Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1015973
with me and how I would always know exactly what I'm coming into. BWI Would it be fair to say that Penn State was the team to beat a3er you got your o1er? WILSON When I got the o1er, of course I was really excited. Penn State was basi- cally at the top for me, but I did kind of slow things down then and make sure that I gave all the schools a look. Syracuse was one school that I was very interested in. I would say that, at one point, Penn State and Syracuse were tied. I got to build a great relationship with their coaches, and Syracuse has a lot of love in my area. I didn't get to visit Syracuse as much as I visited Penn State, but when I did, I felt a real bond with their coaches. They're good people there. So, that made it pretty hard for me at one point. I also really loved Iowa and Nebraska. I didn't get to visit those schools, but what grabbed my attention with Iowa was how every year they have a Jim Thorpe Award /nalist and would win the award over other schools that people call DB U. They just had one of their corners get dra3ed pretty high this year. Also, I know Coach [Scott] Frost is new at Nebraska, but I got to see what he did at UCF. BWI Take me through the last few weeks of your recruitment. Going back to your o2cial visit and then up to the /nal cou- ple of days when you saw that JaQuan Brisker committed and you knew that Tyler Rudolph was going to commit. What were you thinking? I know you took an unannounced visit to Penn State the day you committed. Was that because you realized you had to commit soon or you risked losing out on your spot? WILSON Committing to Penn State was de/nitely something I kept 0irting with, especially a3er my o2cial visit. I loved Penn State, but I kept telling myself that I can't rush this. The o2cial visit helped out because that's basically when I was 100 percent sold. That's when I really got a feel for the campus and saw the hospitality from everyone up there. When I went home, I told my parents that I loved it and that I don't really see myself anywhere else. So, I prayed a lot and thought about it more and more. My gut was telling me that this was the place for me, so once I knew that Tyler was going up there that weekend and was committing that Monday, I went up there that Sunday and decided to pull the trigger. It just was the right time, and I knew that it was the right school. BWI How much did academics factor into your decision? Also, do you know yet what you want to major in? WILSON Academics played a huge role. One of the reasons I le3 a lot of other re-