Blue White Illustrated

terns. Everyone was just great to us." Slade's relationships with the entire of- fensive sta9 were a major reason why Franklin and his assistants didn't have to panic just three weeks before he was set to sign. Following the news late in No- vember that Joe Moorhead would be tak- ing running backs coach Charles Hu9 with him to Mississippi State, Slade's parents were le; wondering what would happen back in Happy Valley. Their son wasn't nearly as concerned. "Ricky never thought twice when that happened," Slade Sr. said. "When Coach Moorhead le;, that was expected. We al- ways knew that there was a good chance he was going to get a head coaching job at a good school. But when Coach Hu9 le; with him, that was unexpected. "I think my wife and I were more con- cerned than he was. My wife had only re- ally gotten to know Coach Hu9 well, on a personal level. But Ricky never thought twice. There was never any doubt that he was going to end up somewhere else." Slade signed with the Lions on Dec. 20. An Under Armour All-American, he's one of the most decorated high school prospects to sign under Franklin. In addi- tion to being named the 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia, Slade was a two-time VHSL Class 6A All-State se- lection. He also earned multiple All-Met honors from The Washington Post, in- cluding 8rst-team honors in 2017. His coach believes that Nittany Lion fans have a lot to look forward to over the next four years. "What Ricky brings to Penn State is a player who is one of the hardest- working players with the competitive na- ture that drives him to be successful," Lilly told GoPSUsports.com. "He loves the team atmosphere and he brings a skill set that will potentially see him playing on Sundays in the future." ■ T he pace of recruiting has accelerated in recent years, a process driven by coaches' desire to line up verbal commit- ments and also by new NCAA regula- tions. But Rasheed Walker resisted that trend. The four-star o9ensive lineman likes to take his time. When everyone else signed on the dot- ted line for the inaugural early signing pe- riod in December 2017, Walker sat back and watched the process unfold as he awaited the traditional February signing day. His story became a cautionary tale of sorts, but he has emerged on the other side feeling wiser and fully satis8ed with his decision to become a Nittany Lion. "I would tell a recruit to take his time and don't let anyone rush him, because at the end of the day you're making a deci- sion for you, not to impress anybody else," Walker said. "Take as much time as you need, take all your visits and ask all your questions. Don't commit o9 the name of the school or the coaches. Have a valid reason." A 6-foot-6, 295-pound prospect from Waldorf, Md., Walker had scholarship of- fers from all over, but Penn State, Virginia Tech and Ohio State were the last schools le; standing. For a brief time, he considered making a decision in December, as he took o:cial visits to University Park and Blacksburg before the early signing period. But time ran out before he could squeeze in a third. "I didn't plan on pushing it back that far," he said. "I didn't want to rush it. I just wanted to take all my o:cial visits before making my decision. I just wasn't able to because I was playing in the Army All-American game [in January], so I took my o:cials and I thought they were going to help, but they really didn't help. They just made me confused, so I had to do some more evaluating by myself." One week prior to visiting PSU, the 8rst twist was thrown into Walker's recruit- ment. He had previously considered Maryland, where his point of contact was o9ensive line coach Tyler Bowen. The two were in steady communication until Bowen took another job in early Decem- ber. Tom Petre, head coach at North Point High and a phys ed teacher at the school, gave Walker the news before gym class one day. Petre explained that Bowen was- n't at Maryland anymore. When Walker asked where he had gone, the coach said, "You'll 8nd out later." That evening, Walker was at a barber- shop waiting to get his hair cut when an alert from Twitter popped up on his phone. It was a noti8cation that Bowen had Walker takes patient approach to recruiting process | THE WALKER FILE STATS Led an o0ensive line that helped North Point av- erage 37 points and reach the Maryland state semifinals in 2017... Had 63 tackles and 11 sacks as a defensive lineman HONORS Named a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, as well as the No. 7 o0ensive tackle in the Class of 2018, No. 2 prospect in Maryland and No. 65 overall prospect nationally... Named to USA Today's All-USA Maryland team last season... Was a first-team All-Met choice by The Washington Post CLICK HERE to see video of Walker in action.

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