Blue White Illustrated

February 2013

Penn State Sports Magazine

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to the Penn State squad after showing tremendous leadership skills on the field and in the classroom. Penn State's recruits keep the faith RONNY TOMASETTI WR | 6-3 | 215 | Scranton, Pa. | Mid-Valley Tomasetti attended several Penn State games this past fall. He still has to be accepted and hasn't decided whether if he will walk on at PSU or take financial aid at a smaller school. He will most likely make his decision in February. VON WALKER LB | 6-0 | 195 | Mill Hall, Pa. | Central Mountain Walker committed to Penn State after meeting with the staff during an unofficial visit in December. He earned first-team All-State honors from the Patriot-News and PAFootballnews.com. He'll most likely play linebacker at Penn State, but could play multiple positions. He's a good wrestler, as well. AUSTIN WHIPPLE QB | 6-2 | 200 | Pittsburgh | Salisbury School Whipple, the son of Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Mark Whipple, has enrolled at Penn State for the spring semester. Whipple attended multiple high schools throughout his scholastic career. He finally got the starting nod his senior year at Pine-Richland outside of Pittsburgh, but only received Division II offers after that. Wanting more, he attended prep school in Salisbury, Conn. Once Penn State offered him a chance to walk on, he closed down interest from other schools. DEREK YODER OL | 6-4 | 300 | Lewistown, Pa. | Mifflin County Yoder was expected to visit Penn State on Jan. 20. He anticipates that he will be accepted, adding that it's "almost certain" he will join Penn State's program. He has gotten an offer from Shippensburg and is interested in a Division II program that competes on a national level. But he also grew up a Lion fan and still believes walking on at Penn State is best for him. P enn State fans were on edge about Bill O'Brien's potential move to the NFL, but all they needed to do was look to the team's 2013 recruits and what they were thinking to get a read on how serious this potential move really was. The situation really picked up on Jan. 1, when Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported that O'Brien was "strongly considering" a move to the NFL. For guys like Adam Breneman – who was set to enroll just five days later – SI's report required some quick thinking. Having already developed a solid relationship with the staff, Breneman was able to simply call the coaches to get to the bottom of the situation, and that's exactly what he did roughly 30 minutes after seeing King's report. The coaching staff picked up immediately. "I'd love to share stuff with you, but O'Brien and the coaches asked me not to talk about what we talked about. I can't do that to them," Breneman told Blue White Illustrated on New Year's Day. "All I'll say is that I know my coach, I know what he stands for, and I can't wait to play for him." Great coaches attract great players, and like the leader he has already become, Breneman once again stepped up to the plate, making sure everyone knew what O'Brien's true intentions were since the coaches weren't allowed to call the majority of the recruits themselves. By the end of the day, most members of Penn State's Class of 2013 weren't paying attention to the reports being put out by some of the best-known sports journalists in the country. They didn't know specifics, but they knew O'Brien was taking a stance with the athletic department, doing everything he could to make the program better. "These coaches preached to us all year that they were the ones actually making the commitments, not us committing to them," Breneman said. "They're committed to making sure we're not just great football players, but great student-athletes, great young men." Just a few days after the reports began surfacing about O'Brien, Rivals100 linebacker Alex Anzalone de-committed from Notre Dame and enrolled at Florida amid talk that Brian Kelly had interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Kelly had left the country on vacation, and the Anzalone family wasn't able to get in touch with him. The prospect's change of heart illustrated the importance of communication throughout the recruiting process. O'Brien and his staff have done a tremendous job of maintaining lines of communication with recruits. Whether during in-home visits with the family or on the sideline before games, Charles London, Larry Johnson, Ron Vanderlinden, John Butler and others have consistently gone above and beyond to make sure the verbally committed players and top targets have been comfortable. Add in O'Brien's efforts to travel, and it's clear this new staff has lived up to its pledge to be truly committed to the incoming players. If it continues to show this kind of dedication the next few years, I don't see any reason why Penn State can't continue to attract top talent throughout the entire scholarshipreduction period and beyond. O'Brien's NFL background has been an asset all year, and it's already helped Penn State get the attention of multiple 2014 prospects. In the end, communication and commitment will make the difference.

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