Recruting class

[phillyfiend]

Has anyone read anything on the in coming class. I have not seen anything as of yet. I have not delved into that part of the team recently.

[el_duderino]

The incoming class of recruits is actually one of the best groups (projected, at least) of recruits we've had at Penn State, and is one of the top classes in the nation. The class is currently set at 18 commits, with a few more kids still being recruited and possibly committing in the coming weeks.

QBs = Paul Jones, Robert Bolden; Both are 4-star recruits, and both are near the top in the class for QBs this year. Paul Jones is actually already enrolled in classes for this semester at State, so that will give him more time to work with the team. Jones has some speed and has a great arm. Bolden is a scrambler through and through. His arm needs some work, but he's got great speed. Both are great additions to a very thin QB corps for Penn State.

RBs = Silas Redd; 4-star recruit and considered one of the top 50 players overall. Good speed (also played DB in high school) and looks to be a bruiser that's willing to hit the linebacker to get more yards. Think Tony Hunt with more speed. Redd is also already enrolled at State for the semester.

WRs = Alex Kenney; Levi Norwood; Both are 3-star recruits, but both were likely under-scouted. Kenney is from State College High, so he's staying close to home. Good speed, good size. Levi is the younger brother of Jordan Norwood. Everything I'm hearing is that he's as good as Jordan, and 6 inches taller.

TEs = Kyle Baublitz, Kevin Haplea; Baublitz is a 4-star recruit, Haplea is a 3-star, and both are already enrolled. Baublitz is a large dude - 6'4", 250lbs - so he might flip to the defensive side of the ball. He's a better blocker than receiver at this point, but that's still a good thing to have as a TE. Haplea is a little smaller (faster too), but better as a receiving TE.

OLs = Miles Diffenbach (C or G), Thomas Ricketts (T), Luke Graham (G), Daquan Jones (G), Khamrone Kolb (T); First two are 4-stars, last three are 3-stars. It's always hard to figure out how good OL prospects are, but depth is always a good thing for the OL. So picking up 5 quality guys is always a positive. Most will likely get redshirted, with Diffenbach having the best chance of seeing playing time at all next season.

DLs = C.J. Olaniyan (DE), Dakota Royer (DE), Evan Hailes (DT); All are 4-star prospects, and Royer and Hailes are currently enrolled. All three are going to be impact players on the line in the near future. Also, at 305 lbs, Hailes is a space-eater at DT, which is nice as long as he can remain athletic too.

LBs = Khairi Fortt, Mike Hull, Zack Zwinak; All are 4-star prospects, and Fortt is currently enrolled. Fortt is also one of the top 50 overall prospects in the nation, so he'll help make sure to keep Linebacker U alive and well. Mike Hull is also very good and loves to hit - another workhorse LB. Zwinak is another who loves contact and plays 110% on every play. There's the very good chance that Zwinak moves to fullback, where he was basically untackle-able in high school. Some of the videos make him look like Mike Alstott back in Alstott's hey-day.

No DBs (thanks to the huge number we picked up last year), and no Kicker or Punter (got a kicker last year, and punters can be found as walk-ons).

Still on the radar:
RB Marcus Lattimore - 5-star prospect and ranked #10 overall in the nation by Rivals. All reports say it's down to Auburn and Penn State, and JoePa will be making a rare personal visit to try to sway him to Happy Valley.

DT Michael Thornton - 4-star prospect and very athletic at DT. Very good odds that he picks Penn State after a few of our other prospects decided to head elsewhere.

ATH Shyquawn Pullium - 3-star prospect and I'm not really sure where he'll fit in. Very fast, so it's likely he'll end up either as a WR or DB. He's expected to visit this weekend, and likely to commit to Penn State by next week.

Overall, it's a really solid class, and it might be getting more impressive in the coming weeks. We did lose a couple of top prospects - Sharrif Floyd and Dominique Easley were both on our radar, both top 10 prospects, but both decided to go to Florida. (Easley got a late offer from UF, and that's where he really wanted to go; Floyd made a mockery of the entire recruitment process, so he belongs with a mockery of a head coach at UF.) The other issue was Adrian Coxson - a 4-star WR recruit. He originally committed to Penn State, then (as the story goes) he started to look around some more and tried to get another Penn State commit to commit elsewhere with Coxson. Coaching staff got wind of this and told him to start looking for a new program to commit to.

And I think that covers most everything for recruiting!