Blue White Illustrated

November 2018

Penn State Sports Magazine

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Mass., has committed to Georgia, Pola- Gates has become the sta:'s top remain- ing target to 9nish o: this year's haul of defensive backs. Despite living in the Phoenix suburbs, the four-star nephew of former Nittany Lion defensive tackle Aoatoa "Al" Polamalu has the Lions near the top of his list. "Never in my life have I ever experi- enced anything like it," Pola-Gates said. "I can't see anything topping that atmos- phere. I'd hate to be on the opposing team. The fans were de9nitely the 12th man. That kind of community support was amazing to see and experience." Pola-Gates doesn't plan to make a deci- sion until January at the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii. Most believe that Alabama is the top competitor, and he's planning to take an o;cial visit to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl in November. The sta: should see results much sooner from defensive end Adisa Isaac, as the Brooklyn native is planning to make a decision either later this month or in early November. "It was a great experience, being that it P enn State picked up commitment No. 17 on Oct. 1 from four-star tight end Brenton Strange. Strange's an- nouncement came only a few hours after his official visit to University Park for the Nittany Lions' game against Ohio State. In July, the 6-foot-4, 217-pound Ri- vals250 prospect picked up an o:er from head coach James Franklin following a solid performance at the sta:'s 9nal camp of the summer. In the weeks that followed, it became clear that the Nit- tany Lions had emerged as the team to beat, but Strange decided to hold o:, electing to visit one more time before taking the next step. "I always had Penn State at the top. I al- ways liked them a lot, and this week- end I just got that feeling," he said following his commit- ment. "I've gotten to know Coach [Ricky] Rahne and Coach [Tyler] Bowen well. I know how their o:ense goes. I got to see how they used [Mike] Gesicki and how they're using Pat [Freiermuth] now. "I just know that this is the perfect 9t for me. I just wanted to come back to campus and see that game day atmos- phere for myself. I wanted to experience everything a little bit more. Penn State has been my leader for a while now, and I knew Saturday that I was probably going to do this. I just didn't make it o;cial until [Monday]." A

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