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O C T O B E R   3 1 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 15 Penn State hosted all-purpose back Mark- Antony Richards last weekend for an official visit, and as expected, the Nittany Lions leB a lasting impression on he and his family. Coming into the trip, the four-star prospect from Palm Beach, Fla., was al- ready close with running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider, who grew up in south Florida. Richards had also become com- fortable with head coach James Franklin, but aside from those two, he had yet to get a feel for most of the people associated with the Nittany Lion football program. "It was a great visit. Me and my family re- ally had a great time," Richards said Sunday evening. "The people there were great. I would probably say that the people were one of the main things that really stood out. I was already close with Coach Seider and Coach Franklin, and now I've met so many more great people there. Really, just the entire staff is great. They treated my family very well the entire time. That was easily one of the high- lights of the trip. Everyone was great." Despite the rainy weather, Richards was impressed with the scene in and around Beaver Stadium on the day of the Nittany Lions' 30-24 victory over Iowa. "The atmosphere around the place was great. It definitely made me want to go out there and play," Richards said. "The weather wasn't great, but they still had a ton of fans there. Hearing all the different songs inside that place and all the different chants, you can just tell that Penn State is one of the best atmospheres in all of football." During a previous interview, Richards said that one thing he wanted to learn more about during his visit was how Penn State plans to use him in its offense. At 6-foot-1, 187 pounds, he is being recruited as a run- ning back, but he also has the size and hands to make plays in the passing game. That was a key point in his discussion with the staff. "They just think that I can be a really good weapon in their offense," he said. "They used Saquon Barkley in a lot of dif- ferent ways, and they think that I can fit a similar role. They want to use me out of the backfield, but they also want to throw me the ball, too. I like all the different ways I can make an impact in their scheme." Aside from the coaching staff, Richards also spent a lot of time with the current players. He was hosted by freshmen Jordan Miner and Micah Parsons. Miner, a fellow Floridian, was forced to retire from football this past summer when he was diagnosed with a heart condition. "Both of those guys were great. I enjoyed hanging with all the different players that I got to meet," Richards said. "They just treated me like I was already part of the team. I actually didn't know that Jordan was from Florida, too. I talked to him a lot about all the different reasons he came to Penn State. He filled me in on a lot of stuff." In addition to the Lions, Richards is also still considering Auburn, Florida, Miami and Tennessee. All four schools will earn official visits in the next two months, with a trip to Auburn set for this weekend, fol- lowed by a visit to Florida next week. Most observers expect him to end up signing with one of the Southern schools on his list, but his ties to Seider, who has already earned a commitment from an elite Florida prospect, receiver John Dunmore, should all but guarantee that Penn State is in the mix until the end. "I would definitely say that they deserve to be called one of my top schools, no doubt about that," Richards said. "I still have more visits that I need to take, but my fam- ily was really impressed with everything we saw. Like I said, the people are great there. They really treated us well." R Y A N   S N Y D E R | S N Y D E R 4 2 0 8 8 @ G M A I L . C O M R E C R U I T I N G RB Richards enjoys 'great visit' to Penn State CLASS OF 2019 NAME POS HT WT RATING HOME SCHOOL Hakeem Beamon DL 6-3 255 ★★★★ Chesterfield, Va. Manchester 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 Brenton Strange TE 6-4 217 ★★★★ Parkersburg, W.Va. Parkersburg 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 Oct. 30 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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