Blue White Illustrated

S E P T E M B E R   2 6 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 18 Johnny Dixon of Tampa; defensive tackle Rodas Johnson of Columbus, Ohio; safety Noa Pola-Gates of Gilbert, Ariz.; and of- fensive lineman Kardell Thomas of Baton Rouge, La. Thomas has already committed to his hometown school, LSU, but the other three players all have the Nittany Lions high on their lists. James Franklin said earlier this week that the annual White Out games have become a big part of Penn State's recruiting calen- dar, as the raucous atmosphere in Beaver Stadium usually makes a strong impres- sion on prospects. And while there are some logistical challenges associated with welcoming dozens of recruits to campus just as the team is preparing for one of its biggest games of the season, the benefits of giving players a glimpse of the White Out environment outweigh the difficul- ties. "You just get caught up in the energy and the enthusiasm and the excitement," Franklin said. "Obviously, it's an impactful day for us in terms of our future on the re- cruiting front. But I also think [these kind of recruiting weekends are] why you see re- cruiting departments getting bigger and bigger. It's because these days are so im- pactful and so important for building your program that you can't do it all, and you need enough people who are going to be able to manage all these things so the coaches can spend their time on the game and on the opponent and on our current players, which is where our focus should be." "You have a group of people who are managing, say, 10 to 12 official visitors, so that they have the best possible experience they can have. And then you're also going to have another 175 recruits and their fam- ilies, and how are you going to manage all of that? So I think that's where the chal- lenge comes. In the old days when you had one recruiting coordinator to handle all of that, it wasn't realistic." Franklin said the ultimate goal is to pres- ent the university in the most flattering light possible. "I don't know what the numbers say, but I would assume we're probably going to have an increase of about 200,000 people on Saturday," he said. "And how are we going to manage all of that, from directions to parking, to tickets, to the game, to seats, and so on? So I think it's a really important day. It's an important day for our football program. I think it's an important day for our university. I think it's an important day for our community, at least the conversa- tions that I've had with hotels and restau- rants and other establishments. As a football coach, my ultimate job is to make sure that our guys get great educations and are learning habits and lessons that they're going to be able to take with them for the next 50 years of their lives. It's also to make sure that they have a great football experi- ence. But I also understand and am aware of the impact that Penn State football has on the community and can do for the uni- versity when handled the right way. So we're very aware of those things in our pro- gram." CLASS OF 2019 NAME POS HT WT RATING HOME SCHOOL Hakeem Beamon DL 6-3 255 ★★★★ Chesterfield, Va. Lloyd C. Bird JaQuan Brisker DB 6-2 200 ★★★ Monroeville, Pa. Lackawanna College Lance Dixon LB 6-2 200 ★★★ West Bloomfield, Mich. West Bloomfield John Dunmore WR 6-3 170 ★★★★ Hollywood, Fla. Chaminade Madonna Keaton Ellis DB 6-0 160 ★★★ State College, Pa. State College Area Devyn Ford RB 5-11 195 ★★★★★ Stafford, Va. North Stafford Michael Johnson Jr. QB 6-3 202 ★★★★ Eugene, Ore. Sheldon Joey Porter Jr. CB 6-2 185 ★★★ Pittsburgh, Pa. North Allegheny Taquan Roberson QB 6-0 198 ★★★★ Wayne, N.J. DePaul Catholic Tyler Rudolph DB 6-1 205 ★★★★ Oakdale, Conn. St. Thomas More Emery Simmons WR 6-1 186 ★★★ Fayetteville, N.C. South View Brandon Smith LB 6-3 218 ★★★★ Mineral, Va. Louisa County Caedan Wallace OL 6-4 330 ★★★★ Princeton, N.J. Hun School Anthony Whigan OL 6-5 295 ★★★ Great Mills, Md. Lackawanna College Marquis Wilson DB 6-0 175 ★★★★ Windsor, Conn. Windsor Saleem Wormley OL 6-4 300 ★★★★ Smyrna, Del. Smyrna * As of Sept. 25 P E N N S T A T E C O M M I T M E N T S * C L A S S O F 2 0 1 9

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