caputo will play at either strong safety or the Fritz outside linebacker position in college. In 2009, Caputo was the WPIAL Class AAA Player of the Year rushing for 2,526 yards. Caputo lists Pitt, Penn State, Ohio State and Wisconsin as his favorites. Crowell is Rivals.com’s 19th-best outside linebacker in the country and lists a dozen scholarship offers including Ohio State, Pitt and West Virginia besides Penn State.

Sturdivant is listed by Rivals.com as the 17th-best inside linebacker in the country. Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois and Michigan State are considered the favorites.

Top Linebacker Prospect: Andre Sturdivant.
Scholarships Available: 2.

Scholarship Safeties

(5): Drew Astorino (Sr./Sr.), Andrew Dailey (Sr./Sr.), Nick Sukay (Sr./Sr. ) , Stephen Obeng-Agyapong (Jr./So.) and Malcolm Willis (Jr./So.)

With Astorino, Dailey and Sukay graduating after the 2011 season, one would think recruiting safeties would be a priority for the Class of 2011. It h a s t o b e s u r p r i s i n g t h a t j u s t Dominique Noble from Mount Ulla, N.C., Brandon Phelps from Damascus, Md., and Brandon Reddish from Brooklyn, N.Y., are the only three possible safety prospects offered by Penn State going into July.

Reddish is from Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was Brooklyn’s Public Schools Athletic League Player of the Year in 2009. He lists seven scholarship offers and Penn State, Rutgers and West Virginia appear to be the leaders.

Phelps is the 20th-best athlete by Rivals.com for the Class of 2011, and Penn State and Virginia are his leaders. Noble is the 21st-best cornerback in the Class of 2011 by Rivals.com. Noble lists 12 scholarship offers, and Penn State is listed among his 10 favorites.

Top Safety Prospect: Brandon Phelps.
Scholarships Available: 2.

Scholarship Cornerbacks

(6): D’Anton Lynn (Sr./Sr.), Chaz Powell (Sr./Sr.), Stephon Morris (Jr./Jr.), Derrick Thomas (Jr./So.), Mike Wa l l a c e ( J r./So.), Alex Kenney (So./Fr.) and Shyquawn Pullium (Fr./Fr.)

With Kenney now being projected to begin his Penn State career at cornerback, the Nittany Lions will enter the 2011 season with seven projected cornerbacks on its roster. Just Lynn and Powell will graduate following the 2011 season, so it’s easy to see why recruiting cornerbacks isn’t the No. 1 priority.

That’s why it’s surprising Penn State has offered written scholarship offers to seven possible cornerbacks. That list includes: All-American Terrell Chestnut from Pottstown, Pa., four-star Kyshoen Jarrett from East Stroudsburg, Pa., All-American Albert Louis-Jean (Miami commit) from B r o c k t o n , M a s s . , f o u r – s t a r Demetrious Nicholson from Virginia Beach, Va . , N o b l e , P h e l p s , A l l – American Doran Grant from Akron, Ohio and four-star Darius Jennings from Baltimore, Md. Maybe the reason is Noble, Phelps, Chestnut and Louis-Jean are also capable of playing free safety.

Top Cornerback Prospect: Doran Grant.
Scholarships Available: 1 or 2.